Funny, and yet so sad: I'm usually not one to read autobios, but since it is Spike Milligan I made the exception. It was funny, just as I expected it to be, but there were parts that were very moving and sad; as should be expected I suppose for a WWII novel. His accounts of the absurd are always dead on hilarious, and I found myself reading a passage over and over and just cracking up.
I knew that Spike suffered from depression, and I think in parts it was very apparent. The places that are especially poignant are when he relates a humorous tale, and then explain how he visited the place years later, and how the memories are too much for him to bear. In one particular paragraph he laments: "Oh, Yesterday, how you plague me!"
I love Spike Milligan and his comedy, and have read several run-of-the-mill internet bios on him but his own biography really brings him to life. A great read!

It is very funny and a good rread ( )

Maybe it's just me, but I think this is one of the three or four funniest things I've ever read. You might come to it because you know something about Milligan's founding role in postwar British comedy, but this book has something to it that goes beyond Goon Show/Monty Python absurdism. Underneath the humor, you can sometimes hear the voice of a very scared young man--and also the harsh cynicism of many WWII vets about the clownish incompetence of their leadership. ( )

Brilliantly funny and incisive. Although this is first rate comedy, there is a poignancy about it, as there should be with any reflections on war. Perhaps comedy is the best medium for writing about the horror of war? ( )