A. A. Gill (1954–2016)
Author of The Angry Island: Hunting the English
About the Author
Adrian Anthony Gill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 28, 1954. He studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and at the Slade School, but did not graduate from either. A series of odd jobs followed as he descended into alcoholism. After entering a rehabilitation show more program in 1984 and joining Alcoholics Anonymous, he taught cooking classes. He wrote a short article about his recovery for Tatler's Good Rehab Guide and was hired as a food writer and essayist. In 1993, he was hired by The Sunday Times. He wrote about television, travel, and politics before taking over Table Talk, the newspaper's weekly restaurant column. His travel writing and foreign reporting were collected in A. A. Gill Is Away and A. A. Gill Is Further Away. His other books included Sap Rising, The Ivy: The Restaurant and Its Recipes, Le Caprice, Breakfast at the Wolseley: Recipes from London's Favorite Restaurant, Grand Cafe, The Golden Door: Letters to America, and Table Talk: Sweet and Sour, Salt and Bitter. His autobiography, Pour Me: A Life, was published in 2015. He died from lung cancer on December 10, 2016 at the age of 62. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo: Jonathan Player/The New York Times
Works by A. A. Gill
Uncle Dysfunctional: Uncompromising Answers to Life's Most Painful Problems (2017) 26 copies, 2 reviews
Paper View: The Best of the "Sunday Times" Television Columns (Hardback) (2008) 22 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Gill, Adrian Anthony
- Birthdate
- 1954-06-28
- Date of death
- 2016-12-10
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Education
- St Christopher School, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Slade School of Art - Occupations
- writer
restaurant/food critic - Relationships
- Connolly, Cressida (former spouse)
Formby, Nicola (spouse)
Rudd, Amber (former spouse)
Gill, Michael (father) - Organizations
- The Sunday Times
Vanity Fair
Members
Reviews
A.A. Gill is away by A. A. Gill
A collection of essays and travel pieces by the late travel and food critic, who was one of the wittiest, funniest, most vulgar and observant writers. His topics here range from an assignment in Haiti, where he witnesses a murder and gets caught in the middle of a riot. In Brazil, he observes the lifestyle of both the rich and poor and gets pretty entranced with "bottoms". In New York, he commits to trying all the trendy gyms and their exercise programs. One of the funniest pieces is about golf, with Gill in a fury, listings everything he hates about the idea of golf and golfers, before becoming a golfer himself, and the most heartfelt essay is about his father's Alzheimer's. There's also a piece about hunting that is graphic at times, but also explains his stance.
Even if you think you aren't interested in the subject he's writing about, Gill could hold the reader's attention because he had such an unpredictable, original voice.… (more)
Even if you think you aren't interested in the subject he's writing about, Gill could hold the reader's attention because he had such an unpredictable, original voice.… (more)
I’m not sure if the is the best of the author’s writing but is a fantastic assortment.
A. A. Gill was a one of a kind. His writing is exceptional his humor is delightful and his insights especially around subjects he was passionate about were beyond compare.
Yes the collection has some restaurant reviews but not the ones where he skewers everything about the dining experience. His take on Starbucks is quite amusing, I still think he was one of the top travel writers ever, his story on Monte Carlo is hysterical, his travels to many other locations are not funny at all and will likely hit you where it hurts and remind you how fortunate we are to be born in a modern first world country, but what seals this book as being superb is when he takes it to a personal level.
How many people would be brave enough to write a newspaper column and discuss
1. Their alcoholism and the time spent in rehab.
2. Their dyslexia
3. Their going to the doctor, finding they have cancer, starting Chemo and being told it’s too late.
The world lost an amazing man the day this author died.… (more)
A. A. Gill was a one of a kind. His writing is exceptional his humor is delightful and his insights especially around subjects he was passionate about were beyond compare.
Yes the collection has some restaurant reviews but not the ones where he skewers everything about the dining experience. His take on Starbucks is quite amusing, I still think he was one of the top travel writers ever, his story on Monte Carlo is hysterical, his travels to many other locations are not funny at all and will likely hit you where it hurts and remind you how fortunate we are to be born in a modern first world country, but what seals this book as being superb is when he takes it to a personal level.
How many people would be brave enough to write a newspaper column and discuss
1. Their alcoholism and the time spent in rehab.
2. Their dyslexia
3. Their going to the doctor, finding they have cancer, starting Chemo and being told it’s too late.
The world lost an amazing man the day this author died.… (more)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 21
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 1,040
- Popularity
- #24,755
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 52
- ISBNs
- 62
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 3