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Revision as of 21:03, 30 July 2010

A. A. Gill
OccupationColumnist, Author
NationalityBritish

Adrian Anthony Gill (born 28 June 1954) is a British newspaper columnist and writer, using the byline A. A. Gill. He is currently employed by The Sunday Times as their restaurant reviewer and television critic. His essays are known for their humour and satirical content, but have caused offence to various groups, including the Welsh, Albanians, and Germans.[1]

Early life and education

A.A. Gill was born in Edinburgh, the son of television producer Michael Gill and his wife, actress Yvonne Gilan, and brother to Nick.[2] The family moved to the south of England when he was one year old.[3] Gill was educated at the progressive independent school St Christopher School in Hertfordshire. He would later recall his experiences at the school for his book The Angry Island. After St Christopher, he moved to London to study at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Art. He is a recovered alcoholic who drank until the age of 30.[3] Gill suffers from severe dyslexia and, consequently, all of his works are written by dictation.[4]

Career and controversies

He was once ejected from one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, along with his dining partner Joan Collins. Ramsay's reason was that Gill had written a review of his restaurant that covered his personal life more than the food, including calling him a wonderful chef, but a "second-rate human being".[5]

Gill has been critical of Welsh people; in 1998 his descriptions of Welsh people as "loquacious, dissemblers, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls" in The Sunday Times were reported to the Commission for Racial Equality as racist.[6] Gill's comment was used as a prime example of what was described as "persistent anti-Welsh racism in the UK media" in a motion in the National Assembly for Wales put forward by 18 AMs representing the four main political parties.[7]

Gill has also been critical of the English describing them as "embarrassing" and an "ugly race" as well as a "lumpen and louty, coarse, unsubtle, beady-eyed, beefy-bummed herd".[8][9]

In October 2009, Gill sparked controversy by reporting in his Sunday Times column that he shot a baboon dead. His column averred that he knew "perfectly well there [was] absolutely no excuse for [the shooting]", and that he killed the animal in order to "get a sense of what it might be like to kill someone".[10][11] He went on to state that "[t]hey die hard, baboons. But not this one. A soft-nosed .357 blew his lungs out."[11] The action prompted outrage from animal rights groups[11].

In July 2010, an article by Gill in the Sunday Times referred to BBC Sport presenter Clare Balding as a Dyke, leading to Balding complaining to the Press Complaints Commission.[12]

Isle of Man

His best known running feud however has been with the Isle of Man ever since his first review in The Sunday Times of 22 January 2006 of Ciappelli's restaurant in Douglas also included a critique of the island which, Gill wrote, had:

managed to slip through a crack in the space-time continuum...fallen off the back of the history lorry to lie amnesiac in the road to progress...its main industry is money (laundering, pressing, altering and mending)...everyone you actually see is Benny from Crossroads or Benny in drag...The weather’s foul, the food’s medieval, it’s covered in suicidal motorists and folk who believe in fairies.[13]

This sparked off a minor diplomatic incident, the review being attacked in Tynwald with House of Keys member David Cannan demanding an apology for this "unacceptable and scurrilous attack", whilst Tourism Minister David Cretney claimed it would harm the island's tourism.

Gill made more comments regarding the Isle of Man continued in his Sunday Times column on 23 May 2010[14], when he described its citizens as falling into two types: 'hopeless, inbred mouth-breathers known as Bennies' and 'retired, small arms dealers and accountants who deal in rainforest futures'. His comments were made in the aftermath of Mick Jagger's suggestion that drugs should be legalised in the Isle of Man[15]. Gill added that 'If...they [sic] become a hopelessly addicted, criminal cesspit, who’d care? Indeed, who could tell the difference?'.

Personal life

Gill's first wife was the author Cressida Connolly, daughter of the writer Cyril Connolly. They later divorced.

His second wife was Amber Rudd, a financial journalist and Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, who appeared in his column as "The Silver-spoon".[16] They have two children, Flora and Alasdair.[17]

He now has a long-term relationship with Nicola Formby, editor at large of the Tatler, who appears in his column as "The Blonde".[18] They have twins, Edith and Isaac, born in March 2007.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Gill in new racism row over 'ferret-faced' Albanians jibe"
  2. ^ Michael Gill - Comment - Times Online
  3. ^ a b Durrant, Sabine (15 December 2005). "A is for Adrian". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  4. ^ a b Barber, Lynn (25 May 2008). "Let him eat cake". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2008-11-03. Cite error: The named reference "eatcake" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Glendinning, Lee (28 August 2007). "Guidebook diners lose their appetite for Gordon Ramsay". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  6. ^ Writer reported over "ugly little trolls" Welsh jibe
  7. ^ 'Anti-Welsh racism' protest | BBC News Wales | 2 February 2000
  8. ^ A man at cross purposes
  9. ^ I hate England
  10. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223054/Outrage-food-critic-AA-Gill-shoots-dead-inedible-baboon.html
  11. ^ a b c Booth, Robert (26 October 2009). "AA Gill shot baboon 'to see what it would be like to kill someone'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10817463
  13. ^ "Ciappelli". The Times. London. 22 January 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  14. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7134122.ece
  15. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/isle_of_man/8695001.stm
  16. ^ Amber Rudd - Profile - Conservative Party
  17. ^ A novel way to find your long-lost son | Mail Online
  18. ^ "Tugga". The Times. London. 21 August 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

Bibliography

  • Sap Rising (1997)
  • The Ivy: The Restaurant and Its Recipes (1999) with Mark Hix ISBN 0-340-69312-6
  • Le Caprice (1999) with Mark Hix ISBN 0-340-73838-3
  • Starcrossed (1999)
  • AA Gill is Away (2003) collection of travel writing. ISBN 0-7538-1681-4
  • The Angry Island: Hunting the English (2005) a book about England and the English. ISBN 0-297-84318-4
  • Previous Convictions: Writing with Intent (2006) assignments from here and there. ISBN 0-297-85162-4
  • Table Talk: Sweet And Sour, Salt and Bitter (2007) Selection of Gill's writing about food, taken from his Sunday Times and Tatler columns.
  • Breakfast at the Wolseley (2008) ISBN 1-8440-0444-9
  • Paper View: The Best of The Sunday Times Television Columns (2008) ISBN 0-7538-1768-3

Further reading

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