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Previous Convictions: Writing with Intent
A.A. Gill is probably the most read columnist in Britain. Every weekend he entertains readers of the Sunday Times with his biting observations on television and his unsparing, deeply knowledgeable restaurant reviews. Even those who want to hate him agree: A. A. Gill is hopelessly, painfully funny. He is one of a tiny band of must-read journalists and it is always a disappointment when the words 'A. A. Gill is Away' appear at the foot of his column. This second book is a further collection of those absences; 22 travel pieces and essays on other subjects that belie his reputation as a mere style journalist and master of vitriol. This is writing of the highest quality and ambition.
First published November 9, 2006
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About the author
A.A. Gill
36 books101 followersAdrian Anthony Gill was an English journalist. He was the author of 9 books, including The Angry Island. He was the TV and restaurant critic and a regular features writer for The Sunday Times, a columnist for Esquire, and a contributor to Vanity Fair. He lived in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 15, 2024
Acerbicly beautiful vocabulary describing a wide variety of subjects. Wasn't expecting Jeremy Clarkson to appear so often, but oh well. It's always an interesting experience reading about someone who lives a very different life to yours; I'm not sure we share more than a fraction of values. Is the world richer for this book? Probably no? But that isn't the point and Gill knows it. He's describing today (mid 2000's) and doesn't care for the future, or, simultaneously admirably and distastefully, for readers like me
May 18, 2008
A.A. Gill is a renouned newspaper and magazine writer who I've heard quoted and praised before but never read anything by. Previous Convictions is a collection of some of his articles split into two sections: home and abroad.
The domestic articles include one on Glastonbury and one on father-son relationships but for the most part are about traditional outdoor activities - stalking, shooting and golf. A.A. Gill writes about these subjects with a lot of humour, unaffected opinion and a remarkable way with words. One thing that grated what was otherwise really entertaining reading was that his persona as the writer could change from one article to the other; for instance in the article on stalking he staunchly defends himself as Scottish but then in the article on shooting he went to the other side, including himself in "We English..." statements. This can make the articles seem a bit contrived, that positions are taken just to make an article fit together better or be funnier or gain better closure. Throughout A.A. Gill comes across as a highly articulate Jack the Lad.
I enjoyed the foreign articles more than the local ones, and like with Bryson's travel writing, it didn't focus on one specific of a country's profile but combined history, statistics, trivia, physical description, anecdotes and eye-witness accounts to give a more rounded view of the place. While Bryson's travel writing can feel like story time with its firm focus on the bizarre and humourous, the articles of Previous Convictions feel more realistic and are unapologetic in moments of starkness. The article on Haiti is harrowing and astounding. Altogether, the "there" articles take a snapshot of the world as it is today - coming together in many senses but still so foreign in others.
An entertaining and at times rivetting collection that mixes up many spices of many places with gusto and aplomb.
The domestic articles include one on Glastonbury and one on father-son relationships but for the most part are about traditional outdoor activities - stalking, shooting and golf. A.A. Gill writes about these subjects with a lot of humour, unaffected opinion and a remarkable way with words. One thing that grated what was otherwise really entertaining reading was that his persona as the writer could change from one article to the other; for instance in the article on stalking he staunchly defends himself as Scottish but then in the article on shooting he went to the other side, including himself in "We English..." statements. This can make the articles seem a bit contrived, that positions are taken just to make an article fit together better or be funnier or gain better closure. Throughout A.A. Gill comes across as a highly articulate Jack the Lad.
I enjoyed the foreign articles more than the local ones, and like with Bryson's travel writing, it didn't focus on one specific of a country's profile but combined history, statistics, trivia, physical description, anecdotes and eye-witness accounts to give a more rounded view of the place. While Bryson's travel writing can feel like story time with its firm focus on the bizarre and humourous, the articles of Previous Convictions feel more realistic and are unapologetic in moments of starkness. The article on Haiti is harrowing and astounding. Altogether, the "there" articles take a snapshot of the world as it is today - coming together in many senses but still so foreign in others.
An entertaining and at times rivetting collection that mixes up many spices of many places with gusto and aplomb.
July 30, 2020
Looking at my reading history and after closing this book I have come to the realization that I like non-fiction. I definitely like it a lot.
