Broken Greek: RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

Paphides, Pete

ISBN 10: 1529404436 / ISBN 13: 9781529404432

Published by Quercus, 2020

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # 3684294

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Broken Greek: RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
• Publisher: Quercus
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529404436
• ISBN 13: 9781529404432
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Used; Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

'Tender, clever and as funny as it gets... a heart-piercing joy' Lauren Laverne
__________

'Do you sometimes feel like the music you're hearing is explaining your life to you?'

When Pete's parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and Britishness.

Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs, thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.

With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation? 'Sugar Baby Love', 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', 'Tragedy', 'Silly Games', 'Going Underground', 'Come On Eileen', and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.

Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.