Rising to the Surface cover art

Rising to the Surface

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Rising to the Surface

By: Lenny Henry
Narrated by: Lenny Henry
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About this listen

Rising to the Surface traces Lenny Henry's career through the '80s and '90s. The 16-year-old who won a talent competition now has to navigate his way through the seas of professional comedy, learning his craft through sheer graft and hard work.

We follow Lenny through a period of great creativity—prize-winning TV programmes, summer seasons across Britain, the starring role in a Hollywood film, stand-up gigs in New York and a gala wedding to Dawn French. But with each rise, there is a fall, the most traumatic being the death of his mother. But by the end of the book, he has been able to rise through a sea of troubles and breaks out to the surface to accept the Golden Rose of Montreaux for his work in television.

©2022 Lenny Henry (P)2022 Faber & Faber
Entertainment & Celebrities Performing Arts Comedy Celebrity Heartfelt Inspiring Funny Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant
Was a nice follow up from lennies last book , a bit of a list of different shows and career moves. . But stuck with it , ended nicely sad about the loss of Lenny’s mother but a lot of us never get over the loss . But wow do we grow from their magnificent personalities and presence x

Very good

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LOVED IT, ANOTHER LOOK INTO THE LIFE OF A FUNNY MAN. HIS HONEST AND OPEN TELLING OF HIS UPS, DOWNS, JOYS AND SADNESS. REALLY ENJOYED WHO AM I, ENJOYED THIS. LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.

BRILLIANT, HONEST, FUNNY AND SAD

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I've always loved Lenny's humour and it was so nice to hear the real Lenny's life with it's ups and downs. Sometimes we forget celebrities are just people, with the same feeling we have. I will certainly listen to his other book and thank you Lenny for making us laugh throughout the years.

A brilliant insight of another celebrity

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This is a very clear and detailed account of many Henry's work in 80s, 90s and the naughties. It is so well performed as you expect.

So honest and moving

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Having grown up with Mr Henry and having parents from Wolverhampton always feel there is a little connection . Having listened to the first book I could not wait for this one and it didn’t disappoint.
Absolute respect to Lenny Henry on many many levels .

Totally absorbing

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