AA Gill is a British journalist and this book is a collection of his essays. Half the essays are from ‘Here’ meaning United Kingdom, and half are from ‘There’ meaning the entire world barring UK. He is a journalist so it would be redundant to say that he has great observational skills and an ability to put it in words. He obviously does. Sometimes the sentences got a little too complex and I had to pull out my dictionary several times but it was good writing.
I am a 22-year-old girl from India so the cultural difference between me and the author and his experiences is huge. I didn’t get most of his references, when he refused to apologize for name-dropping I had to google the people he had mentioned, and when I was reading the essay on Glastonbury I was not sure if it actually was a real place. It very much is. But, in spite of all that, I enjoyed the book, I laughed so many times and I learned so many different things: Beetles are cool, really really cool (every 5th living thing is a beetle), the difference between nude and naked, The Royal Geographical Society and its monumental work, Calcutta’s name derives form Goddess Kali, the depleting gold mines in South Africa, etc. The book was published in 2006, so all his experiences are probably 20 years old now and many things must have changed today. But New Yorkers are still passionately cycling on bicycles attached to the ground and Bombay still is a city of aspirations so maybe not much has changed.
The essays that I liked the best:
Glastonbury, Son, Beetles, Cartier-Bresson, The RGS, Oman, Amsterdam.
AA Gill is a British journalist and this book is a collection of his essays. Half the essays are from ‘Here’ meaning United Kingdom, and half are from ‘There’ meaning the entire world barring UK. He is a journalist so it would be redundant to say that he has great observational skills and an ability to put it in words. He obviously does. Sometimes the sentences got a little too complex and I had to pull out my dictionary several times but it was good writing.
I am a 22-year-old girl from India so the cultural difference between me and the author and his experiences is huge. I didn’t get most of his references, when he refused to apologize for name-dropping I had to google the people he had mentioned, and when I was reading the essay on Glastonbury I was not sure if it actually was a real place. It very much is. But, in spite of all that, I enjoyed the book, I laughed so many times and I learned so many different things: Beetles are cool, really really cool (every 5th living thing is a beetle), the difference between nude and naked, The Royal Geographical Society and its monumental work, Calcutta’s name derives form Goddess Kali, the depleting gold mines in South Africa, etc. The book was published in 2006, so all his experiences are probably 20 years old now and many things must have changed today. But New Yorkers are still passionately cycling on bicycles attached to the ground and Bombay still is a city of aspirations so maybe not much has changed.
The essays that I liked the best:
Glastonbury, Son, Beetles, Cartier-Bresson, The RGS, Oman, Amsterdam.
August 9, 2025
I love this book. The language Gill uses to describe the mundane bursts from the pages, each sentence feels alive bending under the weight of wit and insight he infuses into every essay. Gill spills truths that catch you off guard, make you laugh, and then without warning, leave you hollow with introspection. Previous Convictions has sat by my side for years, a companion that I’ve taken across states and continents, reading and rereading one essay at a time.
January 23, 2022
Powerful writing - in particular the essay on gold mining is like to share with my G8 classes for whom the impact of mining on communities is an abstract notion.
July 14, 2018
Back in the day when I devoured the Sunday Times in bed along with a tray of croissants, coffee and orange juice, I was vaguely aware of AA Gill as a columnist, friend of Jeremy Clarkson, and masterful stirrer of shit, the man who once offended the whole of Wales by being monumentally rude about it in an essay.
Over the years, further awareness of him leeched into my consciousness. His is a name I've always known. Finally, two years after his death, I'm discovering him properly. If you know someone's name despite never having really read them, they're probably someone you should take a look at.
I've started with Previous Convictions because it's travel writing and it's the first book that came through from the library. I suspected Gill's would be the sort of travel writing I like - irreverent and reflective in the correct doses, not too 'up itself'.
I was right. This is a masterful and entertaining collection. I'm two books further on now, one pitiful Liane Moriarty, like drinking cat's pee after fine Orkney Island Scotch, and a further collection of AA. So I can't remember what the selection was.
I do remember reading the Glastonbury essay. And he's so spot on, about the dreamy look that comes over a middle aged person's face when you mention the name, and the rite-of-passage similarity of their 'I went there once' reminiscences. His description of the girl's experience of Glastonbury's loo-pit after she'd put off going for the full weekend, only to sit on the 'turtle-nose peak of a pile of other people's shit' is toe-curling and screechingly hilarious.
Other favourite chapters were his visit to Mykonos, the Greeky gay holiday capital, with Jeremy Clarkson, the world's most heterosexual man, and one of its most recognisable.
