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Odd Boy Out
There are few people Gyles Brandreth doesn't know or hasn't met - from the queen to the Sex Pistols, Mandela and Marlene Dietrich to T. S. Eliot, he's the celebrities' celebrity, as familiar and welcome to us on radio and screens as biscuits are to a cup of tea.
Now a grandparent, looking back on his remarkable life, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (and became intimate with a matron), to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
Throughout it all, there are lessons to be learned as Gyles derives wisdom and wit from his extraordinary encounters. Full of stories and full of heart, this is Gyles as you don't yet know him.
Now a grandparent, looking back on his remarkable life, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (and became intimate with a matron), to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
Throughout it all, there are lessons to be learned as Gyles derives wisdom and wit from his extraordinary encounters. Full of stories and full of heart, this is Gyles as you don't yet know him.
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Published September 16, 2021
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About the author
Gyles Brandreth
465 books401 followersFull name: Gyles Daubeney Brandreth.
A former Oxford Scholar, President of the Oxford Union and MP for the City of Chester, Gyles Brandreth’s career has ranged from being a Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major’s government to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London’s West End. A prolific broadcaster (in programmes ranging from Just a Minute to Have I Got News for You), an acclaimed interviewer (principally for the Sunday Telegraph), a novelist, children’s author and biographer, his best-selling diary, Breaking the Code, was described as ‘By far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clark’s’ (The Times) and ‘Searingly honest, wildly indiscreet, and incredibly funny’ (Daily Mail). He is the author of two acclaimed royal biographies: Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage and Charles Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair. In 2007/2008, John Murray in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US began publishing The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries, his series of Victorian murder mysteries featuring Oscar Wilde as the detective.
As a performer, Gyles Brandreth has been seen most recently in ZIPP! ONE HUNDRED MUSICALS FOR LESS THAN THE PRICE OF ONE at the Duchess Theatre and on tour throughout the UK, and as Malvolio and the Sea Captain in TWELFTH NIGHT THE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Gyles Brandreth is one of Britain’s busiest after-dinner speakers and award ceremony hosts. He has won awards himself, and been nominated for awards, as a public speaker, novelist, children’s writer, broadcaster (Sony), political diarist (Channel Four), journalist (British Press Awards), theatre producer (Olivier), and businessman (British Tourist Authority Come to Britain Trophy).
He is married to writer and publisher Michèle Brown, with whom he co-curated the exhibition of twentieth century children’s authors at the National Portrait Gallery and founded the award-winning Teddy Bear Museum now based at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. He is a trustee of the British Forces Foundation, and a former chairman and now vice-president of the National Playing Fields Association.
Gyles Brandreth’s forebears include George R. Sims (the highest-paid journalist of his day, who wrote the ballad Christmas Day in the Workhouse) and Jeremiah Brandreth (the last man in England to be beheaded for treason). His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Brandreth, promoted ‘Brandreth’s Pills’ (a medicine that cured everything!) and was a pioneer of modern advertising and a New York state senator. Today, Gyles Brandreth has family living in New York, Maryland, South Carolina and California. He has been London correspondent for “Up to the Minute” on CBS News and his books published in the United States include the New York Times best-seller, The Joy of Lex and, most recently, Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage.
A former Oxford Scholar, President of the Oxford Union and MP for the City of Chester, Gyles Brandreth’s career has ranged from being a Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major’s government to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London’s West End. A prolific broadcaster (in programmes ranging from Just a Minute to Have I Got News for You), an acclaimed interviewer (principally for the Sunday Telegraph), a novelist, children’s author and biographer, his best-selling diary, Breaking the Code, was described as ‘By far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clark’s’ (The Times) and ‘Searingly honest, wildly indiscreet, and incredibly funny’ (Daily Mail). He is the author of two acclaimed royal biographies: Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage and Charles Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair. In 2007/2008, John Murray in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US began publishing The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries, his series of Victorian murder mysteries featuring Oscar Wilde as the detective.
As a performer, Gyles Brandreth has been seen most recently in ZIPP! ONE HUNDRED MUSICALS FOR LESS THAN THE PRICE OF ONE at the Duchess Theatre and on tour throughout the UK, and as Malvolio and the Sea Captain in TWELFTH NIGHT THE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Gyles Brandreth is one of Britain’s busiest after-dinner speakers and award ceremony hosts. He has won awards himself, and been nominated for awards, as a public speaker, novelist, children’s writer, broadcaster (Sony), political diarist (Channel Four), journalist (British Press Awards), theatre producer (Olivier), and businessman (British Tourist Authority Come to Britain Trophy).
He is married to writer and publisher Michèle Brown, with whom he co-curated the exhibition of twentieth century children’s authors at the National Portrait Gallery and founded the award-winning Teddy Bear Museum now based at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. He is a trustee of the British Forces Foundation, and a former chairman and now vice-president of the National Playing Fields Association.
