Broken Greek

There are a tonne of music-related memoirs by songwriters and music journalists out there, but this funny, soulful, coming-of-age autobiography will get under your skin like no other this year * The Big Issue * Anyone who has felt the power of pop to 'explain' their life to them, as Paphides has, will love this * Metro * A sweet and funny ode to the power of music * The Times * Funny and evocative * Guardian * A love letter to cheesy 1970s pop * Telegraph * An extraordinary, moving and funny coming-of-age memoir * Love It! magazine * A warm and welcome corrective to the typical music-themed coming-of-age tale * Radio Times * If you love music and how it weaves its way into our lives, this is a perfect read * Get Ready to Rock * Confessional, sorrowful and sublime * BA High Life Magazine * Endearing * Saga Magazine * A smart and nostalgic read * Magic FM * Such a heartfelt, genuinely affecting read * The Daily Express * A must-read for music fans * Sheerluxe * Entertaining, authentic and funny * Strong Words * Utterly joyous * Financial Times * Epic childhood memoir * The Week * Every single page is a joy to read, entertainingly but unsentimentally written ... This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read for a long time, a coming of age memoir that manages to be simultaneously tender, heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny * The Afterword * With its forensic attention to detail and exquisite unpacking of the pre-teen mind, Broken Greek is an intensely personal hymn that sings a universal tune. Like the very best pop songs, it gets under your skin, and stays there * i * Warm and eccentric, it's rightly being talked up as the Fever Pitch of Pop * Guardian * An absolute cherished read. Didn't want it to end * Annie Nightingale * So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental * John Niven * Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other * Cathy Newman * I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking * Nina Stibbe * Tender, clever and as funny as it gets ... a heart-piercing joy * Lauren Laverne * Unflinching and heartwarming * Adam Kay * Oh, how I love Pete Paphides and this book. He can't write a paragraph that isn't funny or moving or insightful and often all three at once. For someone from a refugee family, like me, it just reads so true, but it's also a painting of another life so rich, so deep, that they should hang it in the National Gallery -- Daniel Finkelstein * The Times * Heartwarming, sharp and beautifully observed * Roisin Ingle * I thought I wouldn't be musicky enough. And then I started reading. I wish I'd started earlier! So moving. I'm having to read it in short instalments, which is a cruel constraint, but at least it means I have longer to go before finishing it. And I don't want to finish it ever * Nigella Lawson * This is a truly beautiful book. It makes the deeply personal profoundly universal and reminds us all of how much we have in common, wherever our parents might have come from * James O'Brien * This is such an exceptional coming-of-age story, not just because Pete Paphides has stunningly faultless emotional recall, but because he puts the memory to such warm and generous use. It is, for me, a study in kindness, borne of a lifetime of listening - to records, to his parents' stories of their past, to others, to everything. Perhaps three childhood years without speaking makes you the most extraordinary listener. I didn't just laugh and cry - though obviously I did both those things throughout. I completely fell in love with this book, and with its boy hero, though I'm sure he'd be far too modest and mortified to be described that way. He is, though. In fact, Pete Paphides may very well have the biggest heart in Britain * Marina Hyde * Many of the challenges faced by young Paphides are standard childhood fare. It is in the telling that the author elevates his story to something rather beautiful -- Chris Deerin * Big Issue * Paphides turns what could have been just another immigrant story into a detailed profusion of fact, genuine fun and a yearning, yarn-spinning search for cultural identity -- Tony Clayton-Lea * Irish Times * The day before I read the last line of the last page, I was struck by an immediate longing to stay in it -- Andres Lokko * Svenska Dagbladet * Tender, heartfelt, humane and very funny -- Joe Clay * The Times * All the energy, thrill and immediacy of your favourite single. I can think of no higher praise than that -- Teddy Jamieson * the Herald * If you are in the market for a wonderfully written, deeply touching, pitch-perfect childhood memoir laced liberally with 70s nostalgia, then you need look no further * Long Live Vinyl * Paphides can write like a dream, and knows how to make his particular circumstances resonate for anyone who, when young, hungered for music... a terrific achievement -- Nick Lezard * Spectator * If you have ever... found solace in a song, you will relish this book -- Jackie Annesley * The Sunday Times * Wonderful -- Victoria Segal * Q Magazine * A book that will leave you smiling -- Martin Chilton * Independent * A damn-near perfect book -- Owen Richards * The Arts Desk * A perceptive writer, brilliant on bittersweet details... this is a plaintive account of cultural assimilation that is also brilliantly, honestly funny -- Andrew Male * Mojo * ...you'll be enthralled by Paphides' funny, warm and sometimes heartbreaking account of how life-affirming music can be -- Jon Dennis * Telegraph * Masterful -- Jamie Atkins * Record Collector * Like the very best pop songs, it gets under your skin, and stays there -- Nick Duerden * Independent * I can't tell you how good this book is. Incredibly, it's Paphides's first - I'd be amazed (and disappointed) if it's his last -- Alan Johnson * New Statesman * Lip-lickingly, dance-around-the-living-room good... A smash hit -- Hannah Jane Parkinson * the Observer *