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Berserker!

The Deeply Moving and Brilliantly Funny Memoir From One of Britain's Most Beloved Comedians

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Berserker!

By: Adrian Edmondson
Narrated by: Adrian Edmondson
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About this listen

Hilariously read by the author, Adrian Edmondson.

A Financial Times Best Audio of the Year


The instant Sunday Times bestseller

From brutal schooldays to 80s anarchy, through The Young Ones, Bottom and beyond, Berserker! is the one-of-a-kind, hilarious memoir from an icon of British comedy, Adrian Edmondson.

Ade Edmondson revolutionized the comedy circuit in the 1980s and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household – and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools – end up joining the revolution?

With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy: starting out on the alternative scene, getting arrested in Soho, creating outrageously violent characters and learning more about his curious (possibly Scandinavian) heritage. With star-studded anecdotes and set to a soundtrack of pop hits which transport the reader through time, it’s a memoir like no other.

Nominated for Radio Times Moment of the Year for sharing his memories of Rik Mayall on Desert Island Discs.

'The Berserker from The Young Ones and Bottom tells his story with self-effacing charm and no end of backstage anecdotes' - Ian Rankin

'Amazing' - Richard Osman

'Gloriously candid and wise all at once' - Sara Pascoe

'It is incredibly funny, but it is also a lot, lot more than that' - Miles Jupp

‘More fun than reading Hegel, and also more enlightening’ - Louis de Bernières

Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Performing Arts Comedy Biography Celebrity Funny Witty Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Alcohol Entertainment Feel-Good

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Critic reviews

Boarding school, despair, love, music, Rik Mayall – everything Adrian Edmondson writes about makes you love him desperately (Caitlin Moran, journalist and author of How to Be a Woman)
The berserker from The Young Ones and Bottom tells his story with self-effacing charm and no end of backstage anecdotes (Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus series)
This is a bloody good book. Lots of people live interesting lives, but very few people can write genuinely interesting books about those lives. Adrian Edmondson has done both. And while it is incredibly funny, it is also a lot, lot more than that (Miles Jupp, comedian and author of History)
The bravest, most affecting celebrity book of the year
Edmondson can be very funny and very poignant simultaneously
A hilarious romp through a golden era of comedy and a searingly honest and moving memoir
Gloriously candid and wise all at once (Sara Pascoe, comedian and author of Weirdo)
More fun than reading Hegel, and also more enlightening (Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin)
Absolutely brilliant (Marina Hyde, author of What Just Happened?! and co-host of The Rest Is Entertainment)
All stars
Most relevant
Very entertaining, frequently moving.
If I ever meet Ade I will definitely not ask for an autograph or selfie or chase him through the back streets of Soho.

Just a lovely listen.

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I bought this because I am a fan and believed it would be a funny listen as it was read by the man himself but how wrong I was. This is not a jolly romp through the history of The young ones and Bottom, well it is a tiny bit. I laughed out loud a few times and smiled often but to my suprise I almost cried at some of the personal moments that we have the privilege to share. What a truly wonderfully insightful and moving book one that I related to so often.

Truly moving

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Excellent - and so much of it will particularly resonate with anyone who grew up in the same era. Thought-provoking and beautifully expressed.

Funny, moving memoir

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I loved that it was not a linear biography & how he talked about his passions & loves as much as the hard parts of his childhood. A genuinely interesting & superbly written book. I will listen again & I never do that.

A complete joy

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I really enjoyed this. I was never a fan of the young ones or bottom and didn't know much else about the author, but I enjoy autobiographies of comedians and other interesting characters and this did not disappoint. recommended!

enjoyable story

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