Broken Greek

A Story of Chip Shops and Pop Songs

Pete Paphides

$49.99

Hardback

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QTY:

English

Quercus Publishing
05 March 2020

Music industry

*AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 'BOOK OF THE WEEK'
*

'Lip-lickingly, dance-around-the-living-room good... A smash hit' Observer

'Unflinching and heartwarming' -

Adam Kay

'Tender, clever and as funny as it gets ... a heart-piercing joy' - Lauren Laverne

'An exceptional coming-of-age story [...] Pete Paphides may very well have the biggest heart in Britain' - Marina Hyde

'I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking' - Nina Stibbe

'Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other' - Cathy Newman

'So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental' - John Niven

'It's brilliant. Sad, really funny and beautifully written ... just fantastic' - Alexis Petridis

'A truly beautiful book' - James O'Brien

'Intoxicating' - Kirsty Wark

'Oh, how I love Pete Paphides and this book' - Daniel Finkelstein

'A balm in these times' David Nicholls

'Fantastic ... Can't recommend it highly enough' Tim Burgess

'Do you sometimes feel like the music you're hearing is explaining your life to you?'

When

Pete's parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope

of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English.

They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish

Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and

Britishness.

Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4

to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs,

thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of

Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he

needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped

him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school,

friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall

buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.

With every passing year, his

guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but

all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that

realisation? 'Sugar Baby Love', 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', 'Tragedy',

'Silly Games', 'Going Underground', 'Come On Eileen', and every other

irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.

Never

have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a

sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.
*Listen a

By: Pete Paphides
Imprint: Quercus Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 54mm
Weight: 850g
ISBN: 9781529404432
ISBN 10: 1529404436
Pages: 592
Publication Date: 05 March 2020
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

"Pete Paphides started his career in music journalism at Melody Maker before going on to write for Time Out, the Guardian, Mojo, Q, Observer Music Monthly and The Times, where he spent five years as their Chief Rock Critic. He has made several documentaries for BBC Radio 4, including 'Lost Albums', 'Follow-Up Albums', 'The Songs of Molly Drake' and 'Good Grief: The Story of ""Peanuts""'. He has been a regular contributor to BBC Four music documentaries and hosted two series of 'Vinyl Revival' for BBC 6 Music. Since 2015, he has hosted a weekly music show for Soho Radio and also runs his own record label, Needle Mythology. He is married to the writer and journalist Caitlin Moran. Broken Greek is his first book."