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Spilling the Beans

Author: Clarissa Dickson-wright
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł7.99~~
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

32 reviews
Sales Rank: 3495

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 0.9

ISBN: 0340933895
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780340933893
ASIN: 0340933895

Publication Date: September 4, 2008 (In 14 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 32

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A work of Fiction ? February 7, 2008
3 out of 11 found this review helpful

This book is a disaster from start to finish. Previous reviews have noted the incorrect details re T. Blair, Jack Straw etc. & the numerous typing errors , but to anyone reading this, it just does not make sense. There is a sentence containing 73 words with no punctuation. Incidentally, a Lammergeyer is NOT a type of 'Bustard ' & also known as a 'stonebreaker'
it is a type of 'vulture' also called a 'bonebreaker'. These are errors of FACT and not typing faults.
I doubt whether those giving good reviews have read the book properly- possibly every other line.
It is so mixed up, disjointed and rambling, that it must have been written
during CDW's darkest days.It is a great pity, as the writer is obviously
a very learned and clever person.
I enjoyed the TFL t.v. series immensely -much better than the rubbish that
today passes as 'cookery' programmes.
I only wish that CDW had stuck to the t.v. rather than chance her hand at writing.

4 out of 5 stars

Moving February 1, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Autobiography is not a genre I'm normally comfortable with, but I thought this was excellent.

It was also very moving, her account of living with a violent and alcoholic father and her own subsequent fall into addiction was painful to read and very powerful.

Her battle against it, her soberity now and how she came to terms with the horrors of a childhood that was luxurious on one side, but had a man who could hit her around the head with a red hot poker on the other, was inspirational.

I'd have liked a few recipes, but only because she has such good ones.

5 out of 5 stars

very entertaining January 13, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I purchased this book for my wife and she absolutely loved it.Clarissa gives a very honest account of her life,a bad father,her career in Law and her descent into alchoholism.She displays both humour and sadness and has led an amazing life.A great read and highly recommended to all.

3 out of 5 stars

Or perhaps 3 and a half January 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I've read a lot of biographies and on the whole this is pretty interesting, with a couple of gems of tales of thrown in. The only reason I can't give it a better rating is that you could almost tell when she was starting a new day writing at her desk. In a couple of sections the writing did not flow quite so fluently or with the same style/tempo as the rest of the book. I would buy it again though - I now have a huge admiration for her ability to just get on with things without feeling sorry for herself. A really genuine and likeable person. I've spoken to Clarissa to set up an interview for a regional fair she was attending and she was one of the most pleasant people I have ever dealt with, not at all 'precious' - very down to earth and easy to work with.

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting read, brutally honest January 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I've always thought CDW an interesting character and whilst I don't necessarily share her views on matters such as protected birds and the countryside, I found her rather colourful life story as a whole to be fascinating. At points, I did wonder if she were 'blowing her own trumpet' regarding her achievements but when she describes her 10 year struggle with alcoholism and how it becomes all consuming, I found it perhaps more about showing that no matter how privileged, talented or intelligent one is, "there but for the grace of God etc, etc."