And some of the writing soars, like the chapter about the J-class yacht turned businessman's pleasure-craft-for-hire, Candida. Any reason it's named after a female gynaecalogical condition? Who knows. The point is, the story has suspense, sensory pleasure and vivid detail, everything you want in a small, perfect episode. Here's my favourite passage, where he takes sail for the first time.
"The massive boom was effortlessly released from its rest, sails stuttered up the mast, we broke the cover of the harbour, and I swore I could feel her shiver like a greyhound."
Read it in the context of the rest of the essay, it's marvellous. Then read the rest of the book.
Over the years, further awareness of him leeched into my consciousness. His is a name I've always known. Finally, two years after his death, I'm discovering him properly. If you know someone's name despite never having really read them, they're probably someone you should take a look at.
I've started with Previous Convictions because it's travel writing and it's the first book that came through from the library. I suspected Gill's would be the sort of travel writing I like - irreverent and reflective in the correct doses, not too 'up itself'.
I was right. This is a masterful and entertaining collection. I'm two books further on now, one pitiful Liane Moriarty, like drinking cat's pee after fine Orkney Island Scotch, and a further collection of AA. So I can't remember what the selection was.
I do remember reading the Glastonbury essay. And he's so spot on, about the dreamy look that comes over a middle aged person's face when you mention the name, and the rite-of-passage similarity of their 'I went there once' reminiscences. His description of the girl's experience of Glastonbury's loo-pit after she'd put off going for the full weekend, only to sit on the 'turtle-nose peak of a pile of other people's shit' is toe-curling and screechingly hilarious.
Other favourite chapters were his visit to Mykonos, the Greeky gay holiday capital, with Jeremy Clarkson, the world's most heterosexual man, and one of its most recognisable.
And some of the writing soars, like the chapter about the J-class yacht turned businessman's pleasure-craft-for-hire, Candida. Any reason it's named after a female gynaecalogical condition? Who knows. The point is, the story has suspense, sensory pleasure and vivid detail, everything you want in a small, perfect episode. Here's my favourite passage, where he takes sail for the first time.
"The massive boom was effortlessly released from its rest, sails stuttered up the mast, we broke the cover of the harbour, and I swore I could feel her shiver like a greyhound."
Read it in the context of the rest of the essay, it's marvellous. Then read the rest of the book.
September 12, 2013
Another anthology of A.A. Gill's columns. My hopes weren't raised by his misspelling the name of one of his editors - a former co-worker of mine - but given that I happened across this at a $2 stall on election day, I wasn't all that fussed.
Gill is frustrating in that when he's on, he's pretty readable, and when he's phoning it in it's plainly obvious. There's a couple of clangers in here that read with all the verve of a sodden phone-book, but they're offset in the pieces that work.
It seems that the author's writing about things most close to him - his father's Alzheimers, his children, feeling "Scottish" though being to all intents and purposes a Southerner - that his prose sparkles most. Certainly, there's an element of sentimentality where his family's involved (as you'd expect) but they're touching pieces.
Though he's not the Great Voice Of Literature that his publishers would probably want you to think he is, this collection is great brainless-day reading. There's enough snarky shit going on to make one overlook the occasional terror, damn his eyes.
Just make sure you roll your eyes at the appropriate First World Problems points.
Gill is frustrating in that when he's on, he's pretty readable, and when he's phoning it in it's plainly obvious. There's a couple of clangers in here that read with all the verve of a sodden phone-book, but they're offset in the pieces that work.
It seems that the author's writing about things most close to him - his father's Alzheimers, his children, feeling "Scottish" though being to all intents and purposes a Southerner - that his prose sparkles most. Certainly, there's an element of sentimentality where his family's involved (as you'd expect) but they're touching pieces.
Though he's not the Great Voice Of Literature that his publishers would probably want you to think he is, this collection is great brainless-day reading. There's enough snarky shit going on to make one overlook the occasional terror, damn his eyes.
Just make sure you roll your eyes at the appropriate First World Problems points.
June 24, 2018
What an excuse of a man he can be, but what a writer he always is. The piece on golf is characteristic - hilarious, fluid, razor-bladed.
The basic problem with him: his horror of golf would be better spent on actually horrific things (e.g. his own aestheticised violence). To be fair the second half’s travel pieces spend exactly that: from being right inamidst hallucinatory police brutality in Haiti, to the Africa pieces which buck stereotypes and complacency. He has vast sensitivity or sensibility, but he pairs it with a kind of generalisation (e.g. “begging is a consequence of opportunity, not poverty”) and off-piste counter-PC phrasemaking, as if to shock us out of respecting him.
