A Story He Had to Tell Keeps It in the Family; David Baddiel's Talent Is Words, and He has Used His Grandfather's Second World War Internment As the Inspiration for His New Novel. By Abigail Wild
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Summary
The sight of David Baddiel is mildly shocking. His hair is mad professor-ish, as if his rampant brain energy is finding an outlet through his follicles. It's the blinding white bandage on his forehead that takes you back though - how on earth did he manage that? "Well, I was playing football," says the man who co-wrote the most popular England footy anthem of all time. "I went up for a header, so did this other guy, and BANG. I was tremendously excited to see all this blood just gushing all over the place . . ."
And that, football fans, is more or less the last we'll hear of TV Baddiel today. We're holed up in a sun-drenched London office to discuss his new novel, The Secret Purposes, which is based in part on his Jewish grandfather's experiences interned on the Isle of Man during the Second World War. The description of the book in its sleeve is bang on. It's tender, all right. Movingly so. It's not serious as in heavy, but it's certainly a million planets from taking the mick out of some tangerine-tanned hairdresser from Tottenham on a sofa with Frank Skinner on a Saturday night.See the full content of this document
Extract
A Story He Had to Tell Keeps It in the Family; David Baddiel's Talent Is Words, and He has Used His Grandfather's Second World War Internment As the Inspiration for His New Novel. By Abigail Wild
"I have never thought there is a contradiction in liking football, doing a comedy show and wanting to write any of my books," he says.
"It happens all the time when you're on telly; people think, 'I know who this person is', a laddish bloke who likes football. It's not gonna be the truth; it might be a semi-truth or a...See the full content of this document
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