Gyles Brandreth’s forebears include George R. Sims (the highest-paid journalist of his day, who wrote the ballad Christmas Day in the Workhouse) and Jeremiah Brandreth (the last man in England to be beheaded for treason). His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Brandreth, promoted ‘Brandreth’s Pills’ (a medicine that cured everything!) and was a pioneer of modern advertising and a New York state senator. Today, Gyles Brandreth has family living in New York, Maryland, South Carolina and California. He has been London correspondent for “Up to the Minute” on CBS News and his books published in the United States include the New York Times best-seller, The Joy of Lex and, most recently, Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
October 18, 2021
Giles Brandreth is pompous,intelligent, irritating and completely self absorbed and by the end of this book I had truly had enough of the continual name dropping and navel gazing. I speed read the last section as I was sooo very bored by it. However, I can’t deny that some of the earlier vignettes of people were entertaining and I have have to admit it is written with real heart and love for his parents. So on this occasion I will let Gyles off.
October 19, 2021
I love Gyles so he can do no wrong in my eyes. I’ve read and loved his Oscar Wilde mysteries and watch anything he appears in on the TV. I’ve been waiting for this book and loved it. There seems to be no one Gyles hasn’t met and unlike most celebrity memoirs they have not just been other celebrities but politicians, princes, princesses and our Queen.
This is a story of a life fully lived by an amazing man who amongst other successes, passed the law to allow weddings outside churches and suggested what is now the revolving statues on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square. I listened to Gyles reading his book as I could listen to his voice forever. My only qualm was that this way I couldn’t see any photos, but Gyles has kindly posted many on his Instagram page.
My favourite chapter was the last in which he cleverly sums up his later life in a letter to his late father telling him what has happened since his death. That made me cry, it was beautiful.
This is a story of a life fully lived by an amazing man who amongst other successes, passed the law to allow weddings outside churches and suggested what is now the revolving statues on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square. I listened to Gyles reading his book as I could listen to his voice forever. My only qualm was that this way I couldn’t see any photos, but Gyles has kindly posted many on his Instagram page.
My favourite chapter was the last in which he cleverly sums up his later life in a letter to his late father telling him what has happened since his death. That made me cry, it was beautiful.
March 19, 2023
Gyles Brandreth is a very entertaining oddity, full of apparent contradiction. He speaks with a beautifully modulated camp and fruity voice and describes men making passes at him throughout his life: from the Prep School master who fell in love with him when he was a boy, to Frankie Howerd stripping down to business and making a shockingly direct proposition, to a waiter who grabs his genitalia on the pretext of spreading a napkin on his lap. And yet, despite the relish with which he describes all this (he loves being at the centre of anyone’s attention), his own sexual interests lie firmly and exclusively with the opposite sex.
His opinions seem to tick every metropolitan liberal box, and he appears very much at home in left wing theatrical luvviedom: and yet he was a Tory politician. He is a master of the apparently self deprecating anecdote – such as when the Duke of Edinburgh calls hin a “blithering idiot”. But, of course, this is not as self deprecating as it seems: Brandreth can barely conceal his ecstasy at being on such intimate terms with royalty that they even mock him to his face. (Though when he has to countersign huge government cheques with the monarch – amazingly, one of his political duties – Her Maj remains stony faced when he says “Which one of us do you think they don’t trust?”)
Many characters appear and reappear – often decades later – exactly in the manner of Anthony Powell’s characters in “A Dance to the Music of Time.” Only the difference is that here the large and re-appearing cast are all well known real life establishment figures. Brandreth adores all this: one can almost hear the loud clang of dropped names on every page. Yes, he is to some extent shallow and self obsessed, and yes he is easy to mock. But he disarms us by never taking himself too seriously.
I had heard some of his anecdotes before – sometimes in slightly different forms. I didn’t mind that. They are good anecdotes. He writes well, with great wit, and I think his self deprecatory style is not entirely a pose. And there are some unexpected depths: the final part of the book, in which he writes about his father, is extremely moving and well done.
His opinions seem to tick every metropolitan liberal box, and he appears very much at home in left wing theatrical luvviedom: and yet he was a Tory politician. He is a master of the apparently self deprecating anecdote – such as when the Duke of Edinburgh calls hin a “blithering idiot”. But, of course, this is not as self deprecating as it seems: Brandreth can barely conceal his ecstasy at being on such intimate terms with royalty that they even mock him to his face. (Though when he has to countersign huge government cheques with the monarch – amazingly, one of his political duties – Her Maj remains stony faced when he says “Which one of us do you think they don’t trust?”)
Many characters appear and reappear – often decades later – exactly in the manner of Anthony Powell’s characters in “A Dance to the Music of Time.” Only the difference is that here the large and re-appearing cast are all well known real life establishment figures. Brandreth adores all this: one can almost hear the loud clang of dropped names on every page. Yes, he is to some extent shallow and self obsessed, and yes he is easy to mock. But he disarms us by never taking himself too seriously.
I had heard some of his anecdotes before – sometimes in slightly different forms. I didn’t mind that. They are good anecdotes. He writes well, with great wit, and I think his self deprecatory style is not entirely a pose. And there are some unexpected depths: the final part of the book, in which he writes about his father, is extremely moving and well done.
