Babysitting George Book

'So George Best walks into a pub...' Howls of laughter drown out the punch line and for the first time since I heard the news of his death I smile. George would have liked that one. 2003. A Sunday in early August. Celia Walden a young reporter receives an unusual phone call from her editor. She is to drop everything travel immediately to Malta track down a legendary footballer and global superstar and keep him away from the press. But George Best a notorious alcoholic and party animal who just had a liver transplant and been left by his wife - again - isn't the easiest man to find...and when Celia does discover him in an Irish bar drinking countless white wine spritzers he isn't exactly delighted to see her. But the unlikely friendship that develops between George and Celia reveals an intelligent funny wild and complex human being a man who loved reading thrillers was a member of MENSA worshipped women and whose extraordinary life had played out under the constant glare of the media spotlight. Celia or 'Trouble' as he liked to call her stays with George for months.She witnesses drunken brawls life inside a rehabilitation clinic his relationships with women and their families and hears his story; from his early homesick days at Manchester United to his years of super stardom from his notorious womanising and partying to his tumultuous marriage to Alex and finally devastatingly his crippling addiction to alcohol. "Babysitting George" is a tender and beautifully written account of a unique relationship between a young journalist and a dying star. It questions the cold exploitative nature of tabloid journalism the terrifying all-consuming nature of addiction and the deeply humane implausible friendships that can change one's life forever. ; ; ;Read More