Sylvia Patterson – författare

'There's no mistaking the writing of Sylvia Patterson' Sunday Times'One of the finest writers in the world' David QuantickHow does the big stuff in life truly change us?In late 2019, Sylvia Patterson was a celebrated pop journalist, merrily writing about the musical greats. But with a life-threatening diagnosis, global pandemic and collapse of her industry, life took a drastic turn.This misadventure would teach her many things. The power of friendship, the shock of mortality and what happens when love is tested. How a walk in the park, a spontaneous dance and a TV hero can save your life. And what really happens when your body, never mind your kitchen, falls apart.The follow-up to Costa-shortlisted I'm Not with the Band, this is Sylvia's gallows-funny odyssey through the mid-life trials we all face, as she asks the big question: would it change her, or would she stay that same old girl?

'Patterson is one of the great comic writers of the last quarter century' THE HERALD'Unsparing but ultimately uplifting, every sentence cuts a caper' MOJO'A thoroughly engaging, life-affirming book' MAIL ON SUNDAYHow does the big stuff in life truly change us?In late 2019, Sylvia Patterson was a celebrated pop journalist, still merrily writing about the musical greats. But with the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease, a global pandemic and the collapse of her industry, life was about to take a drastic turn.It was a misadventure that would teach her many things. The power of friendship, the shock of mortality and what happens when love is tested. How a walk in the park, a spontaneous dance and a TV hero can save your life. How your perspective can shift on everything, from work, family and music, to what truly makes you happy. And what really happens when your body, never mind your kitchen, falls apart.The follow-up to the Costa-shortlisted I'm Not with the Band, this is Sylvia's unflinching, poignant and gallows-funny odyssey through the mid-life trials we all face, as she tries to answer the big question: would it all change her, or would she stay that same old girl?'A relatable read by a phenomenal writer' THE FACE'There's no mistaking the writing of Sylvia Patterson' SUNDAY TIMES

From the Costa-shortlisted author of I'm Not With The Band, a collection of interviews with the weird and wonderful musicians who defined an iconic era Whatever happened to the weirdos? The rock'n'roll rebels? The children of The Revolution who not so much raged against The Man as barely acknowledged the concept of authority?Sylvia Patterson remembers them. The freaks, geeks and oddballs who picked up microphones and instruments not to become rich or famous but because they were too mad (or unemployable) to do anything else.I'm Not With The Man is the flipside to Sylvia's award-winning memoir I'm Not With The Band, celebrating the era of 'the rock 'n' roll nutter' through her own encounters with some of music's most uncompromising mavericks. From a cursing Adam Ant to a formidable Chrissie Hynde, from a carousing Liam Gallagher to a coruscating Sinead O'Connor, from a comedy Wu Tang Clan to an unrepentant Marianne Faithfull, and many, many more.Hilarious, revealing and poignant, I'm Not With The Man heralds a farewell fanfare to the heroically unhinged, those who lived on the edge of not only society but their own precarious sanity. We will not see their like again.

From the Costa-shortlisted author of I'm Not With The Band, a collection of interviews with the weird and wonderful musicians who defined an iconic era Whatever happened to the weirdos? The rock'n'roll rebels? The children of The Revolution who not so much raged against The Man as barely acknowledged the concept of authority?Sylvia Patterson remembers them. The freaks, geeks and oddballs who picked up microphones and instruments not to become rich or famous but because they were too mad (or unemployable) to do anything else.I'm Not With The Man is the flipside to Sylvia's award-winning memoir I'm Not With The Band, celebrating the era of 'the rock 'n' roll nutter' through her own encounters with some of music's most uncompromising mavericks. From a cursing Adam Ant to a formidable Chrissie Hynde, from a carousing Liam Gallagher to a coruscating Sinead O'Connor, from a comedy Wu Tang Clan to an unrepentant Marianne Faithfull, and many, many more.Hilarious, revealing and poignant, I'm Not With The Man heralds a farewell fanfare to the heroically unhinged, those who lived on the edge of not only society but their own precarious sanity. We will not see their like again.

DON'T MISS SYLVIA PATTERSON'S BRAND NEW MEMOIR, SAME OLD GIRL, COMING SPRING 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2016 'Celebratory and elegiac' Guardian 'A roller-coaster memoir' Sunday Times 'Funny, anecdote-packed, nostalgic but also very touching' The Pool'Patterson fillets out the pretentious bones of pop, leaving its glistening meat' Observer This is a three-decade survivor's tale . . . a scenic search for elusive human happiness through music, magazines, silly jokes, stupid shoes, useless blokes, hopeless homes, booze, drugs, love, loss, A&E, death, disillusion and hope.In 1986, Sylvia Patterson boarded a train to London armed with a tea-chest full of vinyl records, a peroxide quiff and a dream: to write about music, for ever. She got her wish.Escaping a troubled home, Sylvia embarks on a lifelong quest to discover The Meaning of It All. The problem is she's mostly hanging out with flaky pop stars, rock 'n' roll heroes and unreliable hip-hop legends. As she encounters music's biggest names, she is confronted by glamour and tragedy; wisdom and lunacy; drink, drugs and disaster. And Bros.Here is Madonna in her Earth Mother phase, flinging her hands up in horror at one of Sylv's Very Stupid Questions. Prince compliments her shoes while Eminem threatens to kill her. She shares fruit with Johnny Cash, make-up with Amy Winehouse and several pints with the Manics' lost soul-man Richey Edwards. She finds the Beckhams fragrant in LA, a Gallagher madferrit in her living room and Shaun Ryder and Bez as you'd expect, in Jamaica.From the 80s to the present day, I'm Not with the Band is a funny, barmy, utterly gripping chronicle of the last thirty years in music and beyond. It is also the story of one woman's wayward search for love, peace and a wonderful life. And whether, or not, she found them.