The Gift of a Radio
My Childhood and Other Trainwrecks
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The Gift of a Radio
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Narrated by:
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Justin Webb
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By:
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Justin Webb
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Justin Webb's childhood was far from ordinary.
Between his mother's un-diagnosed psychological problems and his step-father's untreated ones, life at home was dysfunctional at best. But with gun-wielding school masters and sub-standard living conditions, Quaker boarding school wasn't much better.
And the backdrop to this coming-of-age story? Britain in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Free. Strikes, inflation and IRA bombings. A time in which attitudes towards mental illness, parenting and masculinity were worlds apart from the attitudes we have today. A society that believed itself to be close to the edge of breakdown.
Candid, unsparing and darkly funny, Justin Webb's memoir is a portrait of personal and national dysfunction. So was it the brutal experiences of his upbringing, or an innate ambition and drive that somehow survived them, that shaped the urbane and successful radio presenter we know and love now?
©2022 Justin Webb (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Brilliantly illuminates the horrors and absurd snobberies of those times. A very fine memoir." (Jonathan Dimbleby)
"Moving and frank.... A story of a childhood defined by loneliness, the absence of a father and the grim experience of a Quaker boarding school. It is also one of the most perceptive accounts of Britain in the 1970s." (Misha Glenny)
What listeners say about The Gift of a Radio
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sue Payne
- 26-04-22
Great listen
enjoyed immensely.
Justin has a wonderful voice, his story provokes memories of my own childhood
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Lulu
- 24-02-22
Through a glass darkly
I am of a similar age to Justin Webb and lived in London around the same time. Our perception of those times and that place couldn’t be more different. The gloom and doom he describes didn’t exist for me — London was exciting and I remember it, and the 70s and 80s very fondly. I wonder how much of his early life experience coloured his views? Who knows. I enjoyed listening though.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Penge-B
- 28-12-22
A really marvellous listen.
Read by the author so familiar from the Today programme on Radio 4, this is one of the best books I’ve listened to. Justin Webb’s autobiography is a literary masterpiece. It gives a window on world many people of my age are familiar with but his personal experience is quite agonisingly shaped by the social mores of the 60’s and 70’s with it’s class divide and it’s stifling conventions left over from the war. He writes with self deprecating black humour about his awful experience at a dysfunctional boarding school where he could so easily have almost missed out on an education. His complex relationship with his mother is described with deep insight and honesty as is his understanding of his stepfather’s poor mental health and the effects it had on the young Justin. Completely compulsive listening.
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- Fiona Anaman
- 21-02-22
Excellent book and excellent narrator
Sad about Charles, not much was happening in psychiatry back then. On the other hand, not much has changed over the years, Psychiatry remains the Cinderella of Medicine.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-06-22
Loved this book
I found it truly fascinating to hear about Justin Webb's life. It also made me think back to the 1970s.
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- Rosie Henry
- 25-04-22
A story, a memoir: a reflection and a love letter too.
I love Audible and I have been kept entertained throughout COVID by the sheer joy of listening
to a huge variety of books. However this book has been far and away the best aSo far. He has inherited all the best bits of his forebears and more. His use of words is magic and to compliment this he has a fantastic reading voice. It was as though he was in the room with me. It has been hours of absolute pleasure. Thank you.
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- TC
- 13-03-22
A story of survival in an age of ambivalence
A truly exceptional evocation of a bittersweet childhood, and of the 1970s - a restless era of casual violence and unease. Justin perfectly captures the boredom, the loneliness, the neglect - of children, of the mentally ill and their families, of the fabric of the nation and it’s institutions. The prose - and his voice - is to be savoured.
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- Anne Gorman
- 03-10-22
Thank you Justin!
I loved this book. Maybe it’s because I’m a couple of years younger than the author and the descriptions of growing up in 70s and 80s Britain are both evocative and hilarious. It is beautifully reflective, showing empathy and also a great sense of humour. Encouraged by the author talking about the book on the ‘Fortunately’ podcast, I thought I’d give it a go and it has exceeded my expectations.
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- Brian Marshall
- 25-03-23
Amusing, earnest account of childhood
The narration was excellent. it was an earnest account of a childhood of the 1970’s.
Some parts of the book were very funny and others tragic. Overall an enjoyable book.
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- Elaine Sherard
- 17-01-23
A memoir of its time.
A wonderful account of the relationship between a mother and her son and all the love they shared and difficulties they endured. It was expertly written and read in the manner you would expect from a top class journalist. I loved it.
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