Listen to a sample
Character Breakdown
- Author
- Zawe Ashton
- Narrator
- Zawe Ashton
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 6 February 2020
- Run Time
- 6 hours 19 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
Cult heroine Zawe Ashton brings us a unique look at life, work and the absurdities of contemporary life
Zawe Ashton has been acting since she was six. She has played many different roles, from ‘cute little girl’ to ‘assassin with attitude', Oscar Wilde’s Salome to St Trinian’s schoolgirl to Fresh Meat’s Vod.
To stay sane, an actor must tread a high-wire between life and art, keep sight of where a character ends and the real person begins. So she doesn’t lose herself completely.
In Character Breakdown, Zawe scrolls through a version of her life. Or is it a version of her art? Or something in between. In it, she encounters glamour, horror, absurdity and questions like: is a life spent more on performance than reality any life at all?
© Zawe Ashton 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Critics Review
-
A very great book
-
A smart, funny and well-written take-down of modern showbiz
Mail on Sunday
-
Smart, funny, vivid, honest, dark, timely
The Times
-
An entertaining and original memoir touching on career, life and identity. It is an enjoyable read, despite the humiliating tales of auditions or filming situations where she is physically assessed, objectified or subject to casual racism. Understandably there is an undertone of rage in her keen observations
Observer
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
Character Breakdown embraces darkness while also being a wickedly absurd look at modern show business
Stylist
-
A meditation on womanhood, failure and performance…her experiences and conflicts feel universal…it is very funny
i
-
Sees the hotshot actress/writer/director who you might remember as mentalist Vod in student sitcom, Fresh Meat, look at the absurdity of pretending to be other people for a living
Muddy Stilettos
-
An extremely imaginative and well-written volume that has the pace and page-turning attractions of a novel… a fine, painfully honest autobiographer/ novelist… [and] a good, witty read but which also gives purchasers a real insight into life in the acting profession today
British Theatre Guide
-
I loved it...smart, funny, highly original and with an unconventional narrative that asked deep questions about the roles we all play in our lives
Country & Town
-
A fascinating look at the fine line between performance and life, written with style
i magazine, *Summer Reads of 2019*
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Zawe Ashton
- Narrator
- Zawe Ashton
- Duration
- 6 hours 19 minutes
- Release Date
- 6 February 2020
- ISBN
- 9781473568990
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Memoirs, Autobiography: arts and entertainment, Individual actors and performers
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.Cult heroine Zawe Ashton brings us a unique look at life, work and the absurdities of contemporary lifeZawe Ashton has been acting since she was six. She has played many different roles, from ‘cute little girl’ to ‘assassin with attitude', Oscar Wilde’s Salome to St Trinian’s schoolgirl to Fresh Meat’s Vod. To stay sane, an actor must tread a high-wire between life and art, keep sight of where a character ends and the real person begins. So she doesn’t lose herself completely. In Character Breakdown, Zawe scrolls through a version of her life. Or is it a version of her art? Or something in between. In it, she encounters glamour, horror, absurdity and questions like: is a life spent more on performance than reality any life at all?© Zawe Ashton 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.