From Billy Connolly to Julian Clary, Evanna Lynch and Michael McIntyre: This week’s best new memoirs

Windswept & Interesting

Billy Connolly                                                                                          Two Roads £25

This is everything a celebrity autobiography should be and more. Beginning life in a Glasgow tenement building and surviving brutal abuse at the hands of his own family, comedy’s wild man faced some daunting early odds. 

He grew up to become a shipyard welder and then banjo-playing (and street-fighting) folk musician before discovering his true calling. His unique voice rings out from every page, full of fearlessness, humility and life-affirming silliness.

 

The Opposite Of Butterfly Hunting

Evanna Lynch                                                                                              Headline £20

‘Neither love, money, riches nor a part in a Harry Potter will compel a person to recover from their eating disorder if they don’t want to let it go,’ confides the Luna Lovegood actor in this myth-busting coming- of-age story. 

As well as charting her adolescent battle with anorexia, it offers a darkly compelling, highly topical account of journeying from girlhood to womanhood in the spotlight of global celebrity.

 

The Lick Of Love: How Dogs Changed My Life

Julian Clary                                                                                                    Quercus £20

An autodography? Julian Clary’s candid, colourful memoir doubles as a love letter to his canine companions. From his earliest days of stand-up to telly stardom and deciding to move to the countryside, there’s invariably a dog in the picture. 

Sometimes these pooches are cast as chaperone, sometimes life coach or co-star, but they always bring out the best in him as a person and as a writer.

 

A Funny Life

Michael McIntyre                                                                                  Macmillan £20

After getting his big break in the 2006 Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre expected a smooth ride to fame and fortune. Happily for readers of this latest instalment of his autobiography, the world’s biggest-selling comedian couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Panel show disasters, talent judge flops, having his trousers fall down in front of three policemen – there are plenty of guffaws, but it can be moving, too.