December 21, 2021
Superbly entertaining early memoir of a superbly entertaining enthusiastic man. Who strangely likes a lot of the things I myself hold dear, even down to the mini loaves of Hovis bread. Written in an amusing talkative style. I absolutely loved this book.
September 22, 2022
I have a guilty pleasure - Gyles Brandreth. He makes me laugh and I love his amazing stories! So 5*s from me.
July 14, 2022
I can’t help liking Gyles Brandreth. Apart from being a former Tory MP he comes from a class and background that I can’t empathise with. He’s a spoilt child of privilege and has led an effortless life that would not be possible for someone coming from more ordinary stock. But he tells a great story and comes across as a decent sort of bloke, very witty, entertaining and most importantly, honest. In old age he has developed self awareness and a great ability to make himself the butt of the joke. He has realised how lucky he has been. The book is a memoir of the first twenty five years of his life but because of his amusing habit of going off on tangents the reader gets a good look at the other, later parts of his life too.
What the book unwittingly reveals is if you came from the right class, went to a top school and Oxbridge, spoke with the right and accent and most importantly had enough self confidence, then for someone of GB’s generation at least, the world literally was your oyster. Doors open, connections are made, more than being given a leg up these people are handed a step ladder. And everyone knows everyone else; politicians, actors, TV celebrities. They all went to the same schools, lived in the same little world and shared life’s spoils. And nowadays it’s their offspring that are doing the same thing. The stars quoted on the cover endorsing the book are all personal friends of GB and the publications are former employers.
But I can’t help liking Gyles Brandreth and overall this was a good read although perhaps not as funny as I’d hoped.
What the book unwittingly reveals is if you came from the right class, went to a top school and Oxbridge, spoke with the right and accent and most importantly had enough self confidence, then for someone of GB’s generation at least, the world literally was your oyster. Doors open, connections are made, more than being given a leg up these people are handed a step ladder. And everyone knows everyone else; politicians, actors, TV celebrities. They all went to the same schools, lived in the same little world and shared life’s spoils. And nowadays it’s their offspring that are doing the same thing. The stars quoted on the cover endorsing the book are all personal friends of GB and the publications are former employers.
But I can’t help liking Gyles Brandreth and overall this was a good read although perhaps not as funny as I’d hoped.
September 20, 2022
An interesting and amusing autobiography. Nice stories and a good pace. Very enjoyable!
December 20, 2024
Gyles Brandreth is a real Marmite personality, it seems, you either love him or hate him!
Perhaps not surprisingly, this auto biography is somewhat for those who love his sharp with and brilliant story telling. He has had an incredible life of personal events and has met and/ or befriended an astounding amount of celebrities from all walks of life.
I found this a very open and honest account that was moving,and (at times) very funny account of an life well lived. It was never dull or over detailed and I loved the side bar anecdotes. More marmite please …..
Perhaps not surprisingly, this auto biography is somewhat for those who love his sharp with and brilliant story telling. He has had an incredible life of personal events and has met and/ or befriended an astounding amount of celebrities from all walks of life.
I found this a very open and honest account that was moving,and (at times) very funny account of an life well lived. It was never dull or over detailed and I loved the side bar anecdotes. More marmite please …..
January 22, 2022
What a life this man has led! Each page had me smiling, laughing or moved. He has met so many well-known people, not least the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and made friends with the majority. I liked him a lot before I started the book but like him even more now. His style is such that it was as though he was talking to me. He has my respect and admiration for what he has achieved in life and the sheer variety of work and people he has encountered. Highly recommended.
February 17, 2023
I became quite bored by the shameless, incessant name dropping more quickly than I expected to. Then, I started to appreciate the (at times) brutal honesty of the author, and found myself forgiving the unending list of Brandreth’s links to what seems like almost everybody you may have ever heard of. The author has led a quite extraordinary life and his gentle humour makes this account of it rather enjoyable.
February 6, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 as we met him and he was a charming affable character. Who apologised to my partner at the time for a faux pas in his show. Full of name dropping and delightful vignettes, but a tad too long for my liking!
December 31, 2023
I usually love an autobiography but Gyles and I come from very different worlds so I couldn't connect with this at all. I found it self-absorbed and the constant name-dropping (many of whom I did not know and those I did, I did not care about) made reading this memoir tedious and a waste of my time. I quite liked Gyles as a TV personality until I read this book. I now have a much lower opinion of him. I don't understand the title, the only 'odd' thing about him was that he had 2 older sisters and he was the much wanted son, but its not as though he was heir to some massive fortune... and he had a younger brother. I thought there'd be some deep secrets about how he neve really fitted into this world but no, he was entirely at home getting his hair cut at Harrods, shopping at Selfridges and going to a private school (even though he knew his Dad couldn't afford it). The last chapter, a letter to his Dad, was quite nice but the rest of it was pointless - unless you are also a toff!
