Synopses & Reviews
From one of England’s wittiest writers, a “captivating, glittering, engaging, entertaining confection” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times) of 101 unlikely encounters between pairs of historical figures from Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Lloyd Wright.Hello Goodbye Hello is the supremely inventive but utterly factual story of some of the most unlikely encounters between two notable people over the last 150 years. Told in daisy-chain style, the second person in each encounter is the first person in the next.
Madonna was terrified by her brief encounter with Martha Graham, who herself had been fascinated by her meeting with Helen Keller. Michael Jackson was turned off by his experience working with Madonna. The King of Pop, however, intrigued Nancy Reagan endlessly—although the First Lady couldn’t figure out why he spoke like a girl. Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot? It happened. In fact, they corresponded regularly. Marilyn Monroe and Nikita Khrushchev? They met in Hollywood at the urging of her studio, which insisted she wear her tightest, sexiest dress for the occasion.
“Irresistible,” (People) “deliciously clever and amusing,” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post) Hello Goodbye Hello proves that truth is stranger than fiction—and far more enjoyable. “Dip into this book anywhere and you will be rewarded with something delightful,” recommends Moira Hodgson in The Wall Street Journal.
Review
“Captivating…Glittering…Engaging…Entertaining…[Brown] has whipped up a gratifying summertime confection — funny, diverting, occasionally sad.”
--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
“Deliciously clever and amusing…Hello Goodbye Hello is splendid company, not to mention perfect for the beach, the lake or the pool.”
--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
“Hello Goodbye Hello is a hilarious book, clever and thoroughly researched…dip into this book anywhere and you will be rewarded with something delightful.”
--Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal
“Brown’s collection of odd encounters could be titled Famous People Behaving Badly. They’re irresistible.”
--People
Review
“Craig Brown is the wittiest writer in Britain today.”
—Stephen Fry
“The book that made me laugh most was Craig Brown’s quirky game of biographical consequences.”
—Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement “Books of the Year”
"Craig Brown is something of a national treasure in Britain. . . . Hello Goodbye Hello is a bravura feat of narrative engineering. . . . A joyful, fun read espsecially for its widgety, ingenious construction."
—David Kamp, Vanity Fair
Review
“Captivating…Glittering…Engaging…Entertaining…[Brown] has whipped up a gratifying summertime confection — funny, diverting, occasionally sad.”
--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
“Deliciously clever and amusing…Hello Goodbye Hello is splendid company, not to mention perfect for the beach, the lake or the pool.”
--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
“Hello Goodbye Hello is a hilarious book, clever and thoroughly researched…dip into this book anywhere and you will be rewarded with something delightful.”
--Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal
“Brown’s collection of odd encounters could be titled Famous People Behaving Badly. They’re irresistible.”
--People
Review
“Craig Brown is the wittiest writer in Britain today.”
—Stephen Fry
“The book that made me laugh most was Craig Brown’s quirky game of biographical consequences.”
—Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement “Books of the Year”
"Craig Brown is something of a national treasure in Britain. . . . Hello Goodbye Hello is a bravura feat of narrative engineering. . . . A joyful, fun read espsecially for its widgety, ingenious construction."
—David Kamp, Vanity Fair
Synopsis
From one of England's wittiest writers, a "captivating, glittering, engaging, entertaining confection" (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times) of 101 unlikely encounters between pairs of historical figures from Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Lloyd Wright.IMAGINE THESE UNLIKELY--BUT TRUE--ENCOUNTERS: Martha Graham and Madonna Igor Stravinsky and Walt Disney Frank Lloyd Wright and Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe and Nikita Khrushchev President Richard M. Nixon and Elvis Presley Harpo Marx and George Bernard Shaw Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud Groucho Marx and T. S. Eliot BRILLIANT IN CONCEPTION AND DIZZYING IN EXECUTION, Hello Goodbye Hello is a daisy chain of 101 fascinating true encounters, chance meetings, and disastrous collisions between the celebrated and the gifted, the famous and the infamous. Witty and wicked, Hello Goodbye Hello is the perfect example that truth is stranger than fiction (and infinitely more enjoyable).
Synopsis
IMAGINE THESE UNLIKELY—BUT TRUE—ENCOUNTERS:
Martha Graham and Madonna
Igor Stravinsky and Walt Disney
Frank Lloyd Wright and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe and Nikita Khrushchev
President Richard M. Nixon and Elvis Presley
Harpo Marx and George Bernard Shaw
Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud
Groucho Marx and T. S. Eliot
BRILLIANT IN CONCEPTION AND DIZZYING IN EXECUTION, Hello Goodbye Hello is a daisy chain of 101 fascinating true encounters, chance meetings, and disastrous collisions between the celebrated and the gifted, the famous and the infamous. Witty and wicked, Hello Goodbye Hello is the perfect example that truth is stranger than fiction (and infinitely more enjoyable).
Synopsis
IMAGINE THESE UNLIKELY—BUT TRUE—ENCOUNTERS:
Martha Graham and Madonna
Igor Stravinsky and Walt Disney
Frank Lloyd Wright and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe and Nikita Khrushchev
President Richard M. Nixon and Elvis Presley
Harpo Marx and George Bernard Shaw
Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud
Groucho Marx and T. S. Eliot
BRILLIANT IN CONCEPTION AND DIZZYING IN EXECUTION, Hello Goodbye Hello is a daisy chain of 101 fascinating true encounters, chance meetings, and disastrous collisions between the celebrated and the gifted, the famous and the infamous. Witty and wicked, Hello Goodbye Hello is the perfect example that truth is stranger than fiction (and infinitely more enjoyable).
About the Author
Craig Brown has been writing the Private Eye celebrity diary since 1989 and is a columnist for London’s Daily Mail. He has also written parodies for many publications, including the Daily Telegraph, Vanity Fair, The Times, and The Guardian. The author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, he lives in London.