My Shit Life So Far

"It’s a rude title but it does serve as a warning for what’s in the book. I put it in because there are a whole series of books by comics coming out now. These books are really insightful about life in Britain, and particularly the downsides of life, what’s unfair and unequal. They can get away with it, and they do it well, partly because they’re funny. If you’re telling lots of jokes, it’s easier to talk about what’s bad about a country without it becoming so depressing that you don’t want to read the book. Frankie Boyle’s book is about some particularly rough parts of Glasgow that he grew up in, and about the bad sides of the country. But it’s fun to read. If you want a book about the bottom end of British life that’s also fun to read, this is the one to get. It’s not the kind of heart-warming stereotype – like those books on Ireland: “We were poor but we were happy.” This is: “We were poor, we weren’t happy, but we could tell good jokes.” Pretty shit for him, yes. He was brought up on one of those estates that was built for slum clearance on the edge of Glasgow. It was pretty dire. It’s one of those places where there has to be something strange or unusual about you if you’re going to get out. Clearly, Frankie Boyle was very sarcastic and could tell jokes. I was talking to a vicar recently – actually from the other side of Glasgow to where Frankie grew up – and I asked him what advice he gives young people. He said: “Get a strange hobby like keeping reptiles. Because then you become the person with the reptile shop and you can get out.” It may sound like strange advice, but it’s probably easier than making it on the comedy circuit."