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At 9.30pm on 2nd October 2008, BBC2 will air the first in an 8-part adaptation of Beautiful People. Produced by Jon Plowman, the man behind The Office and Ab Fab, this is the charming and funny memoir of escaping a bonkers family and following your dreamsSimon Doonan's childhood was a curious mix of small town boredom and bright light city dreams. Growing up in a working class area of Reading with the mad-cap Doonan clan - Mother Betty, Father Terry, blind Aunt Phyllis, grandmother Narg and Grandfather D.C. - he yearned to get out and find the Beautiful People whom he imagined lived fabulous lives of glitz and glamour.This is the story of how Simon eventually finds a way out and escapes to London with best friend Biddie Biddlecombe. Along the way they stumble upon punks, drunks, ladies of the night, the long arm of the law and all sorts of camps, vamps and outrageous scamps.But does he ever find the Beautiful People? Or could they be the ones he left behind...?
How does a young man navigate the suffocating banality of a working-class upbringing to find his place among the glamorous elite? Simon Doonan, a renowned creative director and window dresser, recounts his formative years in Reading, England, during the 1960s and 1970s. Through a series of vignettes, he examines the tension between his eccentric, chaotic family life and his burgeoning identity as a flamboyant outsider seeking a more vibrant existence in London. The narrative functions as both a personal history and a social commentary on the pursuit of aesthetic perfection.
What You Will Find
The work is regarded as a witty, observational memoir that captures the specific cultural zeitgeist of post-war Britain through a highly stylized, personal lens. The narrative density suggests an accessible, character-driven account that prioritizes humor and social observation over traditional chronological rigor.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2008-10-06
Publisher:
Collins
ISBN-10:
0007237138
ISBN-13:
9780007237135
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