{"product_id":"romany-and-tom-9781408845103","title":"Romany and Tom","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e______________________\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA moving, funny and beautifully written memoir by musician, DJ and writer Ben Watt which carefully chronicles his parents'' lives, their marriage and their decline into old age\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, 2014\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e______________________\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Wise, moving and entertaining... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ea major achievement to rival any of Watt''s recordings''\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e- \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A poignant, life-affirming work'' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e- \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e______________________\u003c\/b\u003eBen Watt''s father, Tommy, was a working-class Glaswegian jazz musician, a politicised left-wing bandleader and a composer. His heyday in the late fifties took him into the glittering heart of London's West End, where he broadcast live with his own orchestra from the Paris Theatre and played nightly with his quintet at the the glamorous Quaglino''s. Ben''s mother, Romany, the daughter of a Methodist parson, schooled at Cheltenham Ladies'' College, was a \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeither sentimental nor savage, yet often wise, moving and entertaining within the same paragraph, \u003ci\u003eRomany and Tom\u003c\/i\u003e is a major achievement to rival any of Watt's recordings * \u003cb\u003eGuardian\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eYou know when everyone last month was going 'Ben Watt's \u003ci\u003eRomany \u0026amp; Tom\u003c\/i\u003e is amazing?' I've just read it. It really is * \u003cb\u003eCaitlin Moran\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRomany and Tom \u003c\/i\u003emay be the most beguiling book you’ll read all year ... He has a songwriter’s gift for the deft phrase, while his powers of observation and recall are quite extraordinary ... Rather like Watt’s musical compositions ... this book is at once downbeat and uplifting * \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eA poignant, life-affirming work * \u003cb\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eINCREDIBLE … I read it in two huge gulps. It’s funny, incredibly moving, beautifully written, really thought-provoking * \u003cb\u003eAlexis Petridis\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eForget Morrissey: \u003ci\u003eRomany \u0026amp; Tom\u003c\/i\u003e is the most beautiful, compelling memoir by a musician you’ll read for a very long time * \u003cb\u003eJohn Niven\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003e[An] elegantly written and clear-sighted memoir ... \u003ci\u003eRomany and Tom \u003c\/i\u003eis a tender work infused with the understanding that this is the final chapter of two rich and complex lives ... Watt’s reluctance to sentimentalise the experience makes it that much more powerful, cutting to the heart of the frustrations that come with caring for one’s parents who were, not long ago, just like us * \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eIt is a beautiful book, a story which will resonate with many and in many different ways. There are moments when I laughed and parts when I had to stop reading for a bit, draw breath and then continue * \u003cb\u003eGideon Coe, BBC 6 Music\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eWatt has written about personal trauma before in his 1996 memoir \u003ci\u003ePatient\u003c\/i\u003e. This … pulses with the same combination of clarity and kindness. Unsentimental and humane * \u003cb\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eClosely observed, brilliantly written and unsparing * \u003cb\u003eDavid Hepworth\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eAs a DJ and one half of \u003ci\u003eEverything But The Girl\u003c\/i\u003e (with his partner  Tracey Thorn), Ben Watt knows better than most the impact fame can have on  identity. But in his poignant new memoir, \u003ci\u003eRomany and Tom\u003c\/i\u003e, he channels that knowledge through his parents’ lives * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarper’s Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eMoving and evocative * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlan Johnson, Observer Books of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408009666903,"sku":"9781408845103","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408845103.jpg?v=1730501257","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/romany-and-tom-9781408845103","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}