Product Description

Terry Wogan is one of Britain's best-loved radio and television celebrities - witty, charming and relaxed - he has undoubtedly captured the nation's heart. Here, for the first time ever, Terry tells his life story from his beginnings as a young Limerick boy to his incredible success as an enduring celebrity of shows such as Wogan and The Eurovision Song Contest. Is It Me? is written in Terry's own inimitable style, with self-deprecating humour and a wry take on everyday life. The story is a delightfully observed, light-hearted journey through Terry's personal and professional lives, which will delight his millions of fans. After reluctantly starting his career in banking, Terry escaped to make a successful break into broadcasting with RTE. Fronting Children in Need, Wogan and The Eurovision Song Contest and collecting millions of listeners to his morning BBC 2 radio show, Wake Up To Wogan, he is now the most prolific and popular presenter at the BBC.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199026 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Much has been made of Terry Wogan, that genial stalwart of the BBC, "biting the hand that feeds him" in his autobiography, Is it Me?, though his mild criticisms form a very small part of these witty, loquacious reminscences. Born in Limerick in 1938 to a grocer father and a mother who "was Ireland's worst cook", Wogan recalls that "most of my boyhood was spent on a bike"--though he did demonstrate a flair for amateur dramatics very early on. "The Great Move to Dublin" occurred in 1956, when his father was appointed to a general manager position. Wogan relates his teenage love of early rock and roll, his lack of interest in school exams and his early years as a bank clerk before he noticed an advertisement in the Irish Independent for announcers for Radio Eireann. So began Wogan's long career in broadcasting; by the early 1960s he was a household name in Ireland. It was only a matter of time before he was courted by the BBC, and during the 1970s and early 1980s he was the voice of BBC Radio 2, with a wry commentary style, an unthreatening playlist and a unique talent for tapping into the nation's obsessions (could anyone forget his "Who Shot JR?" campaign when Dallas fever reached its peak?). Television presenting followed: there was the hit quiz show Blankety Blank, "a watershed for me, the start of a decade of extraordinary success and acclaim"; and the thrice-weekly chat show Wogan, attracting an average of 8 million viewers. The latter had its highs among the interviewees--Cilla Black; Dolly Parton; Mel Brooks--and its lows--comedian Freddie Starr, "the world's most frightening interviewee"; a monosyllabic Anne Bancroft; and David Bowie, who "would not speak ... or at least not sensibly ... he will never know how close he came to a slap on live television". Wogan has now come full circle and is back presenting the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, the annual Eurovision Song Contest (which would be lost without his gentle mockery), with the centre of his life remaining his children and his wife of 35 years ("the present Mrs Wogan"), a man for whom "the trappings of fame came thick and fast" but who has never seemed to lose his sense of humour--or his sense of the absurd. --Kate Weaver

Customer Reviews

So good I read it twice!
I don't know if any of you have seen the "Best of the Webcam" part of the BBC Radio 2 website but on it there is a picture of Pauly apparently reading two copies of this book simultaneously. The caption on the picture is "So good I read it twice". Well, I only bought the one copy but I have read it twice. And I laughed out loud both times. It's not chronological but if you like Wogan you'll love his autobiography. And get an insight into the fun that is "Wake Up to Wogan" where two old chums enjoy themselves on the wireless..... A very enjoyable read and, if there are any TOGs or TYGs out there that haven't bought it, buy it!

Was that him?
Terry's book ' Is it me?' was best described as a laugh a minute with an insight to this man's private life with the odd tear thrown in. Wogan has not held anything back :warts and all. If you are a TOG or a TIG you shall love it. I loved it and I listen to him only sometimes, and adore his dry wit at Eurovision once a year , but this was a good read of his childhood in Dublin with his Ma and Da and how he started out on the journey to being Radio 2's best known D.J. It seems he was a hitched to the right star and gambled well. If yo were looking for sex drugs and rock and roll for the creation of Radio 1, this isn't for you, but if you want a book that makes you laugh and cry in places this is for you.

An entertaining read & a credit to a true son of Ireland.
I bought this book because I am Irish & I liked Terry Wogans style on English radio. He was always there in the old days of the problems between England & Ireland. He represented the better side of the Irish abroad. After reading this book I respect the man more than ever. I smiled as I remembered Ireland as it was & never will be again, when the man himself was on Irish radio in the 60's. When Terry was driving through the streets of an empty Dublin on his way to RTE, I was eating my porridge before the long walk to school in the west of Ireland. This is a great read. Read it if you are Irish. Read it if you like Terry Wogan on the Radio or TV. Read it before everyone else finds out about it & you are left out.

Slan Agus Beannacht

Patrick Rogan

Seychelles