Charlie Connelly
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Charlie Connelly (born London, August 22, 1970) is a British author and broadcaster, one of the new breed of young travel writers to have emerged in the UK, along with the likes of Tony Hawks, Pete McCarthy and Tim Moore. In critical and commercial terms, he is one of the most successful.
Connelly's writing exhibits a self-deprecating humour and love of eccentricity that echoes the pioneering style of Bill Bryson.
Similarly, he shares with these other named writers a fascination with subject-matter that had previously escaped the attentions of the traditional travel writing fraternity. Rather than travelling round Ireland with a fridge (Hawks) or pedaling the route of the Tour de France (Moore), Connelly's early work focused on football, from Hackney Marshes to Sarajevo and most points in between.
Stamping Grounds was Connelly's breakthrough. He follows Liechtenstein's hapless football team through a disastrous if wholly predictable World Cup qualifying campaign. They lose all eight matches without scoring a single goal, but Connelly shows that it is the taking part that counts. Along the way, he comes to understand the nature of an entire country, not least when he meets a man who married an eagle.
The bestselling Attention All Shipping, first published in 2004 and the first book not to take football as its central subject, is Connelly's most successful to date. Again seeking out unusual destinations, he travels to each area of the shipping forecast made famous on BBC Radio 4. The radio station returned the favour, making Attention All Shipping their Book of the Week and propelling the book to the top of the sales charts.
His global odyssey in search of the legacy of Elvis Presley, In Search Of Elvis, was published in the UK in January 2007.
His work has also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Herald and he is a presenter on the BBC 1 Holiday programme.
In early 2007 he co-presented the BBC Radio 4 series Traveller's Tree with Fi Glover. He lives in London.
[edit] Bibliography
- In Search Of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit (2007)
- Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast (2004)
- Stamping Grounds: Liechtenstein's Quest for the World Cup (2002)
- Many Miles...a Season in the Life of Charlton Athletic (2001)
- Spirit High and Passion Pure: A Journey Through European Football (2000)
- London Fields: A Journey Through Football's Metroland (1999)
- I Just Can't Help Believing: The Relegation Experience (1998)
