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Fourth Estate My Family The Memoir.
A searingly honest, funny and moving family memoir in which David Baddiel exposes his mother’s idiosyncratic sex life, and his father’s dementia, to the same affectionate scrutiny
On the surface, David Baddiel’s childhood was fairly a lower-middle-class Jewish family living in an ordinary house in Dollis Hill, north-west London. But David came to realise that his mother was in fact not ordinary at all. Having escaped extermination by fleeing Nazi Germany as a child, she was desperate to make her life count, which took the form of a passionate, decades-long affair with a golfing memorabilia salesman. David’s detailing of the affair – including a hilarious focus on how his mother turned their household over to golf memorabilia, and an eye-popping cache of her erotic writings – leads to the inescapable conclusion that Sarah Baddiel was a cross between Jack Niklaus and Erica Jong.
Meanwhile, as Baddiel investigates his family’s past, his father’s memories are fading; dementia is making him moodier and more disinhibited, with an even greater penchant for obscenity. As with his mother’s affair, there is both comedy and poignancy to be laughter is a constant presence, capable of transforming the darkest of experiences into something redemptive.
My The Memoir is David Baddiel’s candid examination of his childhood, family and memory offering a twisted love letter to his parents.
On the surface, David Baddiel’s childhood was fairly a lower-middle-class Jewish family living in an ordinary house in Dollis Hill, north-west London. But David came to realise that his mother was in fact not ordinary at all. Having escaped extermination by fleeing Nazi Germany as a child, she was desperate to make her life count, which took the form of a passionate, decades-long affair with a golfing memorabilia salesman. David’s detailing of the affair – including a hilarious focus on how his mother turned their household over to golf memorabilia, and an eye-popping cache of her erotic writings – leads to the inescapable conclusion that Sarah Baddiel was a cross between Jack Niklaus and Erica Jong.
Meanwhile, as Baddiel investigates his family’s past, his father’s memories are fading; dementia is making him moodier and more disinhibited, with an even greater penchant for obscenity. As with his mother’s affair, there is both comedy and poignancy to be laughter is a constant presence, capable of transforming the darkest of experiences into something redemptive.
My The Memoir is David Baddiel’s candid examination of his childhood, family and memory offering a twisted love letter to his parents.
368 pages, Paperback
Published May 22, 2025
128 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
David Baddiel
85 books446 followersDavid Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter. Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. He grew up in grew up in Dollis Hill, Willesden, North London.
After studying at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, he read English at King's College, Cambridge and graduated with a double first. He began studies for a PhD in English at University College London, but did not complete it.
Baddiel became a cabaret stand-up comedian after leaving university and also wrote sketches and jokes for various radio series. His first television appearance came in a bit-part on one episode of the showbiz satire, Filthy, Rich and Catflap. In 1988, he was introduced to Rob Newman, a comic impressionist, and the two became a writing partnership. They were subsequently paired up with the partnership of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis for a new topical comedy show for BBC Radio 1 called The Mary Whitehouse Experience, and its success led to a transfer to television, shooting Baddiel to fame.
He has written four novels: Time for Bed, Whatever Love Means, The Secret Purposes and The Death of Eli Gold.
Baddiel has two children, both born in Westminster, London, with his girlfriend, Morwenna Banks.
After studying at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, he read English at King's College, Cambridge and graduated with a double first. He began studies for a PhD in English at University College London, but did not complete it.
Baddiel became a cabaret stand-up comedian after leaving university and also wrote sketches and jokes for various radio series. His first television appearance came in a bit-part on one episode of the showbiz satire, Filthy, Rich and Catflap. In 1988, he was introduced to Rob Newman, a comic impressionist, and the two became a writing partnership. They were subsequently paired up with the partnership of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis for a new topical comedy show for BBC Radio 1 called The Mary Whitehouse Experience, and its success led to a transfer to television, shooting Baddiel to fame.
He has written four novels: Time for Bed, Whatever Love Means, The Secret Purposes and The Death of Eli Gold.
Baddiel has two children, both born in Westminster, London, with his girlfriend, Morwenna Banks.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
August 21, 2024
I listened to the audiobook of this, which is a medium I usually avoid because my focus tends to wander. But over the summer I had two twelve-hour car journeys to make. Now I'm sure if you're a Texan that's just nipping to the shops and back for a pint of milk, but for a European like me it's a gargantuan undertaking requiring several weeks of psychological preparation.
