Walliams tells Tubs of book that made him cry
AUTHOR and comedian David Walliams, the first guest on Ryan Tubridy’s new book-themed podcast, has spoken about the book that made him cry.
The best-selling children’s author, who started writing in 2000, has 40 books to his name in over 55 languages, including Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress, and 56 million copies sold worldwide.
Talking on Tubridy’s new podcast, The Bookshelf with Ryan Tubridy – the first episode of which drops today – Walliams shared that he had cried while reading The Unconsoled, by the critically acclaimed British novelist, screenwriter, musician and short-story writer Kazuo Ishiguro.
Explaining the dream-like narrative of the 1995 novel, about a famous pianist who arrives in a central European city to perform a concert he cannot remember agreeing to, Walliams admitted that he had a recurring dream along similar lines.
He said he dreamt he had been booked onto the TV show Have I Got News For You and wasn’t able to find his way around the BBC to get to the studio on time.
‘That is the sort of Poundland version of The Unconsoled!’ he laughed.
Walliams also revealed what happened when he met his Ishiguro at a charity dinner party. He said: ‘I was quoting bits to him and he can see that I was a real fan, and very kindly he signed some books for me, and now when he has a new book, you know the proofs that go out? He signs one of them to me.
‘We don’t move in the same circles, I have never won the Booker Prize and as far as I know I’ve never won the Nobel Prize for Literature… so I just love him, I love his work and I love that he’s been so kind to me as well.’
Tubridy, who is also a weekly columnist with our sister newspaper, the Irish Mail on Sunday, launched his ‘passion project’ podcast on books while ‘taking a few days off’ from his day job in London with Virgin Radio.