Just Ignore Him By Alan Davies

Just Ignore Him is a 2020 memoir by the British comedian Alan Davies, detailing his early childhood. Sep 18, 2020 Just Ignore him is Alan Davies’ second memoir published by Little, Brown. While his first book is a comical reflection on the days of his adolescence, this is a more serious look at the darker days. This is a wonderfully written book by Alan Davies. It's about him growing up after his mum dies when he was six. Theres a lot odd sadness in the story & the relationship with his dad is revealed. I read the book in one sitting.it is well written but some of the subject matter Is very sad & hard to take.

Just Ignore Him is a 2020 memoir by the British comedian Alan Davies, detailing his early childhood.

Background[edit]

Alan Davies is a British comedian, known for his acting in Jonathan Creek and permanent role on the panel show QI.^[1]Just Ignore Him was his second book, following My Favourite People And Me, 1978–88 (2009), which was republished as Teenage Revolution.^[2][3] Davies later said of his first book that 'all the things that mattered were missing'. Davies worked on Just Ignore Him while pursuing a part-time MA in creative writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He began the MA course in 2016, initially writing short stories about his life in the third person. At the end of his first year, he submitted for assessment a passage of writing which later became the chapter 'Hands', with few changes needed.^[4] Davies expressed an interest in writing a stand-up show about the material covered in the book.^[1]

Davies consulted with friends about his plan for the book, some of whom asked if he was sure that he wanted the personal information within it to be public. He viewed the story as his and his mother's and wished for it to be told. In an interview with The Observer, Davies said that: 'I also wanted to tell people they could talk about their own stories, even if they had never talked about them before'.^[4] Davies aimed for the book to be 'a record to last a long time' and wanted his children to read it when they were older. Davies found it 'very, very difficult' and not cathartic to write it.^[1]

The book was announced in November 2019 and published in the United Kingdom by Little, Brown and Company on 1 September 2020.^[4][5] Autumn is the most frequent book release period in the U.K. and the day and week in which Just Ignore Him was published were particularly busy due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Davies was reluctant to engage in press work for the book, wishing his audience to discover the nature of its subject matter through reading it. He wanted the mention of abuse to be omitted from publications prior to the book's release. His publishers did not communicate this to newspapers, at least in the case of his interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, who chose to publish details about the book's subject matter along with extracts from the interview where Davies explains why he did not want the details to be published.^[1][7]

Synopsis[edit]

The book is about Davies' early childhood, including the death of his mother and sexual abuse by his father. It covers how these events affected him throughout his life.

Reception[edit]

Fiona Sturges of The Observer praised the book as 'fiercely honest'. Sturges described the book as mostly serious, though containing bleak humour, and found it 'sometimes upsetting' and 'more sad than angry'.^[3] Sturges later chose it as one of the best five celebrity memoirs of 2020, calling it 'intimate' and 'open-hearted'.^[8]The Sunday Times chose it as the best film and theatre book of 2020, in their list of 'The 37 best books of 2020'.^[9] In his review for the publication, Jonathan Dean called it 'Surely the bravest memoir of the year'.^[10]

References[edit]

Does Alan Davies Wear Glasses

1. ^ ^abcdDougary, Ginny (4 September 2020). 'Actor Alan Davies on why he won't talk about 'the A-word''. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
2. ^Richardson, Jay (17 July 2020). 'Richard Herring writes book about toxic masculinity'. British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
3. ^ ^abSturges, Fiona (11 September 2020). 'Just Ignore Him by Alan Davies review – a life derailed by abuse'. The Observer. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
4. ^ ^abcRogers, Jude (23 August 2020). 'Alan Davies: 'I've become a huge enemy of silence and secrecy''. The Observer. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
5. ^Cowdrey, Katherine (15 November 2019). 'Alan Davies to publish memoir with Little, Brown'. The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
6. ^Flood, Alison (13 August 2020). ''It's a mega year!': book trade braces for autumn onslaught of major new titles'. The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
7. ^Carey, Gemma (22 October 2020). 'I wrote a memoir about abuse. That doesn't mean you're entitled to every detail'. The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
8. ^Sturges, Fiona (28 November 2020). 'Best autobiography and memoirs of 2020'. The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
9. ^Millen, Robbie; Holgate, Andrew (28 November 2020). 'The 37 best books of 2020: our top reads from every genre'. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 December 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
10. ^Dean, Jonathan (29 November 2020). 'Best film and theatre books of the year 2020'. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 December 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

Further reading[edit]

• Davies, Alan (23 August 2020). 'Alan Davies: 'I didn't want my shack of feelings blown down''. The Guardian.
• 'Saturday Live - Alan Davies'. BBC. 19 September 2020.

External links[edit]

A powerful, moving and darkly comic memoir from the brilliant comedian, actor and broadcaster Alan Davies, star of QI and Jonathan Creek.'A simply astonishing achievement. The quality, depth, emotional power and terrifying honesty of Alan Davies's story-telling take the breath away' Stephen Fry'This hugely affecting book is brave, insightful and, at times, funny about things it is hard to be funny about' Jo BrandThe story of a life built on sand. In the rain.In this compelling memoir, comedian and actor Alan Davies recalls his boyhood with vivid insight and devastating humour. Shifting between his 1970s upbringing and his life today, Davies moves poignantly from innocence to experience to the clarity of hindsight, always with a keen sense of the absurd.From sibling dynamics, to his voiceless, misunderstood progression through school, sexuality and humiliating 'accidents', Davies inhabits his younger mind with spectacular accuracy, sharply evoking an era when Green Shield Stamps, Bob-a-Job week and Whizzer & Chips loomed large, a bus fare was 2p - and children had little power in the face of adult motivation. Here, there are often exquisitely tender recollections of the mother he lost at six years old, of a bereaved family struggling to find its way, and the kicks and confusion of adolescence.Through even the joyous and innocent memories, the pain of Davies's lifelong grief and profound betrayal is unfiltered, searing and beautifully articulated. Just Ignore Him is not only an autobiography, it is a testament to a survivor's resilience and courage.

Just Ignore Him By Alan Davies Reading

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Audiobooks