Win Nick’s Free Stuff

at


 This is How We Dance by David Diebold (above) is 52 pieces of ‘flash memoir’

‘Strangest of all, perhaps, is the family backdrop  in which David discovered that his sister was actually his mother, and his real father, a former roadie with American hit band Three Dog Night, who he tracked down with an investigator, was a top movie special F/X man…’

Do you read?

Dublin author David Diebold’s new book ‘This Is How We Dance‘, launched in The Gutter Bookshop by Tom Dunne this week.

The book is enjoying rave reviews for its 52 pieces of flash memoir: short, deeply personal stories, some hilarious, some sad, that delve into the author’s past.

I’m giving away a copy of the book to one lucky Broadsheet reader.

To enter, simply tell me below what is your favourite memoir and why?

The winner will be chosen by my translator.

Lines MUST close at 4.45pm EXTENDED until 6pm 9.30pm!

Nick says: Good luck!

This Is How We Dance By David Diebold

Read an extract here

Sponsored Link

20 thoughts on “Win Nick’s Free Stuff

  1. Bertie Blenkinsop

    Andre Agassi – Open

    he’s playing in the French open, his wig is melting and he’s on crystal meth.

    Rod Stewart’s is fantastic too…

  2. Pip

    Has to be The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan, the theatre critic chap.
    ‘We love classical music because it dignifies our self-pity.’
    (BTW Three Dog Night refers to it being so cold that you’d need three dogs on your bed to stay warm.)

  3. Specific Gravity

    From the musical ones I recall off the top of my head…

    Not Nick Mason of Pink Floyd – too dull
    Not Bruce Springsteen – too disillusioning
    Not Bill Bruford of King Crimson et al – too hard done by
    Not Tricky of Massive Attack – far too harrowing

    So that leaves the genuinely entertaining, enlightening and surprisingly sympathetic tome by Phil Collins – Not Dead Yet.

    While the cool types typically sneer at ol Phil, he is an all time great drummer, founder of one of the most influential bands, and never sought approval by the trendier set, because frankly he didn’t need it.

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28686968-not-dead-yet

  4. nicorigo

    Georges Orwell -Down and and out in Paris and London-

    In this two-parts memoire, George Orwell tells us about his living in extreme poverty and squalor in the two
    capital cities. Vividly sordid, full of bombastic characteres, his truculent writing takes you from shabby hotels to miserable

  5. nicorigo

    Georges Orwell -Down and and out in Paris and London-

    In this two-parts memoire, George Orwell tells us about his living in extreme poverty and squalor in the two capital cities between 1928 and 1929. Vividly sordid, full of bombastic characters, his truculent writing takes you from shabby hotels to miserable lodging houses, from sleeping rough in London to the dampest spikes. A compelling reading.

  6. Slightly Bemused

    I never understood the appeal of biographies.I guess it speaks to me not wanting to share my own story so widely that I prefer not to read those of others. I also read once a book by a reporter about a time where I was present, and the inaccuracies and assumptions were just incredible. While not a biography, it did chronicle the life of a particular person who I knew. I cannot speak to the private issues, but the real events and people he interacted with were portrayed in a deliberately lurid manner to highlight the negative points the writer wanted to make.
    The only biography I recall that I actually read (largely because of where I was, lack of alternate diversions, and it was there) was that of Normal Schwarzkopf, US General who headed up the Gulf War and ‘liberation’ of Kuwait.
    I have several on my shelf, including the only one I probably would read – Long Road to Freedom – but I am not that depressed yet.

  7. Ger Siggins

    Just Kids by Patti Smith

    It’s a powerful story of love, art, music and death in 1970s NYC, told by one of the giants of modern music who knows how to tell a story. Can’t remember a memoir I ever wanted to read twice. Magic.

  8. Paulus

    “Smoking in Bed” – Bruce Robinson.

    I didn’t know much about Robinson other than being responsible for “Withnail and I”.
    There are some great behind-the-scenes reminiscences of Withnail – and other work of his.
    It’s based on a series of interviews; so it’s very conversational in style.
    Good title too.

  9. Al Jeers

    Clive James – “Unreliable Memoirs”
    Just a brilliant read from the wittiest of self-effacing men.
    “All attempts to put oneself in a bad light are doomed to be frustrated. The ego arranges the bad light to its own satisfaction.”

    1. Paulus

      The “Postcards” series is being re-run on one of the nether channels as I call ’em. Great nostalgic…and very funny, viewing.

      1. Al Jeers

        I saw the Sydney Postcard one on BBC over the Christmas Paulus and best hour of TV I saw over the period. He had a wonderful turn of phrase and was imcomparable at the old travelogue format

  10. Kerryview

    For me it has to be Jean-Dominique Bauby’s The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly.
    Short, because he could only move one eyelid….and the way he tells his story of his ‘locked in’ body. He didn’t give up, I think I would have.

  11. Matt Pilates

    ‘Nother one:

    “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.”

    — Viv Albertine

  12. Catherine Vaughan

    Love Is A Mix-tape by Rob Sheffield.
    A memoir of his relationship with his wife from first meeting, to her death, told through the mix-tapes they made for each other.
    Recommend by a friend, I expected a sort of real-life High Fidelity. I did not expect the level of snotty bawling while reading the last few chapters, as he described how Renee died suddenly in his arms from a brain aneurysm…

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie