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Pour Me

A Life

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Pour Me

By: A. A. Gill
Narrated by: Dougray Scott
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About this listen

A. A. Gill's memoir begins in the dark of a dormitory with six strangers. He is an alcoholic, dying in the last-chance saloon - driven to dry out, not out of a desire to change but mainly through weariness. He tells the truth - as far as he can remember it - about drinking and about what it is like to be drunk.

Pour Me is about the blackouts, the collapse, the despair: 'Pockets were a constant source of surprise - a lamb chop, a votive candle, earrings, notes written on paper and ripped from books' and even, once, a pigeon. 'Morning pockets,' he says, 'were like tiny crime scenes.' He recalls the lost days, lost friends, failed marriages.... But there was also 'an optimum inebriation, a time when it was all golden, when the drink and the pleasure made sense and were brilliant'.

Sobriety regained, there are painterly descriptions of people and places, unforgettable musings about childhood and family, art and religion, friendships and fatherhood and, most movingly, the connections between his cooking, dyslexia and his missing brother.

Full of raw and unvarnished truths, exquisitely written throughout, Pour Me is about lost time and self-discovery. Lacerating, unflinching, uplifting, it is a classic about drunken abandon.

Read by Dougray Scott.

2016, PEN Ackerley Prize, Short-listed

©2015 A. A. Gill (P)2017 Orion Publishing Group Alcoholism Authors Journalists, Editors & Publishers Celebrity Funny Heartfelt Inspiring Witty Thought-Provoking Feel-Good
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Critic reviews

'[Gill] writes passionately and movingly about his struggle with dyslexia; disarmingly and defensively about his lifelong feelings of intellectual insecurity; evocatively about his relationships with his parents and the disappearance of his brother . . . stirringly about his love of journalism . . . It might not all be beautiful; it might not all be true. But that does little to diminish the pleasure to be found in its story' (Matthew Adams)
'Fluent, cocky and dense with gags . . . he is a brilliant raconteur, and a gifted satirist of place and person. He is also, perhaps through a history of AA meetings (those initials are well chosen), unafraid to take risks of self-exposure. The baroque debauchery of his drinking days gives way to frank and often moving examinations of his growing up . . . his loves and lusts and marriages, and his own efforts at fatherhood: the role that has done most to keep him sober' (Tim Adams)
'As readers of Gill's journalism will expect, Pour Me is alert, emphatic, mordant, unforgiving. It is often moving, but never tries to be likeable. Honesty about alcoholism is not its chief attraction. It is a full-blooded retrospective by a man aged 61, who has travelled in remote and dangerous places, and has considered most human possibilities. He apologises for his book being insufficiently amusing ("it's about me, and I'm not really funny"), but his gallows comedy gives a hefty kick, many sections are beautifully droll, and some scenes are hilarious' (Richard Davenport-Hines)
'In this chilling, exquisitely moving book, Gill defines the seductive, addictive and destructive power of drink . . . Gill's trademark is slamming the truth down hard on the page. It is his honesty that accounts for the intensity of this haunting memoir . . . and although he says this is not a funny book, it is . . . there are meditative passages of beauty here . . . A book that began by discussing lost time becomes one of recovered time, of a new way of life that is worth not only living but also celebrating' (Juliet Nicolson)
'Pour Me, Gill's sweet-sour memoir of his drinking days and subsequent reform . . . is a delight. In pages of well-turned anecdote, Gill chronicles a rackety life made good. The book is nicely designed, moreover, and I liked the discussions of, among other things, the difficulties of parenting and marriage in late middle age' (Ian Thomson)
'A superb memoir - and one of the best books on addiction I have ever read . . . beautifully written. Gill describes many things - people, works of art, parts of London - wonderfully well. He says he wanted to be an artist. He is - with words' (William Leith)

What listeners say about Pour Me

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Profile Image for Jon F.

Moving story mangled by the narrator

The narration was so poor - pacing just plain wrong, no sense of Adrian’s emotional state and schoolboy level mispronunciations made it virtually unlistenable. I had to stop after an hour. I’ll read the book instead and try and get a refund.

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Profile Image for "the_gentleman_of_the_bush"

Great Story, Horrible Telling...

If you want to read this then I would recommend the physical copy. Mr. Dooogray Scott's narration must have been done in a single take because it is listless and, as many people have said, full of errors.

Fascinating author though. Can't fault the content.

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superb

Thoughtful and lyrical narration of a full and complex life. AA Gill, a journalist that WILL be remembered.

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Profile Image for CPK

Gripping, hilarious and mellifluous

An exploration of existence through the lens of a complex life. Gill’s writing is in its finest form, yet I can’t think of examples where it is anything other. Perhaps it’s more appropriate to say it’s just writing in its truest form: reflective but righteous; uneasy and caustic; honest yet hilarious.

I found Scott’s narration leaves a bit to be desired; mispronounced words and incorrect emphasis means some very powerful passages culminate in a whimper rather than crescendo.

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every word hits

fantastically narrated by Dougray Scott. I couldn't stop listening. A beautifully descriptive memoir of a not completely beautiful life.

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Profile Image for David Brooks

Simply Brilliant

I really enjoyed this story and for me, the narration by Dougray Scott was perfect.

The quality of the writing is incredible.

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Profile Image for Jodycbc

Sublime

This is a taught, unflinching and visceral account of a fragmented life. Not a word too long making sense of a life in two halves: one well remembered, one shattered by alcoholism. Lurches between philosophy and self deprecation without ever sounding preachy or indulgent. So many perfectly weighted paragraphs, this should be a standard text for those wanting a career in journalism or writing.

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Great story, and an incredible performance from the narrator

The beauty and intelligence of the writing was matched by the narrators performance. A good story wonderfully told, it's personal and funny and there is something for everyone to relate to in this book. A A Gill. RIP.

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Profile Image for Mark

A Man of Letters reflects...

Wistful and poignant with great passages of warmth and humour amidst the sadness. His parents, his brother and the Tatler stand out. Also, the war reporting. The depiction of alcoholism is gut wrenching like watching a train wreck.

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Profile Image for T HOUSE

Doogroy does his best, but...

Cracking autobiography however you’re just settling into the brilliance of the words and the narrator drops his kecks and slaps you in the ear with a really weird pronunciation of a fairly normal word. Don’t let it stop you though...

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