January 8, 2022
Gyles Brandreth is a man who seems to have been around my entire life. From the One Show to Countdown, breakfast TV to panel shows, from radio to Parliament. Known for his knitwear and love of words; in recent years I have tuned into him a little more as he always adds great value when he appears. Fiercely bright, funny and with a story to tell, it is rare that Gyles isn’t good value.
Odd Boy Out is a memoir. Granted it is full of name dropping and Gyles is relatively pompous. However, it is crammed with amusing vignettes and eye popping tales, as it trots through his diverse and quite incredible experiences. For me, the book was more interesting once we got past his school years but it was enjoyable throughout.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, which added an extra dynamic.
Odd Boy Out is a memoir. Granted it is full of name dropping and Gyles is relatively pompous. However, it is crammed with amusing vignettes and eye popping tales, as it trots through his diverse and quite incredible experiences. For me, the book was more interesting once we got past his school years but it was enjoyable throughout.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, which added an extra dynamic.
December 12, 2022
I found the initial foray into this book entertaining, however it quickly became a disappointment. I like Gyles as a television entertainer, but this book was a self indulgent, name dropping, boring bragging session. Yes Gyles you probably have met and become friends with everyone you mention in the pages, but I lost the will to live by the end. Occasional wry smiles made this rating two stars instead of the one it really deserves.
June 17, 2022
This took me forever to read! I was really looking forward to reading it as I really like Gyles, but as an autobiography it was just name drop after name drop. His relationship with his parents is key to him and who he is this was the most interesting part. The letter to his father at the end was really touching, just wanting to please and achieve everything his father wanted to do but couldn’t.
June 17, 2022
Entertaining and informative.
January 24, 2023
This in parts is a long list of who, where, when and what Gyles thought of EVERYONE he has met. Yet other parts, when he is telling us about his family is very touching.
May 29, 2025
Deep breath...... Okay, I admit it, I like Gyles Brandreth.
I found this book an entertaining read. My favourite book genres are biographies and autobiographies - and few people have had more action-packed lives than Brandreth, albeit in a cosy, gossipy, sitting by the fireside way.
He describes himself as a workaholic. He and his wife started a teddy bear museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, he's had a prime time television show, and directed several plays. When at Oxford he was president of the Oxford Union. He's been in many television quiz and radio programmes, and he's been a pantomime dame. He's also presented several documentaries. Plus he's also written several books, as well as writing a newspaper column. In 1971 he launched the National Scrabble Championships and in 1972 he took part in the World Monopoly Championships (he came third.) Oh, and in his late teens he was very interested in the treatment of prisoners, and got access to interviewing people in various prisons. One gets the impression that there is nothing he wouldn't do - and with cheerful enthusiasm he seems to have said yes to everything that crossed his path.
He writes with some nonchalance about various things which could have caused trauma in many people. For instance one of his school teachers sexually abused him for a couple of years - but he takes this very much in his stride, viewing the experience as odd and curious, rather than distressing. I think it's partly his nature, and partly the fact that he was adored by his parents, whilst at the same time being given an extraordinary level of independence. It seems to have left him incredibly resilient. He says he was pampered, indulged and accustomed to getting his own way. Anything he wanted, he was given.... Plus the level of independence was amazing.
He's a very Marmity-y figure - you either love him or hate him. Much of the press seems to have done the latter. On the front page of The Times....he was described as 'the high priest of trivia'." In the New Statesman - Ralph Steadman drew a cartoon of him as a slavering dog chasing its own tail. In Private Eye he was described as 'appalling' and 'revolting'
All of this seemed like water off a duck's back: "I carried on regardless. In fact, I quoted the line from Private Eye on the cover of my next book."
Brandreth is a massive name-dropper. Each page of the book is weighed down with stories about his friends, many of whom are celebrities. For me the saving grace of all this gossip is the fact he seems genuinely fond of nearly everyone who crosses his path.
He has two great heroes, Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. Every year his family celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with a special meal - and when he was invited to appear on Desert Island Discs, instead of choosing eight piece of music for his desert island, he wanted to choose eight Shakespeare speeches. (Though he was persuaded to let that go.) Every year he holds a party in honour of Oscar Wilde too, though this is held in a major London hotel.
The power behind the Brandreth throne is his wife Michele. He just introduces little barbs of conversation between them - inevitably her telling him how to behave or what to do. Yet the general impression is of a very happy marriage.
Finally, I enjoy the photographs in this book too. Just the usual old fashioned low contrast black and white family pix. But it was good to see the young Brandreth, and his young finance, when she too was at Oxford. Or to see him now with his family of children and grandchildren.
This was one of my top bedtime reads ever. It was enjoyable, interesting and frequently surprising - and it sent me off to sleep in such a wonderfully good mood. I felt quite sad when I reached the last few chapters of the book. I wanted it to go on for longer.....
I found this book an entertaining read. My favourite book genres are biographies and autobiographies - and few people have had more action-packed lives than Brandreth, albeit in a cosy, gossipy, sitting by the fireside way.
He describes himself as a workaholic. He and his wife started a teddy bear museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, he's had a prime time television show, and directed several plays. When at Oxford he was president of the Oxford Union. He's been in many television quiz and radio programmes, and he's been a pantomime dame. He's also presented several documentaries. Plus he's also written several books, as well as writing a newspaper column. In 1971 he launched the National Scrabble Championships and in 1972 he took part in the World Monopoly Championships (he came third.) Oh, and in his late teens he was very interested in the treatment of prisoners, and got access to interviewing people in various prisons. One gets the impression that there is nothing he wouldn't do - and with cheerful enthusiasm he seems to have said yes to everything that crossed his path.
He writes with some nonchalance about various things which could have caused trauma in many people. For instance one of his school teachers sexually abused him for a couple of years - but he takes this very much in his stride, viewing the experience as odd and curious, rather than distressing. I think it's partly his nature, and partly the fact that he was adored by his parents, whilst at the same time being given an extraordinary level of independence. It seems to have left him incredibly resilient. He says he was pampered, indulged and accustomed to getting his own way. Anything he wanted, he was given.... Plus the level of independence was amazing.
"I went to church a lot as a little boy - usually on my own. I travelled quite freely around London as child. Children did. Unaccompanied, I rode my tricycle around the block from the age of four, from the age of five, I went to the corner shop on my own. I used to travel to school every day by underground all by myself.....
From the age of seven I had been on one or often two holidays a year abroad, in France or Switzerland, staying with families of strangers, going out and coming back on my own. I went to the theatre alone; I went to church alone; I visited the museums alone. Aged eleven, I was quite ready to take on the world single-handed."
He's a very Marmity-y figure - you either love him or hate him. Much of the press seems to have done the latter. On the front page of The Times....he was described as 'the high priest of trivia'." In the New Statesman - Ralph Steadman drew a cartoon of him as a slavering dog chasing its own tail. In Private Eye he was described as 'appalling' and 'revolting'
All of this seemed like water off a duck's back: "I carried on regardless. In fact, I quoted the line from Private Eye on the cover of my next book."
Brandreth is a massive name-dropper. Each page of the book is weighed down with stories about his friends, many of whom are celebrities. For me the saving grace of all this gossip is the fact he seems genuinely fond of nearly everyone who crosses his path.
He has two great heroes, Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. Every year his family celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with a special meal - and when he was invited to appear on Desert Island Discs, instead of choosing eight piece of music for his desert island, he wanted to choose eight Shakespeare speeches. (Though he was persuaded to let that go.) Every year he holds a party in honour of Oscar Wilde too, though this is held in a major London hotel.
The power behind the Brandreth throne is his wife Michele. He just introduces little barbs of conversation between them - inevitably her telling him how to behave or what to do. Yet the general impression is of a very happy marriage.
Finally, I enjoy the photographs in this book too. Just the usual old fashioned low contrast black and white family pix. But it was good to see the young Brandreth, and his young finance, when she too was at Oxford. Or to see him now with his family of children and grandchildren.
This was one of my top bedtime reads ever. It was enjoyable, interesting and frequently surprising - and it sent me off to sleep in such a wonderfully good mood. I felt quite sad when I reached the last few chapters of the book. I wanted it to go on for longer.....
January 9, 2026
I’ve always enjoyed Gyles Brandreth’s charming, quick‑witted appearances on Just a Minute and across radio and television, so I picked up his autobiography hoping to learn more about the person behind the persona. Unfortunately, the book left me disappointed — and, if anything, more uncertain about he really is.
Brandreth undoubtedly possesses remarkable energy and an almost compulsive industriousness. He is eccentric in the fullest sense of the word: a man whose interests range from visiting prisons to collecting teddy bears, and whose career spans acting, producing, directing, writing, broadcasting, a stint as a Conservative MP, European Monopoly Champion, founder of the National Scrabble Championships, and much more.
The autobiography dwells heavily on his school days, early life, and an endless catalogue of achievements. Above all, it is dominated by the sheer number of celebrities he has known, befriended, or encountered. Judging by these pages, he could qualify for a Guinness World Record for the most famous acquaintances.
Among them are Robert Maxwell’s children, though, as he carefully notes, he has never met Ghislaine.
What is striking is not just what is included, but what is missing. Beyond a vaguely sketched relationship with his father, there are virtually no interactions with his siblings. None were invited to his wedding, and his parents were informed of the marriage only two years later, when his son was born.
In the end, the book feels like a relentless, tiring roll call of celebrity names, peppered with a few anecdotes, rather than a portrait of a person. It reads more like an autistic diary of a networking life than a memoir with emotional depth.
Only a handful of its stories linger in the mind, the most memorable being his account of a dinner at an upscale restaurant:
“When the dinner was ordered, and the wine was served, we began to relax and I stopped talking so much and started listening to Sally’s godmother, who came from New England and had lots of stories to tell.
