The Champ & The Chump
A heart-warming, hilarious true story about fighting and family
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 30 days of Standard free
$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
The Champ & The Chump
Narrated by:
James McNicholas
Buy Now for $22.47
-
Narrated by:
-
James McNicholas
-
By:
-
James McNicholas
The Champ
Terry Downes - known as 'The Paddington Express' - was a world champion boxer, US Marine, gangsters' favourite and latter-day film star and businessman.
The Chump
James McNicholas's PE teacher once told him he was so unfit he'd be dead by the time he was 23. James has spent his life pursuing a career in acting and comedy. In reality, that has meant spells working as a painter-decorator and river cruise salesperson.
After Terry's death, James finds himself in reflective mood, comparing how he's doing in life to how his grandad was at that age. What follows is an increasingly colourful journey that takes James from post-war Paddington to the blood-soaked canvases of Baltimore and Whitechapel, via Mayfair parties with the Krays and betting shop bust-ups, as he discovers the truth about his grandfather's extraordinary life.
Along the way he begins to dig into his own story, confronting the family addictions that blighted his early years, describing his often-hilarious efforts to make it in the world of showbiz, and attempts to recreate Terry's trials by enlisting in a brutal army boot camp and boxing gym. When James is diagnosed with a frightening and mysterious neurological condition, the two stories of the fighter and the writer suddenly collide, and what began as a nostalgic journey takes on a far more important significance.
(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited©2021 James McNicholas
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
A very personal and enjoyable book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not a boxing fan
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very clever!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am delighted to report that my high expectations were exceeded. James has told the story of his grandfather's life, and his own life (to date), in a way that is fascinating, respectful, purposeful, and laced with the author's trademark wit.
I consumed the whole ten hours of the audiobook over a weekend and was left touched, moved, and a little teary at times. By sharing himself so openly and honestly James has provided a story of family history that became a self-development journey with much learned and shared along the way.
Any listener will warm to this book, regardless of whether you have heard of James, his grandfather or anybody else James mentions. It's a reminder that all families have their own triumphs and tragedies; it's just that very few families have a storyteller with the skills of James McNicholas to be able to bring those up and downs to life in a way that is worth listening to/read about.
Life, told with respect, love and humour
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.