I've discovered Jeremy Vine fairly late into his journalistic career - as far as I knew his CV consisted of an excellent Radio 2 lunchtime show and the less impressive Eggheads (although that's largely down to those arrogant bore monsters who make up the quiz team - and I guess the dull quizzers that take them on - in fact Jeremy is probably the only good thing about the show). I had no idea that he had made a name as a political commentator and had presented Newsnight, or that is was him that exposed Gordan Brown during 'Bigotgate'!
However I am big fan of Jeremy Vine - I find him charming, witty and sophisticated - which he demonstrates with ease throughout this memoir. This book is definitely a case of truth being stranger than fiction at times - some of his encounters seem straight from the script of 'The Thick Of It'. I think I always viewed journalism at the highest levels as being quite glamourous, in fact it is actually a game - the story is always first, and actually a huge amount of time, effort and money can go into something for very little reward (for example, the Table Mountain story). He also highlights was we all suspect anyway that politics is a series of ill planned publicity stunts and downright lies.
This memoir is full of funny gossipy moments, shocking moments like the interview with Robert Mugabe, and tender moments, like the story of his housekeeper and the dog in South Africa. It is a beautifully written book, which is such a rarity with autobiographies, and makes you wonder after such an amazing life and career how on earth does Jeremy stay so well-grounded. This book made me love Jeremy even more (and the fact that he personally replied to a tweet a sent him about his book went a long way to help that to!).
The best memoir I have read by a long long way - what a lovely man!
5/5
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