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Son of a Silverback

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Son of a Silverback

By: Russell Kane
Narrated by: Russell Kane
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From one of Britain’s most popular and prolific comedians comes a hilarious and deeply moving memoir of life lived under the rule of a Silverback dad.

The Silverback is considered the undisputed king, a creature whose authority is never challenged and who does not yield to compromise. He walks proudly, feeds greedily, grafts tirelessly, mates voraciously, swears constantly and is threatened all too easily. The Silverback is known to nestle in the misty peaks of central Africa but can also be found in Barking, Essex. Meet Dave Kane, the disappointed, steroid-ingesting, metal-wielding, bouncer father of slight, effete Gamma Male Russell Kane.

This is a story about fathers and sons, class and education and how one scrawny, sensitive, fake-tan-applying 'ponce' stepped out of his father's shadow and became a man - whatever that means.

©2019 Russell Kane (P)2019 Random House Audiobooks Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Funny Witty Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Comedy

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All stars
Most relevant  
Honest, heartfelt, relatable and laugh out loud 💗
Even more enjoyable with Russell himself narrating it

If you love Russell Kane you will love this book!

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A mix of love and hate, comedy and tragedy, all in Russell Kane’s inimitable style.
Absolutely loved it.

Brilliant and fascinating

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A fascinating and hilarious insight into the shaping of a comedian under the tutelage of Dave the Silverback. Delivered excellently in narration by Kane himself. If you enjoy his stand up then you will enjoy this audiobook.

Fascinating and hilarious

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Well written, well read, touching and funny.
No hesitation in recommending, listened to it at every opportunity and was sorry when it ended.

Excellent

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Laugh out loud moments with tears and emotions in equal measure.
Russell reading his own words made it more emotive and funny.
Simply brilliant.

Brilliant

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I bought this on a whim; it is not my usual genre and although I appreciate Kane’s humour, I find celebrity memoirs tedious.

But, I am so pleased that I took a chance on this. Hilarious, heartbreaking, challenging and brutally honest. Kane’s analysis of his father and their relationship is both insightful and at times raw. Powerful scenes are interjected with laugh out loud funny anecdotes.

As Kane described scenes from his childhood and young adulthood, the ever present feature is his Dad. Kane describes heartfelt attempts to try to develop his relationship with his Dad that are tinged with sadness, regret and in equal measure humour.

Kane repeatedly states that this is neither a rags to riches story, nor a cry for help - I believe that but at times, the brutal honesty is alarming.

I hope he writes further books because this has been a real pleasure added to by his performance as the narrator in the audiobook which I found to be first rate.

A remarkable work

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Russell's stand up is fantastic - took the family to see him earlier this year so I thought this would be good and was not disappointed. Very funny, but tweaks the emotions

Fantastic , clever bloke, great book

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Looking for something funny, witty and a bit surprising - look no further. This is definitely one that should be listened to and not read as Russell's character, energy and impersonations make this worth while. laughed the whole way through.

what a phenomenal read/listen

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Humoursly told account of authors life. Often very funny but also interesting describing the insurmountable effort it takes to break from what he indentifies as a lower social class and the low expectations that came with it. As I live in Indonesia it reminded me of the more daunting Indonesian book The Rainbow Troops of one boys escape from poverty through education. Both authors when reflecting on their lives share the view that one of the biggest things that seperates people born into their world from the middles classes is simply, confidence. Indeed as someone "middle class", all I had to do to get to university was roll out of bed in the right direction. Both authors though are now rich and famous which most of us aren't, which goes to show how much grit you need to achieve what they achieved, which starts with getting an education when noone expects that of you.. Russell's portrait of his Dad also explained to me more than anything written by Pickerty or the Guardian why working class people vote Tory. A funny, interesting and enjoyable book.

A captivating life story

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You will be able to relate to this book if you grew up in a working class home with an alpha, emotionally withdrawn dad. Russell’s writing is so evocative that it immediately made me think of the similar characters that inhabited my estate when growing up. It’s very funny, but also very poignant in places, particularly the last chapter. The narration is perfect and it was joyful to hear Dave Kane again after been introduced to him during Russell’s stand up over the years.

Funny and Poignant

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