`Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty' Sunday Telegraph `It was the biography that I would have written if my parents had not been given benefits, if they'd had to rely on ... Read moreparish hand outs ... [I] want to press this book into your hands and go, You must read this .' Caitlin Moran `What makes this writer's self-told tale so memorable?... An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject' The Good Book Guide Show Less