Product Description

Get acquainted with a northern soul … Jimmy Nail has been a household name since Auf Wiedersehen, Pet hit our screens in the 1980s. since then, his career as an actor and a musician has put on him on the silver screen alongside Madonna and given him a No. 1 hit single. Success on this astonishing scale was beyond the wildest dreams of the working class lad whose harsh childhood and brutal schooling put him on a collision course with Strangeways. But a short spell in prison helped propel Nail onwards and upwards. With the support of his friends and family, it wasn’t long before Jimmy’s unique talents and single-minded determination brought him attention of a different kind – and changed his life for ever. In A Northern Soul, Jimmy Nail tells his own vivid story in this intriguing, inspiring and sometimes confounding account of how one man rose to fame and fortune by refusing to be anything but himself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16231 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
Jimmy Nail lives in London with his family.

Customer Reviews

A good read
As a fan of Jimmy Nail, as soon as I found out an autobiogoraphy was being published, I knew I had to read it!! I was not disappointed!! Going from school years and childhood through to the preparation of the fourth series of "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" this is, in his own words and with his unique style and humour, the lfe and times of Jimmy Nail, all the ups and downs and highs and lows of this most unique of British actors.

Highly recommended!!!!

Rough round the edges, but has a certain charm
Jimmy Nail's autobiography is enjoyable if a little thin in places, most notably the filming of the first two series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Maybe it's because Jimmy was still knocking back the booze at this point and hence his memory of the events is impaired. Whatever, it's a great shame that Gary Holton's descent into drug abuse and subsequent death gets approximately half a page. Elsewhere, Nail is guilty of indulging himself on how 'wonderful' a hotel room is, or how 'beautiful' a visage is. Maybe there's too much family (we could have lived without a passage on a car boot sale) and too many luvvie type references ("On the way out, I bumped into Sting" etc), but maybe this doesn't matter. Nail wins you over in the end, because he comes across as an honest, right thinking bloke who seeks to please. His writing style isn't incredibly slick, as he acknowledges, but this is actually quite endearing. And there are some good anecdotes - I particularly liked the mishap he had on stage after accidentally necking some laxatives. For fans of his work - or indeed other Geordies who want to try and succeed in life - this is definitely worth reading.

Why aye man!!
An amazing read I have to say. Everything from being in Dusselldorf, filming the first series of Auf Weidersehen Pet to Crocidile Shoes. The book goes into much detail about the life of Jimmy which is its only downpoint, but this is balanced out by the witty humour of the author. This is a must for all fans of Jimmy. An excellent read.