Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #517605 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 390 pages

Synopsis
From Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard - stars of the original Brief Encounter - to the Queen and Posh Spice, Gyles Brandreth has met an extraordinary array of remarkable people. This book is a record of the most notable of those encounters as chronicled in his acclaimed interviews in the "Daily Telegraph" and "Sunday Telegraph", prefaced by an exploration of the art and craft of the interview by one of its most celebrated practitioners. Original, anecdotal, gossipy, idiosyncratic, revealing, touching and hilarious but always well observed, the book is a portrait gallery of some of the most striking figures of our time. Gyles Brandreth is one of the most colourful figures in British public life - and not only on account of his legendary jumpers. A former Conservative MP whose book of diaries, "Breaking the Code", was a huge bestseller, he is also famed as a broadcaster and novelist and for his appearances on celebrity game shows.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!
Gyles Brandreth is one of those humorous writers, once you start reading one of his books, you just can't put it down until you're finished. Two of the most humorous accounts were his interview with the Duchess of York and his work with Lord Longford. Absolutely amazing. At the end of the book he writes about how to keep a diary... I may well start one.

Admittedly, many of the playwrights will not be known to those of us under 30, but they're well worth reading as accounts of amazing individuals. This isn't a meant to be a funny book, and many of the interviews aren't, but the relaxed prose can be so humorous and easy to read.

Worth every penny.

Best Book I've read in years!!
I have to admit that I've always found Gyles Brandreth a bit of a twit - all those knitted jumpers and the teddy bears.

So when my father pressed this book into my hands and said 'Read this!' I did so reluctantly.

But what a joy! Its without doubt the best thing I've read in years. Well done Gyles. I'll forgive you the jumpers and the teddy bears now.

Just one piece of advice - I think this would make a wonderful Christmas present.

Brief Encounters: Meetings with Remarkable People
Gyles Brandreth, star of TV and the House of Commons and a legend in his own woolly jumpers is here with a collection of interviews with the rich and famous taken from those he has made for his column in the Sunday Telegraph.

The subjects range from Sarah Ferguson to Arthur C Clarke, from Quentin Crisp to John Prescott and many more in-between. There are even a couple of sections at the end when Gyles's knowledgeable friends give advice on "how to write a love letter" or "how to commit the perfect murder"

Gyles, at the end of the day, for all his buffooning pompousness, is a nice fellow, so most of the interviews aren't that telling, with Gyles never really pushing the limit of what he can find out. That said he does leave Edwina Currie with something to think about!

The book is probably best read as something you pick up, read an interview and then leave it for a couple of weeks. Gyles tends to remind us in every interview where he went to school and in the section dealing with the stars of the stage there's some reminisces that are repeated.

All in all, a witty little piece of fluff that is easy to enjoy, easy to read and easy to forget that perhaps Gyles isn't the annoying twit he most times appears!