He uses his friend Jeremy Clarkson brilliantly – as stooge, dim counterpoint to Gill’s own professed post-masculine, pro-gay, pro-grey, pro-oppressed enlightenment. But then Gill reports all these uber-macho exploits and self-conscious leering at women. What compels him to be so indirect about being progressive? It’s that he wants to be both LAD and liberal intellectual, and but needs the approval of neither side.
The basic problem with him: his horror of golf would be better spent on actually horrific things (e.g. his own aestheticised violence). To be fair the second half’s travel pieces spend exactly that: from being right inamidst hallucinatory police brutality in Haiti, to the Africa pieces which buck stereotypes and complacency. He has vast sensitivity or sensibility, but he pairs it with a kind of generalisation (e.g. “begging is a consequence of opportunity, not poverty”) and off-piste counter-PC phrasemaking, as if to shock us out of respecting him.
He uses his friend Jeremy Clarkson brilliantly – as stooge, dim counterpoint to Gill’s own professed post-masculine, pro-gay, pro-grey, pro-oppressed enlightenment. But then Gill reports all these uber-macho exploits and self-conscious leering at women. What compels him to be so indirect about being progressive? It’s that he wants to be both LAD and liberal intellectual, and but needs the approval of neither side.
October 18, 2018
Provocative and clever - He is just so amusing and entertaining . such a shame he is no longer her on earth , he lightened my days .
January 15, 2025
Nice collection of essays
I first encountered A.A. Gill through his restaurant reviews in the Sunday Times, where he came across as a somewhat more cerebral alternative to the entertainingly bumptious Michael Winner. He seemed to be a good writer (he once used the adjective "insistent" in his description of a sauce, which I thought a deft touch), so I was pleased to be able to pick up this collection of essays in a remaindered bookshop a few weeks ago.
It's a nice set which ranges over a variety of topics in the "here" section, and some good travel pieces filed under "there". They're all easy to read, although sometimes their brevity leaves you wanting more (I thought his essays on Las Vegas and Haiti very good). And I still think he's a good stylist (though I wouldn't rate him, as one reviewer claims, one of the "best in Britain"). In particular, his description (p192) of a capable game ranger as "a man who can handle a hysterical couple from Dundee and a surprised hippo", had me smiling broadly.
Originally reviewed 29 September 2008
I first encountered A.A. Gill through his restaurant reviews in the Sunday Times, where he came across as a somewhat more cerebral alternative to the entertainingly bumptious Michael Winner. He seemed to be a good writer (he once used the adjective "insistent" in his description of a sauce, which I thought a deft touch), so I was pleased to be able to pick up this collection of essays in a remaindered bookshop a few weeks ago.
It's a nice set which ranges over a variety of topics in the "here" section, and some good travel pieces filed under "there". They're all easy to read, although sometimes their brevity leaves you wanting more (I thought his essays on Las Vegas and Haiti very good). And I still think he's a good stylist (though I wouldn't rate him, as one reviewer claims, one of the "best in Britain"). In particular, his description (p192) of a capable game ranger as "a man who can handle a hysterical couple from Dundee and a surprised hippo", had me smiling broadly.
Originally reviewed 29 September 2008
April 25, 2021
I gorged myself. I took this book and devoured every glittering trinket, every stanza packed with meaning and moral, every morsel of bile and spite and every triumphant nugget and I felt happy, richer for my orgy of reading.
One day I might have read everything that AA Gill had put down by his emanuensis and I'll stop to wipe a tear from my eye that the world was robbed of his ability by cancer when he was in his stride.
It's not fair.
It's not fair he isn't here.
It's not fair there isn't more.
It's not fair that I'm not as good as him either, but that's the least of my sad and impotent outrage.
One day I might have read everything that AA Gill had put down by his emanuensis and I'll stop to wipe a tear from my eye that the world was robbed of his ability by cancer when he was in his stride.
It's not fair.
It's not fair he isn't here.
It's not fair there isn't more.
It's not fair that I'm not as good as him either, but that's the least of my sad and impotent outrage.
