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Teenage Revolution
Originally published as: My favourite people and me, 1978-1988
When Alan Davies was growing up he seemed to drive his family mad. 'What are we going to do with you?' they would ask - as if he might know the answer. Perhaps it was because he came of age in the 1980s. That decade of big hair, greed, camp music, mass unemployment, social unrest and truly shameful trousers was confusing for teenagers. There was a lot to believe in - so much to stand for, or stand against - and Alan decided to join anything with the word 'anti' in it. He was looking for heroes to guide him (relatively) unscathed into adulthood. From his chronic kleptomania to the moving search for his mother's grave years after she died; from his obsession with joining (going so far as to become a member of Chickens Lib) to his first forays into making people laugh (not always intentionally); "Teenage Revolution" is a touching and funny return to the formative years that make us all.
When Alan Davies was growing up he seemed to drive his family mad. 'What are we going to do with you?' they would ask - as if he might know the answer. Perhaps it was because he came of age in the 1980s. That decade of big hair, greed, camp music, mass unemployment, social unrest and truly shameful trousers was confusing for teenagers. There was a lot to believe in - so much to stand for, or stand against - and Alan decided to join anything with the word 'anti' in it. He was looking for heroes to guide him (relatively) unscathed into adulthood. From his chronic kleptomania to the moving search for his mother's grave years after she died; from his obsession with joining (going so far as to become a member of Chickens Lib) to his first forays into making people laugh (not always intentionally); "Teenage Revolution" is a touching and funny return to the formative years that make us all.
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
42 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Alan Davies
129 books157 followersAlan Davies is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He has played the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek since 1997, and has been the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 6, 2010
I didn't enjoy this as much as I was expecting to .. mainly because it wasn't quite my era and also because I'm female and this is written very much from a male adolescents point of view (obviously) .. hence lots of drooling over Debbie Harry and Chrissy Hynde etc etc. There are also tons of references to Arsenal football club and as a Spurs supporter I can't condone that .. a lot of his 'favourite people' are former Arsenal players. Other favourites are more diverse ranging from Margaret Thatcher to Michael Foot and Arthur Scargill!! .. though he is at pains to point out that he wasn't very politically aware when Margaret came to power and was just emulating his father's political views.
I love Alan on QI, and there is a lot of his trademark dry wit here, the book is very easy to read. The reader doesn't learn much about his personal life, and there aren't many photo's ... it really is a social commentary about the late 70's - 80's and if you happened to be 12 in 1978 (and preferably a boy), then this is the book for you.
I would have rated it higher but .. despite the drooling .. one of his 'favourite people' wasn't Kate Bush .. unforgiveable!
I love Alan on QI, and there is a lot of his trademark dry wit here, the book is very easy to read. The reader doesn't learn much about his personal life, and there aren't many photo's ... it really is a social commentary about the late 70's - 80's and if you happened to be 12 in 1978 (and preferably a boy), then this is the book for you.
I would have rated it higher but .. despite the drooling .. one of his 'favourite people' wasn't Kate Bush .. unforgiveable!
March 24, 2015
I love Alan Davies to bits, don't get me wrong, but if you're looking for a book to make you laugh, this probably isn't it. It is fairly light-hearted and comic in part, but it should be read mostly by people who genuinely want to know what makes him tick, or people who grew up in the '80s. I myself fall in to the first two categories; I wanted a laugh but I was honestly curious about his youth. Alan Davies is an interesting and funny man, and is perhaps more willing to talk about his childhood/teens than other comedians out there because it really moulded him as a person, which is evident in this book. There's occasionally been some controversy surrounding him, but he is authentic. He knows what he believes, and his heart is in the right place.
March 30, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. And it has got to be because I'm a male several years older than Alan Davies.
Some of his favourite people are people I know. A lot of them are not and quite a a few of the topics are things I'm not normally interested in -- British politics and football (soccer) regardless of where it is being played. Still, I like Mr. Davies' writing style and each chapter, regardless of the topic, was told in a manner -- or had a life story within it -- that made it interesting and often funny.
Some of his favourite people are people I know. A lot of them are not and quite a a few of the topics are things I'm not normally interested in -- British politics and football (soccer) regardless of where it is being played. Still, I like Mr. Davies' writing style and each chapter, regardless of the topic, was told in a manner -- or had a life story within it -- that made it interesting and often funny.
January 17, 2022
I'll be brutally honest and say that I found this book boring.
The blurb interested me, it positioned itself as a look at the heroes of Alan's childhood/teenage years mixed against the backdrop of 1980's Britain with mass unemployment, strikes and questionable fashion choices. I'm 20 years younger than Alan but I didn't think that this would be an issue as I've previously read many books covering the 70's and 80's and found the cultural reference points to be familiar and easy to connect with. I was wrong. Some of the 'heroes' listed are niche and would probably only be known by those who were there in the 1980's, which limits the book in my opinion to an audience who were born between approximately 1965 and 1979.
I felt there were far too many chapters focused on football and footballers of the 1980's, these chapters were hard going with dry descriptions of matches and lacking anything to draw in those who didn't know who the person is. Some of his 'heroes' left me wanting to give up on the book early on such as Margaret Thatcher and Woody Allen, although he did redeem himself in my eyes with regards to Margaret Thatcher and become a Labour Supporter later on.
My main issue with the book is that Alan doesn't come across as a very nice person. I've read other reviews and no one else mentions this so maybe it's just me who felt like this way. He regularly stole from his babysitter's purse and he writes of shouting racist abuse at a local shopkeeper and these things left me not liking young Alan, I'm sure he may have grown up and learnt the error of his ways but judging purely on this book which ends when Alan is around 18, at 18 he is still a compulsive liar who has lied about how his car came to be crashed in to a local shop.
I'd avoid unless you were born between 1965 and 1979 and also really like football. Sadly this book wasn't for me.
The blurb interested me, it positioned itself as a look at the heroes of Alan's childhood/teenage years mixed against the backdrop of 1980's Britain with mass unemployment, strikes and questionable fashion choices. I'm 20 years younger than Alan but I didn't think that this would be an issue as I've previously read many books covering the 70's and 80's and found the cultural reference points to be familiar and easy to connect with. I was wrong. Some of the 'heroes' listed are niche and would probably only be known by those who were there in the 1980's, which limits the book in my opinion to an audience who were born between approximately 1965 and 1979.
I felt there were far too many chapters focused on football and footballers of the 1980's, these chapters were hard going with dry descriptions of matches and lacking anything to draw in those who didn't know who the person is. Some of his 'heroes' left me wanting to give up on the book early on such as Margaret Thatcher and Woody Allen, although he did redeem himself in my eyes with regards to Margaret Thatcher and become a Labour Supporter later on.
My main issue with the book is that Alan doesn't come across as a very nice person. I've read other reviews and no one else mentions this so maybe it's just me who felt like this way. He regularly stole from his babysitter's purse and he writes of shouting racist abuse at a local shopkeeper and these things left me not liking young Alan, I'm sure he may have grown up and learnt the error of his ways but judging purely on this book which ends when Alan is around 18, at 18 he is still a compulsive liar who has lied about how his car came to be crashed in to a local shop.
I'd avoid unless you were born between 1965 and 1979 and also really like football. Sadly this book wasn't for me.
January 6, 2016
Teenage Revolution by Alan Davies is, for me, one of those unexpectedly wonderful bookish discoveries.
I obtained my copy at one of his stand-up gigs in the UK. Having already seen the documentary series (which I really enjoyed), it seemed only right that I should also read the book.
I practically inhaled it. I started it the night after the gig. I was holidaying in the UK at the time, and I found myself sneaking in a few pages here and there, in between all the touristy stuff I was doing, over the next few days. Then it was wholly devoured on a return train journey from York to London. I just couldn't get enough of it, and I felt somewhat lost when I actually finished it and there was nothing more of it to read.
I mention all this because I found myself enjoying it a whole lot more than I'd anticipated. It is such an easy, interesting, and endearing look at growing up in England over three decades (but with an emphasis on the 1980s). And even though I grew up tens of thousands of miles away in Australia, and had my own "teenage revolution" some ten to fifteen years later, I found that Davies' story resonated with me and my own early life experience: The loss of a parent when young, the inability to make friends easily, the feeling of never quite fitting in, the search for purpose and a sense of belonging to something - anything - simply struck a chord with me. Davies' perspective on what made him the person he is today helped me consider and discover my own.
