Patrick Moore: The Autobiography by Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore: The Autobiography Reviews

• 
  Mr Thomas Nicolson

  Sweet biography. Written in the spirit of the man. Gentle; kind. Won’t rock the world but a wonderful tribute to a great man
• 
  Pete daPixie

  Sir Patrick's autobiography, first published in 2003, is a book I've been wanting to read for a while. Finally getting round to it, I'm somewhat disappointed. The great man of Astronomy hardly touches on his early years and is totally reticent with his war time exploits in the RAF. The book more or less begins at the age of 30. So what is contained here is the story of the Sky at Night broadcasts, Britain's, and the world's, longest running t.v. programme, padded out with the various thoughts of Chairman Moore.
  The experiences of the sickly child, whose illness robbed him of a University education is wafted aside as unimportant. The death of his war time sweetheart in a bombing raid, the reason given for his never having married is skirted by. The loss of his teeth at age 21 is unexplained. Moore of this, and less of his rants at political correctness and his misprints in the press. Actually, there is a good misprint in this book, where the Sky at Night's co-presenter Chris Lintott becomes Christ Lintott.
  There is no doubt that Sir Patrick is a one off. A self taught astronomer, who constantly tells us he is just an amateur. A self taught musician who played the xylophone at the Royal Variety Performance as well as his cameo with Morecambe and Wise and a keen cricketer for the Lord's Taverners. In 2003 Patrick was 80 years old. It feels to me like there is some forty per cent of a life missing from this book.
• 
  Edwin

  Not so much an autobiography as as series of reminiscences about his career: he famously covers the first 25 years of his life in three pages, and though he keeps mentioning the his RAF service and the fact his finacee was killed in the war, he doesn't tell us anything about it. This perhaps is not such a bad thing - after all it's his career that is of interest, and he is able to tell us something about all the major events in astronomy and space exploration in the second half of the C20th.
  
  Where he does move away from the stars, I'm sorry to say that he comes across as a deeply odd, and perhaps foolish, man. Perhaps the hints he gives about his upbringing explain this: it would be nice to know more. All in all, this made me feel like reading a proper biography of him!
  
  A warning: although he claims not to be right wing, his views on sexual and racial equality should not be read by the faint of heart!
• 
  Sarah

  A good lesson in how to write a biography, I think. The first chapter dealt with childhood, teenage years and the Second World War in a few pages. Then it moved on and started on the career the author is known for. No dwelling on what is essentially superfluous information, just enough of it there to give background.
• 
  Samantha

  A great book, written by a great character. Would have liked a little more about his early life and during the war though.
  
  
• 
  Andy

  As enjoyable and cheerfully provocative as any memoirs I have ever read. A fitting memorial to a remarkable and singular man.
• 
  Julian Kirkman-Page

  I live round the corner from farthings and met Patrick a couple of times. A shame this great man has gone to higher places.