Only Fools and Stories

From Del Boy to Granville, Pop Larkin to Frost

By: David Jason

Narrated by: David Jason, Michael Fenton Stevens

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of My Lives: From Del Boy to Granville, Pop Larkin to Frost by David Jason.

In his first book, David Jason told us about himself from his early years training as an electrician through to making it as one of Britain's actors. This autumn, in a follow-up autobiography, he tells us about the many other lives he has lived - his characters. From Del Boy to Granville, Pop Larkin to Frost, he takes us behind the scenes and under the skins of some of the best loved acts of his career. And in the process he reflects on how those characters changed his life, too. The result, told with his characteristic charm and wit, is both funny and poignant, honest and heartwarming.

©2017 David Jason (P)2017 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A memoir that's as entertaining and warm as Only Fools and Horses." ( Daily Mail)

"Deserves a huge round of applause." (Steve Wright, BBC Radio 2)

Poorly edited but enjoyable nonetheless

My wife and I started listening to this book this afternoon and are enjoying it so far. I have noticed something strange about it, though. I do understand that when books get published even the best proofreaders and editors might miss the rare typo here and there, but this is the first professional audiobook I’ve purchased and listened to where the narrator flubs at least two lines in one chapter. You’d have thought they could have easily digitally removed the one since he stammers and starts the line over. The other one should have been re-recorded since he refers to Uncle Albert from OFAH as Uncle Arthur.

Nevertheless, we are still enjoying listening to it and since we’re still early on in the book I’ll have to keep my ear open for more flubs.

Fascinating and entertaining

I've enjoyed "Britcoms" on my local PBS station for most of my life, and "Open All Hours" was one of my faves. Reading the story of how David Jason became Granville (and later Del Boy) feels like a thrilling peek under the bonnet.

The author read the introduction, then a professional reader gave us the rest. Although we wouldn't be hearing Mr. Jason for the rest of the book, Michael Fenton Stevens is a capable performer, and he displayed every nuance and regional accent satisfactorily (at least to an American ear). At some point I forgot that it wasn't the actual voice of David Jason, becoming lost in the story.

My aim in reading this was pure mindless entertainment, but I got much more. "Only Fools and Stories" is a worthy tome of grit and substance in working toward your dreams in a world of cheap thrills.