Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Llewellyn (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140250824
• ISBN-13: 978-0140250824
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,266,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bobbie, you middle-class bastard!, June 25, 2001

By 

craig charles (Liverpool) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired (Mass Market Paperback)

Bobbie, I am extremely annoyed that a middle-class bastard such as yourself should write a book this good, which is why I am trying to reduce your average star rating. And subtitling it Memoirs of a Bad Boy? Everyone knows I'm the bad boy of the Red Dwarf cast and you're just an overprivileged middle-class whiner. Everyone: read my books instead! They're honestly quite good!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not so thin and filthy anymore, December 18, 2000

By 

"wildekarrde" (Toronto, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired (Mass Market Paperback)

For fans of Red Dwarf or Junkyard Wars, the early years of Robert Llewellyn's life will leave some wondering "How did he ever wind up as an actor?", and for others it will all make sense. This wonderfully written auto-biography invites us into the '70's world of sexual self-awareness, upper-class prejudices, free-spirited hippies, silver polishing, party crashing, toast, weed, and geodesic domes.

Mr. Llewellyn manages to keep the reader trans-fixed from beginning to end. His "tell it as it is" writing mixed with copious amounts of humour makes for some embarrassing moments if you're reading this in public places.

I highly recommend this book for true Llewellyn fans. It's a very revealing look into his youth and his background. From cartoonist to convict, from visionary to drag queen. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll laugh some more, but all through-out the book you'll never stop wondering "this guy is Kryten?!"

"Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired", "Man in the Rubber Mask", "Man on Platform 5", "Punchbag", and "Sudden Wealth". An impressive collection of truly wonderful works.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far out and ethnic..., December 2, 2000

By 

Kelly EC (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired (Mass Market Paperback)

I love Mr Llewellyns books. "Rubber mask", "Punchbag", "Platform 5"- they are all first rate. I finished reading "Thin he was..." his teenage autobiography last night and I have to say its my favourite so far. The title is derived rather arcanely from a quote about aliens- "Dark they were and golden eyed".

The novel tells the story of Rob(the cartoonist) who in his teens went ever so slightly off the rails. He lives in a geodist dome, smokes weed and crashes Oxford balls in drag. A fantasy writer called Duncan finds Robs rebellious behavoiur extremely rich and makes a pass at him. Young Rob is flattered, but his hormones are too much raging for attractive females. He is also desparetly seeking a direction in life. His romantic and anarchic ideals seem to have no place in "The System".

Unlike anything else Llewellyn has written, this storys innocence goes straight to the soul. He perfectly captures the sights and sounds of the time and his characterisation is utterly charming. At one point he mentions having never read "Catcher in the rye". This is interesting because his book has a similar engaging narritive with the wild excitment of "On the road".