'Do you sometimes feel like the music you're hearing is explaining your life to you'
When Pete's parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life,they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines,male banter and Britishness.
Shy and introverted,Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7,and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs,thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40,from ABBA to The Police,music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school,friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber,standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.
With every passing year,his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek,but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation'Sugar Baby Love','Don't Go Breaking My Heart','Tragedy','Silly Games','Going Underground','Come On Eileen',and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.
Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.
Publisher: Quercus PublishingISBN: 9781529404449Number of pages: 592Weight: 410 gDimensions: 196 x 128 x 44 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'..the book's greatest asset is its abundance of material about musicians and songs,and the way that they have guided its author through experiences that would have been impossible to navigate alone.'- The Guardian
'Paphides uses music the same way that Nigel Slater uses food in his autobiography Toast,vividly recreating his formative years through the songs of the era.'- The TImes
'... not purely another pop culture nostalgia fest. What sets it apart is that it is seen through the eyes of a child...'- The Sunday Times
'Tender,clever and as funny as it gets...a heart-piercing joy'- Lauren Laverne
'I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful,clever,and a bit heartbreaking'- Nina Stibbe
'So wonderfully written,such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental'- John Niven
'It's brilliant. Sad,really funny and beautifully written...just fantastic'- Alexis Petridis
'Heartfelt,hilarious and beautifully written,Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other'- Cathy Newman
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