So, this unexpected purchase at a comedy gig has ended up as one of the most important reads of my life. It made me laugh a lot, and at other times, it made me cry like a baby. I just love this book. I will always love this book.
I obtained my copy at one of his stand-up gigs in the UK. Having already seen the documentary series (which I really enjoyed), it seemed only right that I should also read the book.
I practically inhaled it. I started it the night after the gig. I was holidaying in the UK at the time, and I found myself sneaking in a few pages here and there, in between all the touristy stuff I was doing, over the next few days. Then it was wholly devoured on a return train journey from York to London. I just couldn't get enough of it, and I felt somewhat lost when I actually finished it and there was nothing more of it to read.
I mention all this because I found myself enjoying it a whole lot more than I'd anticipated. It is such an easy, interesting, and endearing look at growing up in England over three decades (but with an emphasis on the 1980s). And even though I grew up tens of thousands of miles away in Australia, and had my own "teenage revolution" some ten to fifteen years later, I found that Davies' story resonated with me and my own early life experience: The loss of a parent when young, the inability to make friends easily, the feeling of never quite fitting in, the search for purpose and a sense of belonging to something - anything - simply struck a chord with me. Davies' perspective on what made him the person he is today helped me consider and discover my own.
So, this unexpected purchase at a comedy gig has ended up as one of the most important reads of my life. It made me laugh a lot, and at other times, it made me cry like a baby. I just love this book. I will always love this book.
March 12, 2018
I loved Jonathan Creek and Alan's contributions to QI so I was looking forward to reading about his formative years. I just couldn't really connect with this. There were pockets of interest for me, but it was a bit sports heavy for me and I did find myself skimming through. The moments where his family are mentioned were nice to read, but few and far between.
December 30, 2019
The relative low rating is not because this is a bad book but rather because I was not the right reader for it.
I picked it up because I have seen the author live on stage a few times and have watched him in QI and have enjoyed his work.
I expected a memoir which this book is though it is structured around him talking about people he admired in his youth. Unfortunately for me this included a LOT of sporting people- especially soccer.
Even when a chapter wasn’t about a sports person, he still managed to talk about sport. Sports teams and individuals are not my thing, so by the tail end of the book I was skimming over these chapters- something I rarely do when reading a book.
Davies and I are of a similar age so some of the people in entertainment that he spoke about were relevant to me but having not grown up in the UK some of the politicians he covered were either a mystery to me or l only had vague notions about.
Like I said - not a bad book but just not a right fit for me.
I picked it up because I have seen the author live on stage a few times and have watched him in QI and have enjoyed his work.
I expected a memoir which this book is though it is structured around him talking about people he admired in his youth. Unfortunately for me this included a LOT of sporting people- especially soccer.
Even when a chapter wasn’t about a sports person, he still managed to talk about sport. Sports teams and individuals are not my thing, so by the tail end of the book I was skimming over these chapters- something I rarely do when reading a book.
Davies and I are of a similar age so some of the people in entertainment that he spoke about were relevant to me but having not grown up in the UK some of the politicians he covered were either a mystery to me or l only had vague notions about.
Like I said - not a bad book but just not a right fit for me.
July 27, 2020
I didn’t see the tv show that this book inspired but very much wish I had. Being a similar age and coming from Essex so much about this was familiar and funny. Remarkably honest, it described so well the turbulence of teenage years where first choices aren’t always the right ones. Very enjoyable book although a bit heavy on the sporting side of his younger life.
September 16, 2021
Alan Davies grew up near me! He mentions WCHS girls, and Buckhurst Hill, and Claybury!
But he also talks a lot about bands and football, neither of which ring my doorbell.
I like him though - his stand up routine about Starsky and Hutch, Huggy Bear and the boxes remains a classic.
But he also talks a lot about bands and football, neither of which ring my doorbell.
I like him though - his stand up routine about Starsky and Hutch, Huggy Bear and the boxes remains a classic.
