Fathomless Riches

A parish priest in Northamptonshire; a former rock-star whose number-one hit with The Communards was the biggest-selling single of 1986; the regular host of BBC Radio 4's SATURDAY LIVE - these three people are not usually embodied in one person. The Reverend Richard Coles' memoir offers his rich and personal insights into one of the most diverse of lives, encompassed with the wit and humour he brings to his popular radio show. Richard Coles gives the phrase 'time management' a new emphasis. From conducting the funeral of a cross-dressing farmer and recording an interview with a Californian who believes he was abducted by aliens, to a lunch meeting with the Mothers Union, then making an after-dinner speech to a roomful of thoughtful actuaries, his work has taken him from food-fights in a Swiss hotel with the Beastie Boys to propitiating the gods of the sea as Deputy Chaplain to the Admiral of the Wash on his annual inspection of the Beacons and Buoys. Mirroring the Christian calendar with its narrative of birth, death and renewal, from Advent to Christmas, from Lent to Easter, Richard Coles gives an honest and lighthearted account of the drama that comes with fulfilling so many roles, and the daily challenges that accompany it. Fathomless Riches - a phrase characteristic of St Paul and his followers - is the indescribable generosity, love and sheer surprise that Richard Coles encounters through a life of faith. The result is one of the most readable and illuminating autobiographies of the year. Read by the author (p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group