Bravemouth [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Pamela Stephenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2003

"Billy", the ground-breaking biography of the nation's favourite iconoclast, gave millions of readers a fascinating insight into the personal and professional life of the genius that is Billy Connolly. Now, in the sequel to that bestselling book, the award-winning Pamela Stephenson celebrates life with the Scottish beastie as he hits the big six-oh. Here we relive colourful and epic moments from Billy's early life in Glasgow - the background to an intimate portrait of his marriage with Pamela and his life in Scotland, LA and the rest of the world. Witty, insightful and intimate, "Bravemouth" draws the reader into two very different worlds - hers of international sexology and the serious psychology of humorists, his of incontinence pants, being married to a shrink...and the finer points of banjo playing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mrs Billy Connolly's tale of an extraordinary year in the life of living with her husband is as insightful, entertaining, serious and wacky as you'd expect from the author of Billy. Bravemouth is the ultimate insider's view of his filming, his charity works, his 60th birthday party. It includes personal insights into what makes him tick, and what makes her tick (it's her year too). It's a celebration but it's interspersed with serious reflection - both on what he does and what she does (the contrast between the inherent seriousness of her work as a psychologist, compared to the zaniness of his comedy). The nature of fame, the challenges of age, the triumph-over-adversity are all themes underlying the many anecdotes that combine to make this highly involving.

From the Publisher

Billy, the biography of Britain’s favorite iconoclast, gave millions of readers a fascinating insight into the personal and professional life of the genius that is Billy Connolly. Now, in this follow–up to her phenomenal best–seller, Pamela Stephenson celebrates life with the “Scottish beastie” as he hits the Big Six–Oh. Here we relive colorful and epic moments from Billy’s early life in Glasgow—the background to an intimate portrait of his marriage with Pamela and their life in Scotland and Los Angeles. Witty and insightful, Bravemouth draws the reader into two very different worlds—hers of international sexology and the serious psychology of humorists, his of incontinence pants, being married to a shrink… and the finer points of banjo playing. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Headline Hardbacks (October 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075531283X
• ISBN-13: 978-0755312832
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,647,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Goldmine for Billy Connolly Fans, March 29, 2005

By 

Truth Speaks - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly (Paperback)

"Bravemouth, Living with Billy Connolly," by his wife, Pamela Stephenson, is a goldmine of information for his fans. It starts with him dyeing his beard purple without warning. Near the end there's with a vivid description of his birthday party at his Highland castle with three hundred prominent guests in kilts, actors reenacting an ancient Scottish village, and a giant styrofoam sculpture of him on the lawn. It does indeed tell what it's like to live with Billy Connolly. I have a crush on him and, since he's married and thousands of miles from me, this was as close as I'm going to get. There were lots of pictures of him doing different things and looking very handsome (in my opinion).

The reason that I rate this book three stars, not five, is that there are about 150 pages worth of good material while the book is 300 pages long. It's still a good book for the fan or anyone who feels to the need to unravel this prominent actor. The author, his wife Pamela Stephenson, writes in detail about her travels without Billy. Those parts tend to feel like you're watching someone's vacation slideshow. She also has a tendency to overwrite. There are novelized descriptions of Billy's Glasglow childhood that contain way more detail than anyone could possibly remember now, especially a third party. Those passages and the travelogs really could have used an editing pen. Some readers will want to skim over them.

After wishing he was single earlier, I have to conceed that I could not improve on Pamela, who throws a party for three hundred for his sixtieth birthday, (her gift to him was a gorgeous gypsy caravan), and flies ahead to Fiji to make sure things go well for their trip, all the while maintaining her own life and career. We learn that he has a few annoying habbits like smoking cigars and showing up at studio meetings with the purple beard and refusing to change it for a role. It's pretty amazing that after decades of substance abuse (now past) he looks as good as he does at sixty. Did the love of his family (whom he seems to adore) and the self-expression afforded by his career override decades of substance abuse? Something to think about. One of the interesting facts I learned from this book is that he does not think he is handsome. It's probably better that way.

Anyway, I recommend this book for fans, and for people who want to know more about Billy Connolly. There is a softcover version of this book sold at Amazon too.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Living with Pamela Stephenson, March 24, 2008

By 

Kathie Ingolio "Fleurkat" (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly (Paperback)

I thought I was going to read about Billy and his adventures. However, for a book supposedly about the Big Yin, three quarters of it is about his wife and her adventures. When she does talk about Billy's childhood, its impossible to believe anyone could remember such detail. I found myself skimming through the 38 pages devoted to HER trip to India while Billy was home nursing a bad back. There is also too much detail about everything BUT Billy, such as the history of their home in Candacraig that dated back to the 1500's, flyfishing, the South Pacific. Pamela's first book "Billy" was great but I found the sequel to be a big disappointment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fan Letter, July 19, 2006

By 

Richard Weik "Duffy" (British Columbia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bravemouth (Audio CD)

I am a huge Billy Connolly fan & really enjoed Pamela's first book & looked forward to this. I have not read the book yet but enjoyed the audio very much. Pamela is an excellent writer & shares great insight into a very funny man. My only complaint is that the audio is abridged. As in the first book I'm sure much is left out that I would like to listen to often.