November 21, 2024
I enjoyed the style of writing, but this book was 60% too long and too much detail for me. Maybe just me, but I don't need to know the miniscule report of a 1981 league football game. By the time the 1986 world finals game came round to be described, I was already mostly asleep. Sorry, Alan :-/
November 3, 2019
Lovely read - Alan Davies is a very funny man and this is a description of the people and influences on him as he grew up.
September 24, 2021
Always been a fan of Alan Davies and this book just brought home where he developed his humour from. A great collections of personal stories told through 1978 to 1988. Well worth a read
October 4, 2022
Too much football! The rest was funny and charming
November 26, 2025
Great idea to have each chapter on a different inspiring person who influenced him one way or another. Love to know if he gets on with his Brother or not( suspect the latter)
August 13, 2013
This was a sort of non-literary cross between Nick Hornby's brilliant Fever Pitch and High Fidelity. At once tedious as only an adolescent male sport fan can be and deeply moving. There is a clumsy clunkiness to the way the book is put together - it is written as a series of chapters each titled with, but generally only loosely relating to some notional hero of Davies' in the 80s. So we have Margaret Thatcher, Arthur Scargill and Neil Kinnock. Beg pardon? Hero or heard of? Some of the language is seriously peculiar for memoirs - 'died after a short illness'? Well that was obviously cut and pasted.
Alan was clearly rather hard work at times growing up and lucky neither he nor others came to more grief as a result of some of his teenage (and twenty something) behaviours, unexceptional though they were. His Dad does not come off too well in the book, particularly initially - his poor mother had 'only' to offer him a choice of team football shirt and sew on a number and then die of leukaemia when he was six, his Dad though, left holding the babies, is ever present almost as the grit that created the pearl... and yet by the end we can see that although his son eventually rejects (as I would) most of his father's values, the memories he created are important and the support was there.
A lot of the appeal of the book probably demands a familiarity with the period, so no problem there for me.
Alan was clearly rather hard work at times growing up and lucky neither he nor others came to more grief as a result of some of his teenage (and twenty something) behaviours, unexceptional though they were. His Dad does not come off too well in the book, particularly initially - his poor mother had 'only' to offer him a choice of team football shirt and sew on a number and then die of leukaemia when he was six, his Dad though, left holding the babies, is ever present almost as the grit that created the pearl... and yet by the end we can see that although his son eventually rejects (as I would) most of his father's values, the memories he created are important and the support was there.
A lot of the appeal of the book probably demands a familiarity with the period, so no problem there for me.
April 16, 2021
Alan Davies is a readable and interesting writer and his sharing about celebrities he had idolized in the 80's was fascinating. Some of the English celebrities, unfortunately, were foreign to me, (as an American) however I did enjoy finding out more
August 31, 2016
Alan Davies is without a doubt one of the funniest men in Britain or anywhere. His ability to take random people and events from his youth and make them seem as important to the reader today as they were to him in his formative years is a unique talent. Davies brings the 80's to life in sport and popular culture and the way they were defined by the political and economic happenings in Britain. Davies, being a part of several movements for change gives a first-hand account. An account he delivers with a youthful optimism and truth as well as a charming sense of reflective humor. I hope he will bring more literary offerings as his writing style is engaging, intelligent and reflective. I am the same age as Alan and even though we are different sexes and grew up on different sides of the pond, I found myself identifying with a surprisingly large amount of this book. Rarely have I connected with a book like I have this one. Thanks for the trip back Mr. Davies, next time I'll remember to send myself a postcard.
June 21, 2015
This is one of the few biographies i have read so I wasn't sure what to expect, as I started i instiantly fell in love with Alan's writing style I thought it was brilliant how he started with a idol and then developed before returinging to the initial point. I thought this was done very affectivly and meant you were always intreged into what to expect next. I found Alan's story hilarious but also unexpected I never expected him to do half those things.
The thing I didn't like about this book was I was expecting it to be more comedy but instaid it was quite serious. I also found that as he was using a lot of refrences to events in his childhood, and was making jokes about them it wasn't as intreging as I wasn't aware of the events or able to relate to them the way a older reader may. So I would recomend this to an older reader who was around in 1978 - 1988 as it would be more engaging.
