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  • Animal House

  • By: James Brown
  • Narrated by: James Brown
  • Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (174 ratings)

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Animal House

By: James Brown
Narrated by: James Brown
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Summary

A dangerously enticing welcome to the now lost world of magazines and the excesses of the 1990s.

Music, Magazines & Mayhem

Between 1994 and 1997, James Brown's loaded magazine became the the must-buy and must-be-in publication of the decade. It won every award going, year after year, and came to define not only its audience but also a generation. Bright, loud, funny, provocative, ambitious and careless, loaded was read from the barracks of Afghanistan to the England dressing room at Euro '96. It captured a hedonistic lifestyle of alcohol, cocaine and more. The last great hurrah before the end of the century. It was the biggest noise in the golden generation of magazine publishing, rocketing from zero to half a million sales in a matter of months. What MTV had been to the '80s, loaded was to the '90s.

Animal House follows James Brown's remarkable career from a high school drop-out fanzine writer with few qualifications to NME features editor aged 22, and loaded founder at 27. In between, his mother died in tragic circumstances and gradually his own drug and alcohol use began to take over. Loaded's unexpected success legitimised (and paid for) James's lifestyle, and it wasn't until he crashed and burned at GQ, and went through rehab, that any sense of perspective kicked in.

Recuperating on the island of Mustique whilst plotting his return with Oz founder Felix Denis, James was asked by neighbour Lord Patrick Lichfield: "How on earth did you manage to sell so many magazines whilst taking so many drugs?"

This audiobook is his answer.

©2022 James Brown (P)2022 Quercus Editions Limited
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What listeners say about Animal House

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So much history and funny detail!

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I was particularly impressed by how much of his life James had remembered considering how intoxicated he was for much of it!

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Brilliant!

Such a nostalgic trip. James’ narration is excellent - leaving in the laughter really helps the immersion of the story and is just damn right hilarious!

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Taking me back to life in the nineties

Finished Animal House by James Brown earlier. James was the founder of Loaded - a magazine I’d pick up every month along with FHM. The book captures the time brilliantly and James has endless stories of what that crazy time was like. One of the best books of the year.

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Frankly I was born too late.

A brilliant recollection of a time I'm too young to fully recall. This book brought colour and perspective to a time that I only remember through the goggles of childhood. James Brown is full of stories, humour and wisdom. Will certainly be buying the next memoir.

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A fantastic listen and read.

James’ narration brings his brutally truthful storytelling to life, in his snap shot of 90s culture that changed the face of publishing.

If you have an interest in 80s / 90s culture or publishing and media this is a ‘must’.

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Fantastic

Definitely give this a go - especially if you like the 90s/music/loaded magazine just great

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Brilliant book and endlessly listenable

As a teenage football fan when Loaded came out, and when James took over at Four Four Two (not to mention his time at so many other incredible publications like the NME) this book could be aimed right at me to be honest. It was fascinating to hear the story behind the stories.
James is an engaging reader and the performance really adds to what’s been written.

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A great listen

I worked at the same company as James during the meteoric rise of loaded. It was a golden period for magazines and this book captures it perfectly. What surprised me was the fascinating insights into 1970s and '80s culture. The impact of punk. Northern football in the seventies. James's narration is pitch perfect. His amusement as he reads his own anecdotes and breaks into laughter, very funny. Thoroughly recommended.

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What a life!!

Loved James recounting the stories that went not only with his time on Loaded but all the other mags he's worked on

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Loved it!

Amazing book, would throughly recommend. I really enjoyed listening to James’s adventures,
Bring back loaded and the 90’s.

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