Only When I Laugh: My Autobiography

Paul Merton author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Ebury Publishing

Published:7th May '15

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Only When I Laugh: My Autobiography cover

The long-awaited autobiography from one of our best-loved comics

Known for his intelligent and often surreal humour, Paul Merton’s weekly appearances on BBC1’s Have I Got News For You – as well as Radio 4’s Just A Minute and his travel documentaries – have seen him become an artfully rebellious fixture in our lives for over 25 years.

He also has a real story to tell.

Known for his intelligent and often surreal humour, Paul Merton’s weekly appearances on BBC1’s Have I Got News For You – as well as Radio 4’s Just A Minute and his travel documentaries – have seen him become an artfully rebellious fixture in our lives for over 25 years.

He also has a real story to tell. In ONLY WHEN I LAUGH, his rich and beautifully-observed autobiography, Paul takes us on an evocative journey from his working-class Fulham childhood to the present day.

Whether writing about school days, his run-ins with the nuns and other pupils; his disastrous first confession; his meatpacking job; taking acid; leaving home to live in bedsit; his early brushes with the opposite sex – and not forgetting his repeated attempts to break into the world of comedy – Paul’s writing is always funny, poignant and revealing. And when his star finally ascends in the atmospherically drawn 1980s alternative cabaret scene there is a sense of excitement, energy, camaraderie, momentum and dramatic impending success…

…And then CRASH! In an unflinching and brilliantly written section that defines the book, we experience the disorienting and terrifying sustained manic episode that he suffered which landed him in a psychiatric hospital. These, and other tougher moments, are written about candidly and with sensitivity and honesty.

Yet throughout ONLY WHEN I LAUGH, Paul Merton succeeds in telling his life story entertainingly, with warmth, humour and a big bucket load of wit. Ultimately uplifting, it is the story of a fascinating life, brilliantly told – and one of the best memoirs of the year.

Crammed with laugh-out-loud moments * Daily Telegraph *
A rollicking good read -- Bruce Dessau * Evening Standard *
A thoughtful, understated memoir -- Joe Moran * Guardian *
Witty and enjoyable -- Robert Elms * BBC Radio London *
Compelling * Chortle *

  • Short-listed for Specsavers National Book Award 2014 (UK)

ISBN: 9780091949341

Dimensions: 198mm x 126mm x 23mm

Weight: 250g

352 pages