Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ve loved all the Beryl I read this past year, and this was no exception. I really enjoyed Stella, a most unusual young girl and her start in the theatre. My only issue is that I don‘t really understand what happened at the end of the book. I keep going over it in my mind. 🤔

Well, the catalogue isn't out yet (!) but the art was amazing.
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/walker-art-gallery/exhibition/conver...

I loved this book. It made me feel nostalgic and homesick for the place I actually live and work in, which is no mean feat!
Maconie is unashamedly prejudiced about his love for the North, but his humour and "warts and all" approach saves him from being bigoted or boorish.
I spent the middle third of my life as an economic migrant to The South, which has many attractions, but home is where the pies and gravy are ??? and coming home is a ⬇️

"The rivalry between Liverpool & Manchester is...a vendetta, a blood feud that's Sicilian in intensity, contemptuous at best, raw visceral hatred at worst, each always out for vengeance & reparation...The malice & ill-will borne by fans of Liverpool & Manchester United's football teams outweighs by far that felt by either team for their traditional rivals across the city."
Followed by examples of appalling impoliteness. I don't get football ?‍♂️

"Scousers are different. They are the Basques of Lancashire, a race apart with a language and culture that seems to bear no relation to any of the people around them."

"Jeremy Clarkson: How come if you're tragically obsessed with vile, globe-destroying, penis substitutes you get the nickname petrolhead but if you like trains you're an anorak? It says something about our world that if you are an enthusiast for anything, if you dare lose your ironic modern detachment and world-weariness, you become 'sad' or 'a loser'."
[Glances sheepishly at own extensive bookmark 'enthusiasm'??]

"Perhaps I have a chip on my shoulder, but at least it's a proper chip, properly fried and served with gravy and mushy peas." ?

I've been meaning to read this for ages, saw it on the supermarket charity book table last night and picked it up. I feel that I need a change in tempo from recent and current reads, so here we go! 🥧🧭

Paul O‘Grady was a comedian, actor, TV presenter, chat show host and British national treasure. Warm, hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking this is the first in his autobiography quartet, charting his life in Birkenhead from birth to his late teens and his relationship with his working class, Catholic parents and aunts. This 2018 reprint featured a new introduction by O‘Grady where he says he‘s softened some of the depictions of his family.

Is the goal of a good biography to be objective? Is that even possible? Of course Norman wrote this after John‘s death, so he was dependent on interviews with people who knew him and his journals. Yoko refused to endorse this book because she said the author was “too mean” to John. Maybe that‘s true and he chose to slant it that way, or maybe based on some of John‘s actions, especially towards women, he was just trying to tell the truth. 🎶/5