Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went From Pop to Pulpit

(Paperback)

Available Formats

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

'The best vicar ever' Caitlin Moran

'Sex, drugs, death, religion, more sex... it has got it all' Guardian

FATHOMLESS RICHES is the Reverend Richard Coles' warm, witty and wise memoir in which he divulges with searing honesty and intimacy his pilgrimage from a rock-and-roll life of sex and drugs in the Communards to one devoted to God and Christianity.

'All the humour, quirky characters and incidents that life - and death- serve up' Mail on Sunday

'One of the most immensely readable - and redeemable - memoirs of the year' Sunday Times

'A frank, worldly-wise, bleakly comic memoir' The Times

'Full of wit and humour ' Independent on Sunday

Reviews

One of the most immensely readable - and redeemable - memoirs of the year. His book is an engaging account of eccentricity, curiosity and a profound spiritual journey. I give it a screamingly camp, happy-clappy thumbs up -- Helen Davies * SUNDAY TIMES *
Sex, drugs, death, religion, more sex, many more deaths - it has got it all. Like a sparkling old-style chasuble worn by a Spanish priest, it is difficult to ignore -- Chris Bryant * GUARDIAN *
He writes with charm and erudition and his take on 1980s Britain is fascinating -- Virginia Blackburn * SUNDAY EXPRESS *
Beautifully written, disarmingly frank and utterly charming -- James Delingpole * MAIL ON SUNDAY *
Richard's devastating honesty makes his journey from gay pop-star to celibate parish priest comprehensible even to atheists -- Linda Grant
[O]ne of the most readable memoirs of 2014 -- Helen Davies * SUNDAY TIMES - Books of the Year 2014 *
It is a tale of redemption and of a sinner come to transformation... The Church of England is all the better for having such a priest within its ranks. -- Stephen Bates * LITERARY REVIEW *
Full of wit and humour about finding god, and Jimmy Somerville. -- Katy Guest * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY - Books of the Year 2014 *
Richard Coles has achieved a rare thing in writing an astonishingly honest autobiography, which, alongside the sex and drugs, presents Christian faith in a way that will surely be invitingly intriguing to an audience well beyond the church ... An immensely enjoyable memoir, whether a reader's primary interest is the music industry, the impact of AIDS, the Church of England, or a wonderfully Anglican combination of all three. -- The Revd Christopher Landau * CHURCH TIMES *
Witty, honest and - no pun intended - irreverent, it is very much a personal and at times heartbreaking account about what it was like to be gay during the period with a bit of pop-world gossip thrown in as well. Readable to say the least. * MORNING STAR *

Author Bio

THE REVEREND RICHARD COLES is a writer, broadcaster and an Anglican priest. He co-presented Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4 for a number of years and appears, from time to time, on QI, Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You He has won Christmas MasterChef, Celebrity Mastermind twice, and captained Leeds to victory in Christmas University Challenge in 2019. A contestant on Strictly Come Dancing (2017) and a third place finalist on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! (2024) he exhibits huge bravery.

He writes regularly for the Sunday Times, and is the author of half a dozen books, including a bestselling autobiography, Fathomless Riches, and the bereavement bestseller The Madness of Grief, written after the death of his partner, David Coles. The first three books in the Canon Clement series have all been No.1 Sunday Times bestsellers.