April 17, 2025
One of the greatest writers to come out of Britain. A brilliant journalist with an incredible mind and scathing wit…often cruel but usually spot on. His reports from around the world were educational, often terrifying…he’d find absurdity and humour everywhere. Died way too young age 62. Would have loved to read what he’d have written about Boris Johnson, Covid and all the rest we’ve since endured. His response to Brexit (look it up online) was spectacularly insightful. I need to read the collection of restaurant reviews he wrote.
August 8, 2018
His piece on Glastonbury is worth the price of admission alone. Some pieces are highly entertaining, others a bit "meh". Inconsistent, but hell, I picked it up for 2 bucks at an op shop, so I'm not complaining.
August 8, 2020
Found this collection incredibly poignant at times and utterly hilarious at others. Fantastic writing, keenly observed reflections of the weird and wonderfull places he visits and the people in them.
September 21, 2022
A collection of one of my parents favourite columnist columns. There isn’t any particular rhyme or reason for how these are organised or chosen but all are beautifully written. I especially loved his descriptions of conversations with his father who was at the time dying of Alzheimer’s.
August 25, 2017
Another collection of Andrew Gill's essays. Almost as funny as any other collection, equally as descriptive and erudite.
The man was a 3-star Michelin restaurant in a world of burger joints.
The man was a 3-star Michelin restaurant in a world of burger joints.
October 21, 2018
Clever, informative and sometimes funny.
September 27, 2024
AA Gill possessed a razor-sharp wit evident in this collection of essays.
July 10, 2016
There’s not much to say about this that I didn’t already say in my brief review of A.A. Gill Is Away. Gill is a travelling journalist (as opposed to a “travel writer”) who pens short articles that are both very funny and very serious. This compendium (which at least three separate people mistook for Bear Grylls’ autobiography; personally I think he more closely resembles Ralph Fiennes) sees him wandering around Glastonbury, reflecting on Edward Hopper, examining the wonderful contents of the Royal Geographic Society, seeing somebody murdered in the slums of Haiti, training to be a bush guide in South Africa, and much, much more. Each chapter is titled with a location, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a travel piece – ‘New York,’ for example, is about gyms:
The great misconception about gyms is that they’re palaces of vanity, theatres of self love, where the shallow preen and pump in front of ten-foot mirrors with devoted narcissism. Actually, it’s precisely the opposite. Gyms vibrate with self-loathing and doubt. The mirrors mock. People come because they’re disgusted by or frightened of their bodies. Going to a gym is an admission of failure. It’s the realisation that you’re not forever youthfully regenerating. Your body isn’t a temple to fun and fornication anymore; it’s a decrepit, leaky, condemned shell that is decomposing faster than you can shore it up.
Gill is one of the best, funniest, and most honest and most distinctively voiced journalists working today, and all his output is well worth reading.
The great misconception about gyms is that they’re palaces of vanity, theatres of self love, where the shallow preen and pump in front of ten-foot mirrors with devoted narcissism. Actually, it’s precisely the opposite. Gyms vibrate with self-loathing and doubt. The mirrors mock. People come because they’re disgusted by or frightened of their bodies. Going to a gym is an admission of failure. It’s the realisation that you’re not forever youthfully regenerating. Your body isn’t a temple to fun and fornication anymore; it’s a decrepit, leaky, condemned shell that is decomposing faster than you can shore it up.
Gill is one of the best, funniest, and most honest and most distinctively voiced journalists working today, and all his output is well worth reading.
February 14, 2015
3.5 stars out of 5
More uneven than some of his other collections but even hit-and-miss Gill is worth a read. Some of the essays, like "Dog" or "Las Vegas" are spectacular, while others falter a bit. The premise is "here" and "there," "there" being travelogues from various locations. One, entitled "New York" has absolutely nothing to do with the city - its about gyms, and its a stretch to include it in that framework.
The pieces that work best are the "funny ones," where Gill's trademark biting wit and clever wordplay are on full display. The longer pieces (or maybe they just feel longer) on more serious topics tend to lag and feature short, staccato word poems that are meant to be the prose equivalent of expressionist paintings but come off as precious and trying too hard. Gill is better than that.
More uneven than some of his other collections but even hit-and-miss Gill is worth a read. Some of the essays, like "Dog" or "Las Vegas" are spectacular, while others falter a bit. The premise is "here" and "there," "there" being travelogues from various locations. One, entitled "New York" has absolutely nothing to do with the city - its about gyms, and its a stretch to include it in that framework.
