My Sh*t Life So Far by Frankie Boyle (Harper Collins paperback, £7.99) (From York Press)

My Sh*t Life So Far by Frankie Boyle (Harper Collins paperback, £7.99)

9:50am Saturday 10th July 2010 in

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Chronicling the life of the foul-mouthed comic from his early days growing up in the tenements of Glasgow to his time as arguably the most popular panel member on a slew of television comedy game shows, My Sh*t Life So Far reads exactly like an extended Frankie Boyle stand-up slot.

Fond memories of childhood holidays sit alongside acerbic jokes and insults that would cause the BBC complaints line to go into meltdown, but the entire text is written in such a relaxed and easily readable way that you’re half a page and a dozen jokes ahead before you realise you’ve just missed an attack on the Catholic church, or a paragraph on the pleasures of MDMA.

Fans of the comic will recognise chunks of the text from Boyle’s stand-up and appearances on Mock The Week, but it’s testament to his talent that they lose little humour and still feel fresh when not being read aloud. In fact, his humour translates so well to his writing style that you can almost hear every sentence being read in Boyle’s laconic Scots drawl.

As an autobiography, it’s honest, affectionate, and refreshingly warts-and-all, writing in-depth about Boyle’s upbringing, drink and drug problem and his recovery and newfound celebrity.