My Family: The Memoir: Unabridged edition

A searingly honest, humorous memoir from the award-winning author of Jews Don’t Count

On the surface, David Baddiel’s childhood was fairly standard: a lower-middle-class family living in an ordinary house in North West London. But as his mother changed careers, their life grew increasingly surreal: abandoning her business selling children’s books, she became obsessed with golfing memorabilia, impassioned by a salacious affair with a golfing salesman.

As Baddiel investigates his family’s past, his father’s memories are fading: dementia has turned him into a Spitting Image puppet of himself, making him moodier and more disinhibited, with an even greater penchant for obscenity. But as with his mother’s affair, there is both comedy and poignancy to be found: laughter is a constant presence, capable of transforming the darkest of experiences into something else.

Inspired by his Olivier-nominated stage show, My Family is a candid examination of family, memory, and the redemptive powers of comedy.