We, youngsters, were fourteen and sixteen years old, and Sally’s godmother, I suppose, was in her late thirties. When she smiled, she looked alarmingly attractive. That’s what I was thinking when suddenly I felt her hand on my knee. All at once, my heart stood still. I had no idea, no idea at all what to do. I looked away. I watched the waiter carving the roast. I couldn’t think what to say.
I felt I could hear my heart thumping, louder and louder still. I swallowed hard and looked back at her. She smiled and turned towards Sally. As she turned, her hand travelled up my leg. It stopped. Then it travelled further. I had no choice. My hand went down to meet hers.
Without hesitating, she took my hand in hers and, to my bewilderment, pressed a florin, an old two-shilling coin into my palm. She turned to look at me and narrowed her eyes, gently and slowly, in the most soul-melting way.
My head swam, my mind raced. What is going on? Why is she trying to pay me? This is madness!
Then she took her hand away, leant towards me and whispered in my ear, You’re supposed to tip the carver.”
Brandreth undoubtedly possesses remarkable energy and an almost compulsive industriousness. He is eccentric in the fullest sense of the word: a man whose interests range from visiting prisons to collecting teddy bears, and whose career spans acting, producing, directing, writing, broadcasting, a stint as a Conservative MP, European Monopoly Champion, founder of the National Scrabble Championships, and much more.
The autobiography dwells heavily on his school days, early life, and an endless catalogue of achievements. Above all, it is dominated by the sheer number of celebrities he has known, befriended, or encountered. Judging by these pages, he could qualify for a Guinness World Record for the most famous acquaintances.
Among them are Robert Maxwell’s children, though, as he carefully notes, he has never met Ghislaine.
What is striking is not just what is included, but what is missing. Beyond a vaguely sketched relationship with his father, there are virtually no interactions with his siblings. None were invited to his wedding, and his parents were informed of the marriage only two years later, when his son was born.
In the end, the book feels like a relentless, tiring roll call of celebrity names, peppered with a few anecdotes, rather than a portrait of a person. It reads more like an autistic diary of a networking life than a memoir with emotional depth.
Only a handful of its stories linger in the mind, the most memorable being his account of a dinner at an upscale restaurant:
“When the dinner was ordered, and the wine was served, we began to relax and I stopped talking so much and started listening to Sally’s godmother, who came from New England and had lots of stories to tell.
We, youngsters, were fourteen and sixteen years old, and Sally’s godmother, I suppose, was in her late thirties. When she smiled, she looked alarmingly attractive. That’s what I was thinking when suddenly I felt her hand on my knee. All at once, my heart stood still. I had no idea, no idea at all what to do. I looked away. I watched the waiter carving the roast. I couldn’t think what to say.
I felt I could hear my heart thumping, louder and louder still. I swallowed hard and looked back at her. She smiled and turned towards Sally. As she turned, her hand travelled up my leg. It stopped. Then it travelled further. I had no choice. My hand went down to meet hers.
Without hesitating, she took my hand in hers and, to my bewilderment, pressed a florin, an old two-shilling coin into my palm. She turned to look at me and narrowed her eyes, gently and slowly, in the most soul-melting way.
My head swam, my mind raced. What is going on? Why is she trying to pay me? This is madness!
Then she took her hand away, leant towards me and whispered in my ear, You’re supposed to tip the carver.”
March 2, 2024
I don't know how this book came to my attention. I had never heard of Gyles Brandreth. Didn’t have a clue that he was a UK media figure or that he had been a former member of Parliament. I think I received a "Recommended for You" on Amazon. After reading an excerpt I was hooked. Not only is Mr. Brandreth an extremely good writer, humorist and general bon vivant - this is the kind of narrative style that I would want if I were ever to do my autobiography. It is thoughtful, funny, tastefully gossipy, gallant and intelligent. His ancestors, family dynamics, early life, and Oxford student days are set forth methodically like the chugging of a roller coaster as it climbs the incline to drop you to the whirlwind of everything else to follow. The author now in his 80s introduces you to his milieu by weaving together a fabric of historical, sociological, and personal anecdotes that will leave you in stitches. “If you wanted to sleep with a girl, you married her… that’s how it was done in those days.” GB is an admirer of Anthony Powell's Dancing to the Music of Time", but his own stories are no less lyrical, serendipitous and colorful. Whether he is hobnobbing with the covers of Hello magazine, witnessing a notable using original William Morris wallpaper as their urinal or describing his close encounters of the ERII/HRH kind, he relates his experiences with a detached wonder – hence Odd Boy Out is full of the author’s self-amazement that coming from the middle class, and narrowly impecunious background, he has done the things he has. Anyone that knows something of life can read between the words and know there is great disappointment, heartache, tragedy in his life too. But a phrase from the book can serve as its leitmotif “if you cannot celebrate, just get on with it”. Mr. Brandreth has lived a full life – never mind that most of the of people he mentions US readers will never have heard of. If you like good writing and a good yarn, you should read this book.
April 18, 2022
As a close contemporary of Gyles Brandreth, I was looking forward to reading about his life as a schoolboy in London in the 1950's. I was not disappointed. Although he is just over three years younger than me, I agreed when he says about his older readers "some of my memories might chime with theirs". They certainly did.
