I Didn't Get Where I Am Today

This is the entertaining autobiography of David Nobbs, the highly successful comedy writer responsible for such hits as The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and A Bit of a Do. Born in 1935, he was an only child who compensated for a lack of siblings with his vivid imagination - a fact that he credits with making him into a writer. Having been by his own admission 'not very childlike' as a child, he became much more so as an adult. His descriptions of childhood and his evacuation to Wiltshire during the Second World War are wonderfully vivid. He recalls the joy of snow and of skating on the Kennet and Avon canal, the woods thawing 'like a million dripping noses'; tobogganing, sledging and knowing that things would never be as good again. His school years at Marlborough have a traumatic beginning but settle into happier times. He discovers a passion for Greek tragedy and a growing excitement at becoming acquainted with classical comedy. There was much to inspire his burgeoning comedic talent and endless material, which he was later able to use in his own successful comedies. His first comedy sketches to fellow pupils brought the realization that 'laughter would be the most important thing in my life'. This is a very personal and honest autobiography in which David describes his own sexual confusion, his divorce and remarriage, his struggle to find his niche in life, many professional rejections and longing for success. As well as his personal growth, it is the tale of the emergence of a great comic writer who shares fascinating stories of working with the likes of Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, the two Ronnies and Frankie Howerd, amongst many other greats. As befits the author, this is probably one of the funniest memoirs around. (Kirkus UK)