Okay, so most Americans won’t have heard of Pete Bennett, winner of the English reality-TV show, Big Brother. And it seems highly unlikely that HarperCollins will release his book, Pete: My Story, in the U.S. But I can’t resist an article with the title “My book? I haven’t read it yet.”*
How did he write the book? “This posh geezer came over and asked a load of questions. WANK! And I had to answer them.” How long did it take? “A whole week! WANK! Yeah. WANK! I’m tired, man.” That’s the lovely thing about Pete - he tells it as it is. Is it weird being an author? “I’m not really, it was some geezer with a Dictaphone. Ehehehehe! WANK!” He’d love to discuss the book in detail, there’s only one problem - he hasn’t read it yet.
This long, somewhat troubling article may not represent the first time that the “author” of a ghostwritten autobiography has been surprised to learn what he’s written about himself, but it’s definitely one of the most extreme examples of that syndrome.
*Bennett has Tourette’s, and just swears in general, and his profanity has been faithfully transcribed, so if you’re offended by that sort of thing, well, you’ll be offended.
October 30th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
He’s an asshole trust me, all about self pity and he expects everyone to love him or else!
October 30th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
I’m from UK and Pete Bennett was amazing on uk Big Brother , a worthy winner,his life story also sounds pretty amazing so I suggest if any Americans are interested they buy the book on-line. Interestingly he has quite a few American fans who discovered him by watching UK BB on line!!
October 31st, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Pete is amazing and lovely and gorgeous! if anyone wants to find out about a truly great man, read the book.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Well, unlike Mrs G, I don’t know Pete personally, but in the UK we find him rather special. We don’t have a problem with people with disabilities.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Well i don’t trust you Mrs G, because I loved him, and still do! (member of the wonderful perfectpete.com) x
November 1st, 2006 at 5:09 pm
“all about self pity”
Oh dear Mrs G, that just shows how little you know about our lovely Perfect Pete!
He’s a warm, genuine and sensitive guy, a worthy winner of BB7, and a fantastic role model to children with Tourettes.
(another member of perfectpete.com)
November 5th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Pete is a real enigmatic and special indvidual who has lived a very colourful and fascinating life so far.I’d definently recommend getting this book to see for yourself how amazing this guy is.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:40 am
[…] In the Guardian, John Crace discusses the British flood of ”celebrities’ insipid memoirs.” The names–Gary Barlow, Victoria Beckham, Pete Bennett, David Blunkett, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Jade Goody, Jordan, Kerry Katona, Peter Kay, Chris Moyles, Gordon Ramsay, Wayne Rooney, Janet Street-Porter, and Terry Wogan–won’t all be familiar to American readers, especially the soccer players. But the problem–that the books are boring, and a lot of them don’t sell very well–is familiar: What is going on? The obvious answer is that celebrity is being rapidly devalued. Assuming that anyone halfway interesting has already written their memoirs, publishers are left with the choice of either going back to the usual suspects for sloppy seconds or signing up the desperate and the dull. Naturally they do both. […]
December 8th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
I have read My Story by Pete Bennett and I thought it was an amazing book. I am not a lover of celebrity autobiographies, but this book is more about growing up with Tourettes, OCD and ADHD than it is about Celebrity.
It’s a heart warming and inspiring story, Pete Bennett is an amazing character who has earnt my repsect and admiration.
You dont need to know who Pete is to enjoy this book, its a valid story that needed to be told.
i reccomend this book to everyone who is interested in how people survive and thrive no matter what life throws at them.