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  • Spectacles

  • By: Sue Perkins
  • Narrated by: Sue Perkins
  • Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,958 ratings)

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Spectacles

By: Sue Perkins
Narrated by: Sue Perkins
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Summary

Touching, engaging and hilarious, this memoir crackles with Sue Perkins' wit and humour. Narrated by the author herself, the refreshingly warm style of prose is infused with a lot of heart, making for an uplifting listen.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Spectacles, the hilarious, creative and incredibly moving memoir from much loved comedian, writer and presenter Sue Perkins.

When I began writing this book, I went home to see if my mum had kept some of my stuff. What I found was that she hadn't kept some of it. She had kept all of it - every bus ticket, postcard, school report - from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say, 'Why is our house full of this s--t?'

Sadly, a recycling incident destroyed the bulk of this archive. This has meant two things: firstly, dear listener, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child.

Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself.

This, my first ever title, will answer questions such as: is Mary Berry real? Is it true you wear a surgical truss, and is a nonspherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?

Most of this audiobook is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me. Thank you for listening.

©2015 Sue Perkins (P)2015 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+
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What listeners say about Spectacles

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I loved this book

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book - it was a bit of a chance download,not being in the realms of my usual choice of listening, but I have to say how much I liked it. It is narrated by Sue herself (very well). I usually go to sleep listening to my audiobooks but I had to turn this one off to get some! She has such a great way with words and comes across as witty, clever, humble, thoughtful, honest and fallible. Only trouble is, it made me feel like I wanted her to be my friend! (oh dear that sounds sad). I don't usually write reviews, but had to say how much I loved this particular one.

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24 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great fun! Fantastic writer.

Didn't want this to finish. Made me laugh out loud constantly. Such a talented performer and writer. Thoroughly enjoyed this audible book.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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brilliant and hilarious

very entertaining and funny. Sue is very very good at both writing her material and reading it out. I was constantly laughing out loud

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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excellent

really enjoyed this book laughed out loud many times and also tinged with sadness but dealt with with humour and grace. very enjoyable...sad to have finished it!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable listen

I really enjoyed getting to know Sue and her funny little tales of life. She's also a great narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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I genuinely enjoyed this.

I didn't really know what to expect from this and bought it on a whim. I'm not a particular fan of Sue's, but she is a character who has just kind of been there in the back ground for most of my life. I absolutely loved listening to this...I would absolutely recommend this to everybody. it's just a really good "listen".

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    5 out of 5 stars
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loved it<br />

l really enjoyed listening to her story. it's nice to know who's behind the image.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Like having a coffee with a good friend ...

What made the experience of listening to Spectacles the most enjoyable?

Sue Perkins undertaking the narration herself.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sue Perkins? Why or why not?

Maybe ...this was a fairly simple, straightforward tale. I listened to it because it was a Book Club choice and I wouldn't normally purchase this type of thing. I think it would need to be something a bit more involved to attract me to buy again.

What about Sue Perkins’s performance did you like?

Yes - Sue was wonderful, and was what really made the book. If I read the book on it's own I'm not sure it would have held me enough to finish it. But listening to Sue was like having coffee with a wonderful, entertaining, funny friend every day. She made me laugh and she made me cry ...it was wonderful listening to her.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment when she realised in being over zealous in a comedy show that she had actually fairly deeply hurt some people running a charity in Wales. I had huge admiration for her that she (a) realised what she'd done and it affected her deeply, (b) wrote about it in her book from the perspective 'I made a huge mistake that deeply hurt people, and I'm truly sorry'. For a celeb to do this and not simply brush it off with a bunch of flowers and then move on, made Sue into a person I would love to meet/call friend. There was absolutely no need for her to mention that incident to the volumes of people who will read this book, and I'm very glad that she did.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this as a bit of light relief - it was funny, it was moving, but listening to Sue tell the story herself is - for me personally - better than reading it. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

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just brilliant

I needed a book to cheer me up and this was perfect. For so much of it I felt like I was listening to a version of my teen years, with my inner dialogue. But then with all the other adventures, just so funny. Thank you Sue, like French & Saunders, you & Mel have been an utter joy. ❤

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

equal amounts of laughter & tears

2nd time that I tried to listen to this and so very pleased that I did. Beautiful.

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