The pieces that work best are the "funny ones," where Gill's trademark biting wit and clever wordplay are on full display. The longer pieces (or maybe they just feel longer) on more serious topics tend to lag and feature short, staccato word poems that are meant to be the prose equivalent of expressionist paintings but come off as precious and trying too hard. Gill is better than that.
November 12, 2017
Meryl March 2016
Really loved this book of travel stories and observations. Gill's style of writing takes a little bit of getting used to at the beginning, it's dense, and a little ostentatious, pummeling away like a deep tissue masseur who has recently won a local award, so enthusiastic for his trade he is.
But we settled down together, Mr Gill and I and he got less intense and loquacious and I stopped noticing when he over did it.
He observes and then gives you his opinion. Your possible disagreement with his opinions does not cross his mind.
He is Jeremy Clarkson's soul mate, and when he features Jeremy the book truly zings because here is someone we know rather than the faceless devotees of New York gyms or the truly tragic of Darfur.
He needs to write more about Jeremy. Especially in Mykonos :)
5 stars
Really loved this book of travel stories and observations. Gill's style of writing takes a little bit of getting used to at the beginning, it's dense, and a little ostentatious, pummeling away like a deep tissue masseur who has recently won a local award, so enthusiastic for his trade he is.
But we settled down together, Mr Gill and I and he got less intense and loquacious and I stopped noticing when he over did it.
He observes and then gives you his opinion. Your possible disagreement with his opinions does not cross his mind.
He is Jeremy Clarkson's soul mate, and when he features Jeremy the book truly zings because here is someone we know rather than the faceless devotees of New York gyms or the truly tragic of Darfur.
He needs to write more about Jeremy. Especially in Mykonos :)
5 stars
December 12, 2007
Long time columnist for Britain's Sunday Times and QC magazine. Almost incalculable abilties with the english language as it should but rarely is written. Deep insight combined with almost hilarious humour. Not recommended for reading in public. I started on this back in the lounge at Changi Airport in Singapore and brought a good section of the pasengers to my side asking if I was Ok. Uncontrollable near hysterics.
One of his great lines as an example
"Nostalgia is the waiting rom of history"
His other volume "A.A. Gill is Away" is another volume of the same incredible readability
One of his great lines as an example
"Nostalgia is the waiting rom of history"
His other volume "A.A. Gill is Away" is another volume of the same incredible readability
July 16, 2008
Yet again, a book that really deserves 3.5 stars.
Pros: excellent quality of the writing, as well as being funny and using just the right analogies and cultural references.
Cons: first 1/3 of the book consists of miscellaneous essays (filler) not related to travel, which largely failed to hold my attention; nor could I get into the two or three travel essays featuring his rather boorish associate, Jeremy.
Pros: excellent quality of the writing, as well as being funny and using just the right analogies and cultural references.
Cons: first 1/3 of the book consists of miscellaneous essays (filler) not related to travel, which largely failed to hold my attention; nor could I get into the two or three travel essays featuring his rather boorish associate, Jeremy.
October 7, 2012
Gill has to be one of the funniest critics writing today. This collection of essays, reviews, and memoirs spans a range of topics. Just when you're about to dismiss Gill for his extreme arrogance, albeit hilarious, you read the piece titled Father, which is probably the most touching work of short non-fiction that I've ever read. Definitely need to read more Gill.
February 19, 2012
What a wonderful book. AA Gill writes like a really good driver taking a very fast car for a very aggressive spin. SOme of the essays are simply Outstanding. My fave section was 'THERE' and with it, Gill displaces Bryson as my fave travel author. And check out the last 2 chapters, Mykonos and Amsterdam where he has fun at Clarkson's expenses! Funny.
Buy the book.
Buy the book.
October 24, 2013
A.A. Gill is one of, if not THE most accomplished writer of our times, no pun intended. In Previous Convictions, he employs his usual clubbable and familiar writing style to good effect, keeping the reader engaged from cover to cover. A thoroughly enjoyeable holiday read!
April 16, 2009
i don't thinik i'll ever read Gill again, his arrogance, (even self aware arrogance) ruins much of the great writing.
February 13, 2010
A great book of essays.
November 2, 2012
I love AA Gill...the Glastonbury essay is a hilariously, satirical take on hippydom and the one on Brits and their pets - simply brilliant. What a wit
March 21, 2014
Although there were some funny parts, I got tired of his voice, his friends and his attitude to others.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews