All roads lead back home.
Billy Connolly may be a citizen of the world, but in his heart he's never been far from his homeland. Coming Home is Billy's unique and intimate portrait of his native Scotland, a love letter to the places and people that made him.
It's an adventure inspired by a single incident: the moment Billy received his Knighthood and was asked 'How does it feel to have achieved all this when you came from nothing?' His response was, 'But I did come from something!' So begins an odyssey through the Highlands, Lowlands and the Barrowlands on a shaggy dog quest to find out what that 'something' was and whether it is still there.
Far from a typical travelogue, Billy’s quest is as much through his memories and experiences as it is through his excursions, with a series of key artefacts prompting reminiscences – a first pressing of a Hank Williams album (the first record he ever owned), Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen, a bottle of air that recreates the smell of the old Glasgow Docks – each of which inspire moments of reflection, joy, drama and laughter.
Accompanying a major BBC TV series, Coming Home is Billy Connolly's insightful, moving and very funny account of the stuff that really matters. Family, love, sex, health, football, fishing, work, art, swearing, banjos, friends, going to the pub. And good tea.
Made in Scotland, Billy Connolly
There's something about Billy Connolly that's always made him a leading light in how to cope with the highs and lows of life. Whether it's pointed instruction on learning how to swear at those awful people who knock on your door flogging their brand of religion, through to assurances that nobody, anywhere needs to wear beige, Billy is older than us, he's lived a hell of a life and he's learnt a few things along the way.
Thanks to Billy's advice, ever since hitting my 50's I've never let a loo stop go by, I've always been a fan of the correct clothes when it's cold (the truism sort of holds when it's stinking hot), and I've laughed over the years at his live shows, his TV appearances and any chance I can get. MADE IN SCOTLAND is a typical ramble around through his life, warts and all. From young boy in the tenaments of Glasgow to welder to folk musician and ultimately comedian. His wisdom and life experience shines through, his approach to life in the face of Parkinson's Disease - the whole kit and caboodle is, once again, packed full of lessons on the opportunities we all have to live a good life. And laughs, as you'd expect, many laughs.
After finishing MADE IN SCOTLAND, I'm now obsessed with pockets, I'm in 100% agreement about the importance of libraries, and I'm well aware that as we get older, things get dafter. Sure there's a bit of the same territory here that was covered in the books already written by his wife, although he admits he might have fibbed a bit on a few things in those, but doesn't matter, more from Billy is never too much. I love his take on life even more and luckily the narrator of the audio version of this book, Gordon Kennedy, had just the right accent as the icing on the cake. (By the way - make sure you read the blurb of this one.)