Part of which was downloading this. I thought it might work for me better than some, since it's narrated by the author, who knows how to deliver a good monologue – in fact, this is basically a fleshed-out text version of the one-man show he was touring with last year, My Family (Not the Sitcom). It's about his parents' infidelity, decline into dementia and eventual death, and is, as that suggests, absolutely hilarious.
Normally at this point I would quote various passages that I'd underlined while reading, but in this case I only have the dubious memory of lines that made me pull over in tears. And also, in many cases, that made me switch it off, since my kids were in the car for a lot of it, and it really isn't suitable. There is a lot about his parents' sex lives (sample email from his mum, in her seventies, to her lover: ‘MY CLITORIS IS ON FIRE!!!!!’) and a great deal of extremely strong language, the exposure to which will no doubt be used by my kids as the basis for their own generational trauma later.
Dementia is a tough subject. But golfing memorabilia is a ridiculous one, and combining the two – as this memoir does – proves incredibly productive. Like most of Baddiel's stuff, it's funny and thoughtful and intelligent and well worth your time (all twenty-four hours of it).
Part of which was downloading this. I thought it might work for me better than some, since it's narrated by the author, who knows how to deliver a good monologue – in fact, this is basically a fleshed-out text version of the one-man show he was touring with last year, My Family (Not the Sitcom). It's about his parents' infidelity, decline into dementia and eventual death, and is, as that suggests, absolutely hilarious.
Normally at this point I would quote various passages that I'd underlined while reading, but in this case I only have the dubious memory of lines that made me pull over in tears. And also, in many cases, that made me switch it off, since my kids were in the car for a lot of it, and it really isn't suitable. There is a lot about his parents' sex lives (sample email from his mum, in her seventies, to her lover: ‘MY CLITORIS IS ON FIRE!!!!!’) and a great deal of extremely strong language, the exposure to which will no doubt be used by my kids as the basis for their own generational trauma later.
Dementia is a tough subject. But golfing memorabilia is a ridiculous one, and combining the two – as this memoir does – proves incredibly productive. Like most of Baddiel's stuff, it's funny and thoughtful and intelligent and well worth your time (all twenty-four hours of it).
July 29, 2024
enjoyed this candid and sometimes funny look at his family history
August 2, 2024
I find myself fully on board with David Baddiel's core thesis in this book: that charting his family's (mainly his parents', mainly his mother's) idiosyncrasies in merciless, crystalline detail (right down to the level of multiple sections about his mother’s use of inverted commas and why it is quite so wrong) is the best memorial he can give them. Obviously, it helps that he is funny and his family are eccentric, but there is a particular horrible pain in the way that once a loved one is dead, especially if they were A Character, no-one new will ever truly understand, in that deep, hard-earned way that only many years of being in someone's innermost circle can achieve, the particular person that they were, good, bad and (usually most of all) exasperating. Except perhaps if you write a book like My Family, people will understand just a little tiny bit.
August 23, 2024
Sometimes uncomfortable, often hilarious sprawling scattergun memoir. Lots of thinking about how parenting has moved on from benign neglect to the current view of parenting as a project. Dementia, infidelity and emotional intelligence along the way. With added cats
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November 29, 2024At one point in this book DB refers to himself as a non-fiction writer, which surprises me as I’ve really enjoyed his novels (and more recent nf), and that’s not to mention his children’s books. Although not an autobiography, along the way we hear about his career, from Cambridge Footlights to stand-up, TV, screenwriting; a modern creative polymath! There is also a reference to an edition of Who Do you Think You Are? - which I managed to find and watch. This gives some more context about his maternal grandparents Ernst and Otti Fabian, and baby Sarah, fleeing from Nazi Germany in 1939, and his South Walean paternal family. But the book mostly focuses on David and his brother’s lives in North West London from the 1970’s up to the deaths of Sarah and Colin Baddiel in 2015 and 2022 respectively. We are treated(?) to forensic detail about their dysfunctional marriage, Sarah’s bizarre long-term affair, their selfishness, and their declining health. I don’t know how much is written for comic effect without full editorial balance, but no doubt this unusual upbringing resulted in some residual mental trauma, channeled into David’s shock comedy style, and years of therapy!
In terms of a memoir and scrapbook, this is mostly about David’s parents, but very much not in a soft focus ‘love letter’ style (emphasis my own deliberately - if you know you know). It is in the author’s nature to wring every last laugh out of the anecdotes and artefacts that he finds, although this is often knowingly intrusive, a consequence of his unmoderated search for the ‘truth’ (ditto). By his own admission DB has an obsession with the truth, which strikes me as a familial connection to his dad Colin’s lack of a filter (before dementia exacerbated this behaviour). Does his high threshold for embarrassment & shame, and lack of self-awareness also mirror his mother? In DB’s defence, they do seem like nightmare parents, extreme even in an age before [good] parenting had been invented! All the above aren’t negatives in my mind; if you like David Baddiel and/or have any connection with the Jewish Community in ‘North London’ (enough apostrophes already!) you will love this book. It’s funny and sad, brutally honest, but avoids descending into a misery memoir.
In terms of a memoir and scrapbook, this is mostly about David’s parents, but very much not in a soft focus ‘love letter’ style (emphasis my own deliberately - if you know you know). It is in the author’s nature to wring every last laugh out of the anecdotes and artefacts that he finds, although this is often knowingly intrusive, a consequence of his unmoderated search for the ‘truth’ (ditto). By his own admission DB has an obsession with the truth, which strikes me as a familial connection to his dad Colin’s lack of a filter (before dementia exacerbated this behaviour). Does his high threshold for embarrassment & shame, and lack of self-awareness also mirror his mother? In DB’s defence, they do seem like nightmare parents, extreme even in an age before [good] parenting had been invented! All the above aren’t negatives in my mind; if you like David Baddiel and/or have any connection with the Jewish Community in ‘North London’ (enough apostrophes already!) you will love this book. It’s funny and sad, brutally honest, but avoids descending into a misery memoir.
April 19, 2025
A beautiful, funny, poignant book which I absolutely loved.
September 1, 2025
What a great read. Humour, nostalgia, truth, raw and touching.
June 30, 2025
“My mother died very suddenly. It felt like an abrupt and profound erasure, a kind of vanishing.”
I wasn’t very familiar with David Baddiel. His name, of course, was very familiar, as he seemed to be on the telly doing comedy quite a lot when I was in my early teens. I think I was too young for him, though. But I read a children’s novel of his last year, ‘Virtually Christmas’ (2022) and I thought it was very good. I then realised that he’s written a lot of stuff, both for children and for adults. ‘My Family’ (2024), our book club book this month, is probably in the latter category.
This is a brutally honest book about his parents, written after they’d both passed away, his mum very suddenly and his dad after a long period of worsening dementia. It’s devastatingly sad and at the same time the funniest book I’ve ever read. In relentless idiosyncratic detail, Baddiel succeeds in one sense to bring both his dead parents back to life. In response to the inevitable bland remarks made by friends and family at funerals about what wonderful people his mum and dad were, Baddiel manages to convey an incredibly strong sense of who they REALLY were, in all their truly distinctive and peculiar characteristics.
It was very poignant to read this book after the recent death of both my parents, who were also, in different ways to Baddiel’s, absolutely mad. My book of the year so far.
I wasn’t very familiar with David Baddiel. His name, of course, was very familiar, as he seemed to be on the telly doing comedy quite a lot when I was in my early teens. I think I was too young for him, though. But I read a children’s novel of his last year, ‘Virtually Christmas’ (2022) and I thought it was very good. I then realised that he’s written a lot of stuff, both for children and for adults. ‘My Family’ (2024), our book club book this month, is probably in the latter category.
This is a brutally honest book about his parents, written after they’d both passed away, his mum very suddenly and his dad after a long period of worsening dementia. It’s devastatingly sad and at the same time the funniest book I’ve ever read. In relentless idiosyncratic detail, Baddiel succeeds in one sense to bring both his dead parents back to life. In response to the inevitable bland remarks made by friends and family at funerals about what wonderful people his mum and dad were, Baddiel manages to convey an incredibly strong sense of who they REALLY were, in all their truly distinctive and peculiar characteristics.
It was very poignant to read this book after the recent death of both my parents, who were also, in different ways to Baddiel’s, absolutely mad. My book of the year so far.
August 4, 2024
Listened on Audible.
A heartwarming story of his family, in particular, his parents’ marriage, which you might think an odd thing to describe, in quite a lot of detail, but actually comes across very well.
Appreciated David describing the photos that are in the book, which are obviously not available with an audiobook - these are quite funny in itself.
Honest and humorous in equal measure, even when you think it probably shouldn’t be.
A heartwarming story of his family, in particular, his parents’ marriage, which you might think an odd thing to describe, in quite a lot of detail, but actually comes across very well.
Appreciated David describing the photos that are in the book, which are obviously not available with an audiobook - these are quite funny in itself.
Honest and humorous in equal measure, even when you think it probably shouldn’t be.
July 11, 2024
4.5 🌟 Half a point deducted for the audiobook not having pdf access to all the photos that are in the hard copy of the book! He ends up having to describe the photos for the audiobook which isn’t quite the same. Otherwise witty (as you’d expect), shocking 🤣, and quite thoughtful and philosophical. A lovely insight into David’s life with his “challenging” parents. (Quotation marks on purpose IYKYK!)
May 16, 2025
David Baddiel is incredibly good company in this audiobook. It made me laugh and cry. I felt like I was missing out by not having the physical book because it is full of photos of his family and his mum’s golf memorabilia, but I love the way that Baddiel stops reading at these moments and casually and unscriptedly describes the image, like a rambling and lovingly composed HTML alt attribute. He invited me to go and look at the images in a bookshop, which I might well do.
This is the book version of his My Family: Not the Sitcom theatre show. It’s mostly about his parents, Sarah and Colin Baddiel, a bit about his brothers, Ivan and Dan. Sarah had a long-running affair with a man called David White, a pipe-smoking golfing enthusiast and memorabilia dealer. Colin seemed not to notice or care. Both of them were neglectful by today’s parenting standards, but, as Nora Ephron would say, they provide good copy. Sarah was shameless in the broadcasting of her sexuality (“My clitoris is on fire!”). David admits he spent much of his 30s in therapy. Sarah died 7 years before her husband, who had dementia and Pick’s disease, which exaggerated his worst qualities of rudeness and swearing - often hilariously.
I’ve always liked David Baddiel. He played an important part in the formation of my sense of humour via The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Fantasy Football League with Frank Skinner. I remember that my brother, Gregory, read his first novel, Time for Bed, which seems to be the thinly fictionalized version of this memoir. I admire his thoughtfulness and honesty. He admits in this book that he has to tell the truth and lacks the common Jewish trait of shame, which leads to some funny anecdotes about his life as a celebrity.
I zoomed through this book in a few days, often smiling and laughing as I listened on my daily walks around the estate. It’s touching and moving - particularly towards the end when he describes the death of both his parents and a beloved cat. But some of the biggest laughs come in these dark times. May you live a long life. What a great hang!
This is the book version of his My Family: Not the Sitcom theatre show. It’s mostly about his parents, Sarah and Colin Baddiel, a bit about his brothers, Ivan and Dan. Sarah had a long-running affair with a man called David White, a pipe-smoking golfing enthusiast and memorabilia dealer. Colin seemed not to notice or care. Both of them were neglectful by today’s parenting standards, but, as Nora Ephron would say, they provide good copy. Sarah was shameless in the broadcasting of her sexuality (“My clitoris is on fire!”). David admits he spent much of his 30s in therapy. Sarah died 7 years before her husband, who had dementia and Pick’s disease, which exaggerated his worst qualities of rudeness and swearing - often hilariously.
I’ve always liked David Baddiel. He played an important part in the formation of my sense of humour via The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Fantasy Football League with Frank Skinner. I remember that my brother, Gregory, read his first novel, Time for Bed, which seems to be the thinly fictionalized version of this memoir. I admire his thoughtfulness and honesty. He admits in this book that he has to tell the truth and lacks the common Jewish trait of shame, which leads to some funny anecdotes about his life as a celebrity.
I zoomed through this book in a few days, often smiling and laughing as I listened on my daily walks around the estate. It’s touching and moving - particularly towards the end when he describes the death of both his parents and a beloved cat. But some of the biggest laughs come in these dark times. May you live a long life. What a great hang!
July 31, 2025
Rounded down from 4.5 stars.
David Baddiel continues to be one of my favourite authors and comedians. Within this auto-biography of his families life we get an insight into the complicated world of human beings. Baddiel talks about fame in one of the chapters- he depicts how fame allows only for a singular narrative instead of looking beneath the facade placed online and realising how complicated humans and our psyches are.
We as humans are dual creatures. We can be as kind as we can be cruel. As selfless as we can be selfish. Social media and the online world does not allow for us to explore the complexities of the human condition.
In addition- Baddiel strikes the perfect chord when discussing family and that is that it’s bonkers. It’s crazy and chaotic and there is always ever changing dynamics and idiosyncrasies that allow for unique characters and sit com esq situations.
David Baddiel continues to be one of my favourite authors and comedians. Within this auto-biography of his families life we get an insight into the complicated world of human beings. Baddiel talks about fame in one of the chapters- he depicts how fame allows only for a singular narrative instead of looking beneath the facade placed online and realising how complicated humans and our psyches are.
We as humans are dual creatures. We can be as kind as we can be cruel. As selfless as we can be selfish. Social media and the online world does not allow for us to explore the complexities of the human condition.
In addition- Baddiel strikes the perfect chord when discussing family and that is that it’s bonkers. It’s crazy and chaotic and there is always ever changing dynamics and idiosyncrasies that allow for unique characters and sit com esq situations.
August 2, 2024
This was bloody brilliant! By turns heartbreaking, hilarious, absurd and incredibly honest. It chronicles his life growing up, including his mum’s long running and well known affair, his dad‘s dementia and his everlasting love of cats. Highly recommend! But make sure you’re comfortable with swearing and knowing a great deal of detail about David Baddiel’s parent’s sex lives!
April 3, 2025
Great read! Resonated for me as Baddiel looks back over his time with his parents, including a dad with dementia.
I was a fan of him on TV in the early 90s and loved his fiction book 'Time for Bed'.
He's a great writer and how he managed so much humour in here, particularly during really poignant moments...well, I just loved it.
I was a fan of him on TV in the early 90s and loved his fiction book 'Time for Bed'.
He's a great writer and how he managed so much humour in here, particularly during really poignant moments...well, I just loved it.
October 11, 2024
Great audiobook, very very entertaining 👍🏼
November 17, 2024
Listened to the audio books. Perfect blend of pathos and humour. Some very laugh out loud moments of notable outrageousness. Sweary so if that bothers you, don't read.
April 30, 2025
Listened to the audiobook and laughed out loud so much. Absolutely would recommend
Read
May 31, 2025Really interesting read about his upbringing and family dynamics
September 15, 2024
I found this surprisingly moving. Funny, sad, complicated, brutally honest.
December 24, 2024
Entertaining, funny and insightful
September 4, 2024
I loved this book, it’s an incredibly candid look into a family. It has moments that will make you cry as well as moments that are so mental all you can do is read on.
It’s a beautiful look into a family and all the lives that are in it.
Definitely one to read!
It’s a beautiful look into a family and all the lives that are in it.
Definitely one to read!
October 31, 2024
I actually don’t care about this man
August 30, 2024
David Baddiel's 'My Family' is quite an amusing read, offering lots of laughs, but I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for his mum. Some parts of the book came across as somewhat humiliating. On the other hand, it was comforting to see the familiar quirks of a dysfunctional, crazy Jewish family, reminding me I was not alone. My only real gripe with the Audible version is that it didn’t include a downloadable PDF of the photos, which are frequently described in the book, leaving me unable to fully appreciate the visuals he references.
August 21, 2024
Funny, moving, honest. Lots of bad language and embarrassing parental sex. Also lots of interesting bits about language (and how it should be written) and dementia and how it manifests. I feel a bit like I've got to know David Baddiel through his recollections of his parents and growing up with(out) them. Recommended .
August 24, 2024
I really enjoyed this. Definitely an example of in the specific you find the universal. Parents and families are so mad and eccentric that this book rang far more true to me than most fictionalised portrayals of family life. Of course the specificity of the eccentricities of David Baddiel’s parents are off the charts, hilariously retold. Particularly “my lover of 20 years”, the golf, the hoarding and the swearing. I think he very much he achieves his stated aim of bringing them to life with a meaningful eulogy.
He flirts with the idea that he’s on the spectrum at the start of this book. I am quite stuck wondering how his view of his parents would be impacted if he realised how they were very likely neurodivergent (a shopping list of red flags from my point of view). I hope that’s what he writes his next book about.
4.5⭐️
He flirts with the idea that he’s on the spectrum at the start of this book. I am quite stuck wondering how his view of his parents would be impacted if he realised how they were very likely neurodivergent (a shopping list of red flags from my point of view). I hope that’s what he writes his next book about.
4.5⭐️
January 17, 2025
Very engaging and honest, though a little too repetitive. Could certainly have been edited back from 359 pages to 280.
August 4, 2024
The story of his life through memories of his parents. Many laugh out loud moments about both of his parents and their various idiosyncrasies.
July 9, 2024
All the usual expectations of a memoir should be put aside before you read this book, this is not a generic celebrity memoir. It would be accurate to say that it is a memoir of David’s parents (hence the title being My Family) and David is more of a bystander in his own book, nearly all of what you learn about David from reading is only revealed in relation to those around him. However, this means that it is a refreshingly different format for a memoir but it does also mean that you both learn a lot about David but also very little. The reader learns the intimate, inner workings of the Baddiel family with particular focus on his Mother’s 20 year affair and his Father’s Dementia and Pick’s Disease diagnosis but you won’t learn anything too in-depth about David’s comedy career. There were a few chapters where he discussed his own career, life and interests with minimal mention of his parents but he didn’t really delve much into himself unless it related to one of his parents.
It's a little like reading someone’s therapy diary and it is mentioned by David that he has a lot of therapy which is evident throughout the book as there is a lot of self-reflection and self-analysis of how his parents’ behaviour impacted him and shaped his personality. I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the book and found it really interesting, it elevated the book above the usual generic autobiographies that list life and career milestones and achievements in a purely factual way. Instead this book had searingly honest reflections and anecdotes of an unusual and at times dysfunctional upbringing.
David repeatedly references his need for truth and honesty and there is no doubt that he has been that throughout this book but there were times where I felt a little uneasy and found myself questioning whether his parents would be happy with him sharing quite so much detail (for example his Mum’s sexy selfie) with the reader. I also kept wondering what David White would make of his inclusion within the book as he is arguably another main character and this is often his story too. I understand and acknowledge these feelings are totally on me as David does cover off this topic within the book and justifies his reasoning for doing so as he feels that his Mum would have enjoyed it and his Dad wouldn’t have cared either way.
If you have seen the show ‘My Family: Not the Sitcom’ then a lot of the content surrounding his Mum’s affair and her obsession with golf will be familiar with you, this book is an extension of the show with added photographs and more detail. I particularly liked that David included photographs throughout the book and thought that these really brought the stories to life and illustrated his anecdotes.
If I were to find criticism with the book it would be that I felt the writing style was occasionally difficult to read, it was written how it would be spoken and at times this made it feel as though it didn’t flow. The book has a slightly academic tone to it and I felt there was a lot of over-explaining things such as punctuation and occasionally jokes and it got a little tedious and felt as though he thought the reader was stupid.
I really enjoyed this book, having previously seen the show I looked forward to reading the book and had it in my list of saved books from when I first saw it advertised, it didn’t disappoint, I enjoyed the honesty, the reflection and depth, it is at times very funny and at other times very sad, I both laughed and sobbed whilst reading it. I highly recommend it, even if your family story isn’t as unusual as David’s I think most people would connect with the assessment of the impact that your parents have had on your personality.
It's a little like reading someone’s therapy diary and it is mentioned by David that he has a lot of therapy which is evident throughout the book as there is a lot of self-reflection and self-analysis of how his parents’ behaviour impacted him and shaped his personality. I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the book and found it really interesting, it elevated the book above the usual generic autobiographies that list life and career milestones and achievements in a purely factual way. Instead this book had searingly honest reflections and anecdotes of an unusual and at times dysfunctional upbringing.
David repeatedly references his need for truth and honesty and there is no doubt that he has been that throughout this book but there were times where I felt a little uneasy and found myself questioning whether his parents would be happy with him sharing quite so much detail (for example his Mum’s sexy selfie) with the reader. I also kept wondering what David White would make of his inclusion within the book as he is arguably another main character and this is often his story too. I understand and acknowledge these feelings are totally on me as David does cover off this topic within the book and justifies his reasoning for doing so as he feels that his Mum would have enjoyed it and his Dad wouldn’t have cared either way.
If you have seen the show ‘My Family: Not the Sitcom’ then a lot of the content surrounding his Mum’s affair and her obsession with golf will be familiar with you, this book is an extension of the show with added photographs and more detail. I particularly liked that David included photographs throughout the book and thought that these really brought the stories to life and illustrated his anecdotes.
If I were to find criticism with the book it would be that I felt the writing style was occasionally difficult to read, it was written how it would be spoken and at times this made it feel as though it didn’t flow. The book has a slightly academic tone to it and I felt there was a lot of over-explaining things such as punctuation and occasionally jokes and it got a little tedious and felt as though he thought the reader was stupid.
I really enjoyed this book, having previously seen the show I looked forward to reading the book and had it in my list of saved books from when I first saw it advertised, it didn’t disappoint, I enjoyed the honesty, the reflection and depth, it is at times very funny and at other times very sad, I both laughed and sobbed whilst reading it. I highly recommend it, even if your family story isn’t as unusual as David’s I think most people would connect with the assessment of the impact that your parents have had on your personality.
August 12, 2025
For those who attended the Jewish Literary Festival 2025 in Cape Town, David Baddiel, as keynote speaker, was a breath of fresh air with his irreverent, unapologetic humour. Comedian, author, screenwriter, and popular UK television presenter, he made his mark.
My Family is his memoir and the blurb largely sums it up: A searingly honest, funny and moving family memoir in which David Baddiel exposes his mother’s idiosyncratic sex life and his father’s dementia to the same affectionate scrutiny.
It is exactly that. Having heard some in his comedy routine, there was a familiarity about the content but this is the deep dive with some surprising revelations.
His mother Sara had a longstanding affair with a golfer named David White and became a purveyor (successfully) of golfing memorabilia. Common knowledge in the Baddiel household, except it seems, to her husband, bad tempered scientist turned Dinky Toy collector and salesman, Colin Baddiel. He appeared to be blissfully ignorant. Sara was very open about sex – and her exploits - not your normal 1960s Mum. Pornographic magazines were easily accessible - revelatory for David and his two brothers. Their home in Dollis Hill was chaotic with Colin’s rants, cursing and furious behaviour, which ramped up with his dementia. Sara’s absolute self-absorption did not abate as she grew older.
No surprise then that David opted for a theatrical career, which he admits was probably to seek approval – after all his parents barely acknowledged his acceptance to Cambridge University, his successes on the comedy circuit, his writing career, rise to fame. No Jewish qvell for him. I wonder perhaps if it wasn’t that generation (he’s now in his 60s) but admittedly the outrageous material gathered from them has given him an edge.
Of the many Sara anecdotes this one rather took the cake: she insisted David’s first born was called Question Mark until he accepted one of the names she and Colin suggested. The given name of Dolly was ‘not a name’ to the parents. Side bar from my own memories – my Dad, who hailed from Hendon, always called me Dolly as a term of endearment. What’s not to love?
David is driven, which perhaps is as a result of this unconventional upbringing – an achiever of note – a seeker of truth, a nemesis landing him in bizarre situations. So much so that his wife Morwenna (also a comedian) has been known to say – ‘Have you ever thought about saying the second thing that come into your head?’ Perhaps he is ‘on the spectrum’ but why label him - he’s different and that’s OK. It’s endearing. I detected no malice in his recounting but bemusement, amusement, astonishment.
‘My Family’ is a conversation, meandering, peppered with expletives, side bars, photographs and footnotes (which normally I might gloss over but, in this instance, definitely not). We are privy to musings, embarrassing moments, warts and all. Which add to the richness of the story. Because it is rich, it is poignant, evocative, hilarious in parts, sad in others. A memorial to both his parents - a no holds barred reeling out of the good, the bad and the downright ugly. His way of laying to rest a past that has given him his present. A riveting read.
My Family is his memoir and the blurb largely sums it up: A searingly honest, funny and moving family memoir in which David Baddiel exposes his mother’s idiosyncratic sex life and his father’s dementia to the same affectionate scrutiny.
It is exactly that. Having heard some in his comedy routine, there was a familiarity about the content but this is the deep dive with some surprising revelations.
His mother Sara had a longstanding affair with a golfer named David White and became a purveyor (successfully) of golfing memorabilia. Common knowledge in the Baddiel household, except it seems, to her husband, bad tempered scientist turned Dinky Toy collector and salesman, Colin Baddiel. He appeared to be blissfully ignorant. Sara was very open about sex – and her exploits - not your normal 1960s Mum. Pornographic magazines were easily accessible - revelatory for David and his two brothers. Their home in Dollis Hill was chaotic with Colin’s rants, cursing and furious behaviour, which ramped up with his dementia. Sara’s absolute self-absorption did not abate as she grew older.
No surprise then that David opted for a theatrical career, which he admits was probably to seek approval – after all his parents barely acknowledged his acceptance to Cambridge University, his successes on the comedy circuit, his writing career, rise to fame. No Jewish qvell for him. I wonder perhaps if it wasn’t that generation (he’s now in his 60s) but admittedly the outrageous material gathered from them has given him an edge.
Of the many Sara anecdotes this one rather took the cake: she insisted David’s first born was called Question Mark until he accepted one of the names she and Colin suggested. The given name of Dolly was ‘not a name’ to the parents. Side bar from my own memories – my Dad, who hailed from Hendon, always called me Dolly as a term of endearment. What’s not to love?
David is driven, which perhaps is as a result of this unconventional upbringing – an achiever of note – a seeker of truth, a nemesis landing him in bizarre situations. So much so that his wife Morwenna (also a comedian) has been known to say – ‘Have you ever thought about saying the second thing that come into your head?’ Perhaps he is ‘on the spectrum’ but why label him - he’s different and that’s OK. It’s endearing. I detected no malice in his recounting but bemusement, amusement, astonishment.
‘My Family’ is a conversation, meandering, peppered with expletives, side bars, photographs and footnotes (which normally I might gloss over but, in this instance, definitely not). We are privy to musings, embarrassing moments, warts and all. Which add to the richness of the story. Because it is rich, it is poignant, evocative, hilarious in parts, sad in others. A memorial to both his parents - a no holds barred reeling out of the good, the bad and the downright ugly. His way of laying to rest a past that has given him his present. A riveting read.
November 20, 2024
'Alone I sit, I could be elsewhere But I choose to stay home to talk to you. But can you hear me? '
About the book -
This book is memoir which is honest , funny and moving.
At first glance, David's upbringing appeared to be quite typical: that of a Jewish family from the lower middle class who lived in a typical home in Dollis Hill, northwest London. However, he realized that his mother was everything but normal. She was desperate to turn her life around after escaping Nazi Germany as a child and escaping extinction, which led to a passionate, multi-decade relationship with a golf memorabilia merchant. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Sarah Baddiel was a hybrid of Jack Nicklaus and Erica Jong after reading David's account of the affair, which includes a comic focus on his mother devoting their home over to golf equipment and an eye-popping stockpile of her romantic writings.
What I liked about this book -
.There is humor and poignancy to be discovered, just as with his mother's affair: laughter is a constant presence that can turn even the most terrible situations into something redeeming.
.Here David Baddiel offers a perverse love letter to his parents while candidly examining his early years, family, and memories.
What more this book offers-
Author talked about Erica Jong's mantra early in this book, which is that being famous means that a lot of people will have the erroneous idea about you. However, because nobody knows you well, fame only makes the misery that already exists for everyone worse.
Happy Reading
About the book -
This book is memoir which is honest , funny and moving.
At first glance, David's upbringing appeared to be quite typical: that of a Jewish family from the lower middle class who lived in a typical home in Dollis Hill, northwest London. However, he realized that his mother was everything but normal. She was desperate to turn her life around after escaping Nazi Germany as a child and escaping extinction, which led to a passionate, multi-decade relationship with a golf memorabilia merchant. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Sarah Baddiel was a hybrid of Jack Nicklaus and Erica Jong after reading David's account of the affair, which includes a comic focus on his mother devoting their home over to golf equipment and an eye-popping stockpile of her romantic writings.
What I liked about this book -
.There is humor and poignancy to be discovered, just as with his mother's affair: laughter is a constant presence that can turn even the most terrible situations into something redeeming.
.Here David Baddiel offers a perverse love letter to his parents while candidly examining his early years, family, and memories.
What more this book offers-
Author talked about Erica Jong's mantra early in this book, which is that being famous means that a lot of people will have the erroneous idea about you. However, because nobody knows you well, fame only makes the misery that already exists for everyone worse.
Happy Reading
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