We might even have crossed paths, living as we did in West London. When he tells us that he was a choirboy at St Mary Abbots (the church on Kensington High Street), he may remember those monthly Sunday church parades for scouts and cubs. That was me carrying a flag. Although it has to be said. we were not nearly so affluent as Gyles. And although we both loved the theatre from an early age, for me it was only down to some great aunts for a Christmas treat.
Gyles also mentions holidays in Broadstairs in Kent. Again we might have passed each other on the beach. So I found the whole of the first two thirds of this memoir completely fascinating as it took me down memory lane. We were so different in many ways, I loved all sport which Gyles does not. And although I found the last part of the book to be of little interest, I was still overawed by the experience of reading a parallel life.
We might even have crossed paths, living as we did in West London. When he tells us that he was a choirboy at St Mary Abbots (the church on Kensington High Street), he may remember those monthly Sunday church parades for scouts and cubs. That was me carrying a flag. Although it has to be said. we were not nearly so affluent as Gyles. And although we both loved the theatre from an early age, for me it was only down to some great aunts for a Christmas treat.
Gyles also mentions holidays in Broadstairs in Kent. Again we might have passed each other on the beach. So I found the whole of the first two thirds of this memoir completely fascinating as it took me down memory lane. We were so different in many ways, I loved all sport which Gyles does not. And although I found the last part of the book to be of little interest, I was still overawed by the experience of reading a parallel life.
September 27, 2022
Gyles Brandreth has been everywhere, met everyone and done everything.
Have you ever fancied having a conversation with him? This book is exactly that. There's a vague structure to it, but it jumps about so much you can almost imagine him remembering all sorts of stories as he writes and just adding them in as he does! This makes the writing engaging, but also a bit easy to get lost.
It took me so long to read this book, but not because I didn't enjoy it. Its so calming in manner, and relaxed me so much, that I kept drifting off!
This book was clearly cathartic for Brandreth. It was really interesting to see how the writing process affected him and his view on life and his family.
I did really enjoy this, but I would recommend reading it alongside something else. It's easy to come back to.
A warning: there are mentions of child grooming which may be a trigger for some.
Overall 4 stars. An interesting read.
Have you ever fancied having a conversation with him? This book is exactly that. There's a vague structure to it, but it jumps about so much you can almost imagine him remembering all sorts of stories as he writes and just adding them in as he does! This makes the writing engaging, but also a bit easy to get lost.
It took me so long to read this book, but not because I didn't enjoy it. Its so calming in manner, and relaxed me so much, that I kept drifting off!
This book was clearly cathartic for Brandreth. It was really interesting to see how the writing process affected him and his view on life and his family.
I did really enjoy this, but I would recommend reading it alongside something else. It's easy to come back to.
A warning: there are mentions of child grooming which may be a trigger for some.
Overall 4 stars. An interesting read.
June 1, 2023
What an amazing life Gyles Brandreth has had! He knows/has met pretty much everybody! ("I shook the hand that shook the hand of . . . ") It is easy to see why some reviewers of this book see Gyles as big headed, pompous, privileged, self absorbed etc. etc. and certainly privileged and (to a degree) self-absorbed could be true, but when your life is as interesting as his has been (and still is) why would you not want to share it? I, for one, enjoyed every second and was totally absorbed throughout . . . but then I am a big Gyles Brandreth fan (from programs like QI and Would I Lie to you?) and share with him a love of Oxford and of all things English.
This autobiography with all its name dropping and almost unbelievable anecdotes is thoroughly entertaining and witty . . . laugh out loud in many spots. And never does Gyles lose sight of his own idiosyncrasies. He is well able to laugh at himself. I loved it! ****
This autobiography with all its name dropping and almost unbelievable anecdotes is thoroughly entertaining and witty . . . laugh out loud in many spots. And never does Gyles lose sight of his own idiosyncrasies. He is well able to laugh at himself. I loved it! ****
March 16, 2023
I've always loved Gyles so I was delighted when a friend bought me his autobiography!
Odd Boy Out is full of fascinating anecdotes of many people who have touched Gyles throughout his life - he has so many celebrity friends and seems to know everyone!
Lots of funny moments, but a few surprises too; Gyles has led an interesting life. I was completely stunned to learn that he was the one who suggested the revolving statues on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth!
His family seem very important to him, and I loved learning about his family history. There is a lovely letter to his late father at the end of the book, as well as many photos in the book.
Odd Boy Out is written in a light-hearted, conversational tone; it was almost like Gyles was talking just to me.
I don't tend to read autobiographies, but I found Gyles' really entertaining and witty!!
Odd Boy Out is full of fascinating anecdotes of many people who have touched Gyles throughout his life - he has so many celebrity friends and seems to know everyone!
Lots of funny moments, but a few surprises too; Gyles has led an interesting life. I was completely stunned to learn that he was the one who suggested the revolving statues on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth!
