Extracts

Sue Perkins on her first trip to Kolkata, India

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East of Croydon by Sue Perkins

Spectacles

Discover the woman behind the spectacles in the hilarious, incredibly moving memoir from much loved comedian, writer and presenter Sue Perkins, star of Mel &amp; Sue and The Great British Bake Off 
 
'Very funny. Reading her memoir is very like meeting her' Sunday Times 
 
'Tight &amp; bright &amp; full of inspiration' Chris Evans, Radio 2 
 
When I began writing this book, I went home to see if my mum had kept some of my stuff. What I found was that she hadn't kept some of it. She had kept all of it - every bus ticket, postcard, school report - from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say 'Why is our house full of this shit?' 
 
Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of this archive. 
 
This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself. 
 
This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?' 
 
Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me. 
 
Thank you for reading. 
 
Praise for Spectacles 
 
'Drama, tears and laughs - Spectacles has got it all. A brilliant, touching memoir suffused with love, it reminds you that life is best lived at wonky angles. I ADORED it' Jessie Burton, bestselling author of The Miniaturist 
 
'Very funny . . . It seems there are two Sue Perkins: the TV one, who gabbles and pratfalls, and the sensitive one who aches. The first of course, exists to protect the second. They can both write. The first writes comedy, the second tragedy; in this sense, reading her memoir is very like meeting her' Sunday Times

Drama, tears and laughs - Spectacles has got it all. A brilliant, touching memoir suffused with love, it reminds you that life is best lived at wonky angles. I ADORED it

Very funny . . . It seems there are two Sue Perkins: the TV one, who gabbles and pratfalls, and the sensitive one who aches. The first of course, exists to protect the second. They can both write. The first writes comedy, the second tragedy; in this sense, reading her memoir is very like meeting her

It's a proper book . . . so well written. Tight &amp; bright &amp; full of inspiration

Utterly wonderful. It's very, very funny and poignant and it's very Sue Perkins and that's the bliss of it

Relentlessly cheering, Spectacles is as charming and funny as Perkins herself. Like going for a long, slightly drunken lunch with your naughtiest friend

Brilliantly written... fearlessly honest and full of heart, it will also make you laugh like a gibbon

I absolutely loved it . . . whip smart and very funny

Life, love and loss - it's all here ... Warm, crisp and beautifully layered - like its author,Spectacles is a complete delight

[A] deftly written and belly-laugh funny autobiography . . . Though she never suggests she might be remotely brainy, she clearly is. Her vocabulary makes Will Self's seem lacking, her writing is full of discreetly clever allusions . . . If she wants her readers to like her, she certainly achieved it with this reviewer who laughed and cried and secretly wants her as a best friend

Sue's memoir will leave you feeling like you've made a new best friend. Introducing us to a cast of friends, family and love interests, and not forgetting a psychopathic nun, Sue picks apart life in a refreshingly honest, warm and downright hilarious way... Spectacles firmly cements her as an exciting writer of the future

This smart and funny story is far from the photo-heavy, ghost-written volumes that it will compete with . . . Perkins is such a good writer . . . incapable of writing a boring sentence

Sue Perkins is perhaps best known for being one half of double act Mel and Sue, where she plays the part of Mel. Together, the pair have bounced, shouted and gurned their way through countless hours of television, most memorably Light Lunch and its later counterpart, the imaginatively titled Late Lunch. 
 
Over the years, Sue has worked on a wide range of solo projects, including documentaries on art, popular fiction and history. In 2008 she appeared on the BBC show Maestro, culminating in her conducting at the Last Night of the Proms. She has also collaborated with food-critic Giles Coren on the Supersizers series, where the duo power-ate their way through five centuries of lungs, livers and testicles whilst half-cut on sherry. 
 
Sue hosts the panel show, Insert Name Here, as well as being a regular contributor to Just A Minute, QI and The Last Leg. She is also the presenter of the Game of Thrones companion show, Thronecast. 
 
East of Croydon is Sue's second book. Her first, Spectacles, was a Sunday Times bestseller. 
 
Oh, and she used to do a cake show on BBC1 
 
@sueperkins

Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of my childhood stuff that my mum had kept. This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to read a poem about corn on the cob. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself. 
 
This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Does orchestral conducting simply involve waving your arms around?' 
 
Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.

Sue Perkins

Travels through India and South East Asia inspired by her BBC 1 series 'The Ganges'

A few years ago I was asked if I'd like to make a documentary on the Mekong River, travelling from the vast delta in Vietnam to the remote and snowy peaks of Tibet. 
 
Up until that point, the farthest East I'd been was Torremolinos, in the Costa Del Sol. 
 
Here's the thing: 
 
I am scared of flying. 
I have zero practical skills. 
I can't survive if I am more than a three minute walk from a supermarket. 
For the last seven years I have suffered with crippling anxiety 
I bolt when panicked. 
I cannot bear to witness humans or animals in distress 
I have no ability to learn languages. 
I am a terrible hypochondriac 
 
And I am no good with boats. 
 
So I said yes.

Sue Perkins

East of Croydon

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