The thing I didn't like about this book was I was expecting it to be more comedy but instaid it was quite serious. I also found that as he was using a lot of refrences to events in his childhood, and was making jokes about them it wasn't as intreging as I wasn't aware of the events or able to relate to them the way a older reader may. So I would recomend this to an older reader who was around in 1978 - 1988 as it would be more engaging.
May 3, 2017
I only read half this book I enjoyed it less as it went on I find Alan very funny and enjoyed the bits that focused on his life but as its more about his favourite people than him it became hard to carry on. As I didnt know a lot of the people he was talking about mainly the footballers but if you where a teenager or older in the years 1978 - 88 you would probably love this I may try the chapters i missed so not a bad book but could have been so much better
August 6, 2017
I'm a big fan of Alan Davies' acting, and always enjoy him on QI, so I was excited about reading his memoir. Apart from what I considered some unnecessary political stuff and a lot of sport talk I didn't understand, I really enjoyed his book. If nothing else, it gives the reader a glimpse into what popular culture was like in England in the 80s.
I do hope he writes another book covering the next decade. I'd definitely read it.
I do hope he writes another book covering the next decade. I'd definitely read it.
June 18, 2013
I've been dipping in and out of this for several months. Really liked the structure of the book, as each year is split into chapters based around people Davies was influenced by in some way. A nostalgic read in one way but also interesting to see how his interests and political opinions were formed over time. Only parts that didn't do much for me were the football chapters, but again it was obviously an important influence in his life.
July 19, 2015
Ok, but not as good as I was hoping for. Not a huge fan of Alan Davies, though I quite like him, I thought I would identify with an Arsenal fan who grew up in the 80's ( that's me as well). Some of his stories are fun and/ or interesting, some not so much and some just feel like filler. It's a very lightweight book, told in a manner that could have been transcribed from audio recordings.
It's not bad, but there's not enough in here to really recommend it.
It's not bad, but there's not enough in here to really recommend it.
January 18, 2012
Not bad! Got a copy at his gig at the Tivoli here in Brisbane, and got him to sign it while we were there. Quite enjoyed it - Alan is a few years older than I am and I was well steeped in British pop culture as a kid/teen, so I could relate to a lot of it. The only thing was there was too much football stuff - but twas too be expected from a dude of his generation.
July 22, 2012
I love Alan Davies and after seeing his live show last year I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. But, while I got quite a few laughs, there was way too much football in it for me. Which I should have expected really, as he's a massive Arsenal fan.....I found myself skipping the football-related bits! Oh dear.....
December 29, 2013
Alan Davies is a really charismatic actor, but this book was pretty much unreadable for me. I skipped all the sports-related stuff (and there's a lot of it), but almost all his references are *very* English-based and they didn't really mean a lot to me. Certainly, he's a very funny man with a great self-deprecating style, but this was just too fragmented and obscure for me.
September 28, 2016
Yes, do give it a read if you usually enjoy his humour on TV, or if you enjoy going through popular history through the lens of a common person, written in hilariously unnecessary details (I think Alan suffers from thinking life itself is QI!). It helps if you have Alan's voice reading it to you in your head, it just makes it so much funnier.
February 13, 2011
The Book was not as bad as it could have been, however it was not great. It is comfortable when talking about the themes and the his own personal history in the nineteen eighties. But it lacks the complexity to be good. It was easy to read a Alan comes across likable.
November 2, 2011
I quite liked Alan Davies’s autobiography of his early life probably because I was born in the same era and can relate to some of his stories. There were bits that I found a tad boring but overall this is not a bad read especially for those who grew up in the 70s/80s.
December 5, 2011
I found this dull, and not as funny as I'd expected from a stand-up comedian.
He talks about his left-wing politics, but it struck me that he had the very middle-class quality of reticence - he doesn't actually tell you anything interesting.
He talks about his left-wing politics, but it struck me that he had the very middle-class quality of reticence - he doesn't actually tell you anything interesting.
June 15, 2012
Quite an enjoyable book. It has that comfy, humorous feel rather than being laugh out loud funny. I found most of it very interesting, but there was just a bit too much about sport for my taste. Each to their own I suppose, others may have found the chapters on Debbie Harry and John Lennon dull.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews