Jasper Rees – författare

In the days before his fortieth birthday, London-based journalist Jasper Rees trades his pen for a French horn that has been gathering dust in the attic for more than twenty-two years, and, on a lark, plays it at the annual festival of the British Horn Society.

Despite an embarrassingly poor performance, the experience inspires Rees to embark on a daunting, bizarre, and ultimately winning journey: to return to the festival in one year''s time and play a Mozart concerto—solo—to a large paying audience.

A Devil to Play is the true story of an unlikely midlife crisis spent conquering sixteen feet of wrapped brass tubing widely regarded as the most difficult instrument to master, as well as the most treacherous to play in public. It is the history of man''s first musical instrument, a compelling journey that moves from the walls of Jericho to Sgt. Pepper''s Lonely Hearts Club Band, from the hunting fields of France to the heart of Hollywood. And it is the account of one man''s mounting musical obsession, told with pitch-perfect wit and an undeniable charm—an endearing, inspiring tale of perseverance and achievement, relayed masterfully, one side-splittingly off-key note at a time.

''There was none like her before and there''s been none like her since'' Dawn FrenchIn the five years since Victoria Wood''s death, one great sadness has been the realisation that we will never again be surprised by new material from her.But as part of the research for Let''s Do It, the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, her official biographer Jasper Rees uncovered a treasure chest of unseen work. From her first piece of comic prose, for the school magazine, through to material written for the great TV shows of her maturity, this joyful hoard of unreleased material spans nearly half a century.Victoria Wood: Unseen on TV is a unique and intimate insight into the working of an irreplaceable genius of comedy.From the first to the last, here are sketches, songs and stand-up monologues that no one else could have written, which will make you laugh in the way that only she could.''He was a lovely man he had a lovely gap between his two front teeth. I specially noticed it cos he had a mushy pea stuck in it. He said can I take you home I said hang on I haven''t finished my Tizer. So, we get home he says can I come in for a coffee. I said I haven''t got any coffee but you can come in for a Horlicks if you don''t mind sucking your own lumps.''Praise for Let''s Do It:''Rees pulls off the trick of writing a brilliant tribute while also - somehow, almost - bringing Victoria Wood back to life in all her complicated glory.'' Guardian''An immersive, authoritative book'' Spectator''Impeccable'' Daily Telegraph''A must-read'' Daily Mirror''A joy'' Daily Mail

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Radio Times, Daily Herald and FT Book of the Year''I was born with a warped sense of humour and when I was carried home from being born it was Coronation Day and so I was called Victoria but you are not supposed to know who wrote this anyway it is about time I unleashed my pent-up emotions in a bitter comment on the state of our society but it''s not quite me so I think I shall write a heart-warming story with laughter behind the tears and tears behind the laughter which means hysterics to you Philistines...''From ''Pardon?'' by Vicky Wood, Aged 14. Bury Grammar School (Girls) Magazine, 1967In her passport Victoria Wood listed her occupation as ''entertainer'' - and in stand-up and sketches, songs and sitcom, musicals and dramas, she became the greatest entertainer of the age. Those things that might have held her back - her lonely childhood, her crippling shyness and above all the disadvantage of being a woman in a male-run industry - she turned to her advantage to make extraordinary comedy about ordinary people living ordinary lives in ordinary bodies. She wasn''t fond of the term, but Victoria Wood truly was a national treasure - and her loss is still keenly felt. Victoria had plenty of stories still to tell when she died in 2016, and one of those was her own autobiography. ''I will do it one day,'' she told the author and journalist Jasper Rees. ''It would be about my childhood, about my first few years in showbusiness, which were really interesting and would make a really nice story.'' That sadly never came to pass, so Victoria''s estate has asked Jasper Rees, who interviewed her more than anyone else, to tell her extraordinary story in full. He has been granted complete and exclusive access to Victoria''s rich archive of personal and professional material, and has conducted over 200 interviews with her family, friends and colleagues - among them Victoria''s children, her sisters, her ex-husband Geoffrey Durham, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Dawn French, Anne Reid, Imelda Staunton and many more. What emerges is a portrait of a true pioneer who spoke to her audience like no one before or since.