His family seem very important to him, and I loved learning about his family history. There is a lovely letter to his late father at the end of the book, as well as many photos in the book.
Odd Boy Out is written in a light-hearted, conversational tone; it was almost like Gyles was talking just to me.
I don't tend to read autobiographies, but I found Gyles' really entertaining and witty!!
April 27, 2025
Gyles is a great storyteller but, despite his claims otherwise, has led a fantastically privileged life and doesn’t seem to grasp it.
I really loved the stories about his family history but once we get into his years at Oxford and beyond, the incessant Oxbridge web of privilege and contacts is overwhelming. He was even allowed to completely change his degree subject, having apparently been awarded a place to study a subject that was beyond him. How very fortunate.
I also strongly question Gyles’ repeated and baffling assertion that he was ‘middle middle class’. OK Gyles. That’s not how it looks from the outside. (See his parents receiving bequests and gifts from rich relatives and only shopping at Harrods and sending their children to expensive private schools.)
Kind of wish I hadn’t listened to be honest. (Audiobook)
I really loved the stories about his family history but once we get into his years at Oxford and beyond, the incessant Oxbridge web of privilege and contacts is overwhelming. He was even allowed to completely change his degree subject, having apparently been awarded a place to study a subject that was beyond him. How very fortunate.
I also strongly question Gyles’ repeated and baffling assertion that he was ‘middle middle class’. OK Gyles. That’s not how it looks from the outside. (See his parents receiving bequests and gifts from rich relatives and only shopping at Harrods and sending their children to expensive private schools.)
Kind of wish I hadn’t listened to be honest. (Audiobook)
September 29, 2025
Having enjoyed many episodes of his Rosebud podcast, I decided to pick up his autobiography. There’s certainly a lot in the book, but much of it is material that’s already been covered in the recent podcasts. Unfortunately, that meant I came away having learned very little that was new.
He recounts encounters with an impressive number of people (dining with them, shaking hands, or simply crossing paths) and many of these figures are fascinating in their own right.
He reflects on how others perceived him, sometimes unfairly, and even hints at his own shortcomings. But what’s missing is any real indication that those perceptions or those experiences shaped him in a meaningful way. For all the anecdotes, the man himself remains at a distance.
December 13, 2025
Given up on page 28.
Now I enjoy seeing Gyles on QI and listening to him on Just A Minute and picked this off the shelf of my mobile library van (Alsager nr Crewe).
I early gave up at page 2.
I get it is an autobiography but I do think there is well too much family information in it. He starts off with an early ancester who was, in 1817 (with 2 others) sentenced for high treason and beheaded. We don't know who this person was. I got up to the "Brandbreth Pills". Pills that cured all. I would, if my ancestors, actually question what they were made of and what was in them before "bragging" about them.
It would have been a little interesting to have seen a family tree drawn up as well.
I found when reading the pages I did that Gyles could be heard reading it!
Now I enjoy seeing Gyles on QI and listening to him on Just A Minute and picked this off the shelf of my mobile library van (Alsager nr Crewe).
I early gave up at page 2.
I get it is an autobiography but I do think there is well too much family information in it. He starts off with an early ancester who was, in 1817 (with 2 others) sentenced for high treason and beheaded. We don't know who this person was. I got up to the "Brandbreth Pills". Pills that cured all. I would, if my ancestors, actually question what they were made of and what was in them before "bragging" about them.
It would have been a little interesting to have seen a family tree drawn up as well.
I found when reading the pages I did that Gyles could be heard reading it!
June 12, 2022
I knew Gyles could write entertaining autobiography standing on his head; it turns out he has spent a lot of time literally standing on his head, playing Scrabble and saying yes to everything. He has known everybody in ‘a life crowded with incident’, as Wilde’s Lady Bracknell says of Cecily Cardew, and has played Bracknell himself, even befriended most of the actors who have played Wilde: Robert Morley, Vincent Price, Stephen Fry. Part potted history of the family, all cardigany bildungsroman (read as compliment), and a touching tribute to his father transposing into prose his Ghost at the Park Theatre.
June 14, 2022
Just the most entertaining read😁. Humorous, insightfull and full of fascinating anecdotes but all with a humanity and and an obvious zest for life and people. All with wit, style and grace - and often in a self-deprecating manner. Loved what he wrote about his parents - especially his father (very moving). Gyles has really made his mark on UK life and...dare I say it......is close to being considered a National Treasure. Why he hasn't been knighted yet is beyond me. His devotion to his wife, family and the glut of friends he has emphasize what a truly successful human being he has been. A class act.
July 23, 2022
The author flits through his life,his encounters with the famous and infamous.sometime it reads like forest Gump the people he has known or people he has met that have met famous people.his memories of his family both touching and funny and his total admiration of his father.his own family also gets a mention as well as his candid encounters with both sexes,which doesn't seem to have phased him.this was one of two books this year,the other being the Miriam margolyes Auto biography that was just as candid albeit with stronger language,these were more up to date than my usual books.well worth a read.
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