A Load of Bull - An Englishman's Adventures in Madrid

Re-issued with a new introduction and extra chapters, A Load of Bull is the hilarious true story of an Englishman sent to Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue. In the late eighties Tim Parfitt blagged his way into a job at Condé Nast in London and from there into a six week stint in Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue. Six weeks turned into nine years, and helping out turned into running the company. Along the way, Tim Parfitt discovered the real 'real' Spain. He never saw a Costa and he certainly never bought an olive grove. Instead, he discovered a booming city in hedonistic reaction to years of fascism, where sleep was something you only did at work and where five hour lunches invariably involved a course of bull's testicles. Tim Parfitt's rise from unwanted guest to paparazzi-pursued mover in Spain's glamorous social scene is a hilarious comedy of errors. Frothing with a language designed to make foreigners dribble, hospitalised by tapa-induced flatulence and constantly frustrated by the unapproachable beauty of the women parading through the Vogue offices, he nevertheless falls in love with a city, a country and its people - despite the fact he hasn't a clue what they're on about. 'A hugely entertaining memoir ... frequently laugh-out-loud funny' (The Daily Express) 'Parfitt is no ordinary Englishman. His light touch and neat line in self-deprecating humour perfectly suits this entertaining urban spin on the old tale of Brits having fun under the Spanish sun' (The Sunday Times) 'A love letter to Madrid ... brilliantly captures a truly eccentric and hedonistic place' (The Daily Mirror) 'Often hilarious ... a side-splittingly funny travel memoir' (BBC Online) 'Magnificent ... brilliant and moving, hilarious and truthful' (La Vanguardia) 'Don't miss it … Madrid through the eyes of an Englishman.' (Vogue España)