Romany and Tom: A Memoir

(Paperback)

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______________________ A 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 Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, 2014 ______________________ 'Wise, moving and entertaining... a major achievement to rival any of Watt's recordings' - Guardian 'A poignant, life-affirming work' - Financial Times ______________________ Ben 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 Londons 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 RADA-trained Shakespearian actress, who had triplets in her first marriage before becoming a leading showbiz columnist in the.sixties and seventies. They were both divorcees from very different backgrounds who came together like colliding trains in 1957. Both a personal journey and a portrait of his parents, Romany and Tom is a vivid story of the post-war years, ambition and stardom, family roots and secrets, life in clubs and in care homes. It is also about who we are, where we come from, and how we love and live with each other for a long time. ______________________ 'You know when everyone last month was going 'Ben Watt's Romany & Tom is amazing' I've just read it. It really is' - Caitlin Moran

Reviews

Neither sentimental nor savage, yet often wise, moving and entertaining within the same paragraph, Romany and Tom is a major achievement to rival any of Watt's recordings * Guardian *
You know when everyone last month was going 'Ben Watt's Romany & Tom is amazing' I've just read it. It really is * Caitlin Moran *
Romany and Tom may be the most beguiling book youll read all year ... He has a songwriters gift for the deft phrase, while his powers of observation and recall are quite extraordinary ... Rather like Watts musical compositions ... this book is at once downbeat and uplifting * Mail on Sunday *
A poignant, life-affirming work * Financial Times *
INCREDIBLE I read it in two huge gulps. Its funny, incredibly moving, beautifully written, really thought-provoking * Alexis Petridis *
Forget Morrissey: Romany & Tom is the most beautiful, compelling memoir by a musician youll read for a very long time * John Niven *
[An] elegantly written and clear-sighted memoir ... Romany and Tom is a tender work infused with the understanding that this is the final chapter of two rich and complex lives ... Watts reluctance to sentimentalise the experience makes it that much more powerful, cutting to the heart of the frustrations that come with caring for ones parents who were, not long ago, just like us * Independent on Sunday *
It 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 * Gideon Coe, BBC 6 Music *
Watt has written about personal trauma before in his 1996 memoir Patient. This pulses with the same combination of clarity and kindness. Unsentimental and humane * Telegraph *
Closely observed, brilliantly written and unsparing * David Hepworth *
As a DJ and one half of Everything But The Girl (with his partner Tracey Thorn), Ben Watt knows better than most the impact fame can have on identity. But in his poignant new memoir, Romany and Tom, he channels that knowledge through his parents lives * Harpers Bazaar *
Moving and evocative * Alan Johnson, Observer Books of the Year *

Author Bio

Born in 1962, Ben Watt is a musician, songwriter, DJ and author. His first book, Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, voted a Sunday Times Book of the Year by William Boyd and shortlisted for the Esquire Non-fiction Book of the Year. He is perhaps most well known for his twenty-year career in alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl (19822002). He is also an international club and radio DJ, and since 2003 has run his own independent record labels Buzzin Fly and Strange Feeling. Having recently returned to songwriting and live performance, his first solo album for thirty years is expected in 2014. He lives in north London with his wife Tracey Thorn and their three children. Follow him on Twitter: @ben_watt www.benwatt.com