Keith Waterhouse's guest appearances

Keith Waterhouse

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1981-1985

Bowie Book Club Podcast

75 Reads

Tom Stoppard

Richard Wright

Billy Liar

John Cage

Ann Petry

David Kidd

Colin Wilson

Muriel Spark

Camille Paglia

Gwyneth Jones

Roger Moore

Madhur Jaffrey

Peter Bull

Hugh Johnson

Junot Diaz

OwlTail

We typically split our reads in half and record two episodes per book here on the pod, but Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse was such a quick read that we felt one episode would do the job. The story is in the title, Billy is a liar. He’s a 19 year old who is living at home with his parents and grandmother, working at a job he hates, dreaming of being a comedy writer. Even though this book was published in 1959, it sounds like your typical kid of today. But, the thing that sets Billy apart is that he just can’t tell the truth. To anyone. About anything. And eventually, he gets found out. He finds his own life so mundane and so miserable that he escapes to a world he’s created in his mind, and he does so quite often. He even has two types of thinking, once that’s factual and one that’s pure fantasy. Will Billy finally be true to his family? Will he finally be true to either of his fiancés? Will he finally be true to the girl he loves (not a fiancé, by the way)? Will he finally be true to himself? Listen to the pod, and find out! Oh! And April found a brilliant Bowie song to pair with this book! It’s perfect! And we are almost certain that Bowie had this book in mind when he wrote it. What song, you ask? Have a listen, and let us know what you think! ………………………………………………… P.S. As Halloween approaches, suddenly Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve all come in rapid succession. This is our last episode of the year! Thank you so much for listening and being a part of our book club. We are having so much fun making our way through Bowie’s reading list, and we hope you are too! We’ll be back with a new episode featuring All The Emperor’s Horses by David Kidd on January 7th! Until then, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

We typically split our reads in half and record two episodes per book here on the pod, but Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse was such a quick read that we felt one episode would do the job. The story is in the title, Billy is a liar. He’s a 19 year old who is living at home with his parents and grandmother, working at a job he hates, dreaming of being a comedy writer. Even though this book was published in 1959, it sounds like your typical kid of today. But, the thing that sets Billy apart is that he just can’t tell the truth. To anyone. About anything. And eventually, he gets found out. He finds his own life so mundane and so miserable that he escapes to a world he’s created in his mind, and he does so quite often. He even has two types of thinking, once that’s factual and one that’s pure fantasy. Will Billy finally be true to his family? Will he finally be true to either of his fiancés? Will he finally be true to the girl he loves (not a fiancé, by the way)? Will he finally be true to himself? Listen to the pod, and find out! Oh! And April found a brilliant Bowie song to pair with this book! It’s perfect! And we are almost certain that Bowie had this book in mind when he wrote it. What song, you ask? Have a listen, and let us know what you think! ………………………………………………… P.S. As Halloween approaches, suddenly Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve all come in rapid succession. This is our last episode of the year! Thank you so much for listening and being a part of our book club. We are having so much fun making our way through Bowie’s reading list, and we hope you are too! We’ll be back with a new episode featuring All The Emperor’s Horses by David Kidd on January 7th! Until then, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Bowie, Ep. 23 - Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse & Why Two Ways of Thinking Aren't Better Than One

This time we read Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar - the story of a dreamer in Northern England who just can't keep his stories straight.

This time we read Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar - the story of a dreamer in Northern England who just can't keep his stories straight.

Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse

Keith Waterhouse started his writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post but it was not long before he had a huge success with a novel - Billy Liar. For many years, in a prolific partnership with Willis Hall, he wrote plays, television scripts and screenplays, although now he concentrates on his novels and his regular columns in Punch and the Daily Mirror. In conversation with Roy Plomley, this versatile writer talks about his career and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Guys and Dolls (Title Song) by The Guys and Dolls OrchestraBook: A year's supply of the Exchange &amp; MartLuxury: Solar-powered television, video and eight films

Keith Waterhouse started his writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post but it was not long before he had a huge success with a novel - Billy Liar. For many years, in a prolific partnership with Willis Hall, he wrote plays, television scripts and screenplays, although now he concentrates on his novels and his regular columns in Punch and the Daily Mirror. In conversation with Roy Plomley, this versatile writer talks about his career and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Guys and Dolls (Title Song) by The Guys and Dolls Orchestra Book: A year's supply of the Exchange &amp; Mart Luxury: Solar-powered television, video and eight films