All Cheeses Great and Small

This is the story of Alex James’s transition from a leading light of the Britpop movement in the 1990s, to gentleman farmer, artisan cheese-maker and father of five.

All Cheeses Great and Small is the follow-up memoir to Alex James's first book, Bit of a Blur, the story of his excessive pop star lifestyle during the nineties. But now Alex has grown up, fallen in love and got married. He has also fallen passionately for his new home, an enormous rambling farmhouse in the Cotswolds, set in two hundred acres of beautiful British countryside.

The farm represents not just a new house for Alex, but also a new career. As he breathes new life into the old farm he chances across an unexpected calling: making cheese. His cheeses, Blue Monday, Farleigh Wallop and Little Wallop have received widespread media interest and are now sold through many outlets.

The story culminates with an account of the triumphant reformation of Blur for Glastonbury 2009. It will also include illustrations by Graham Coxon.

Reviews

Praise for Bit of a Blur:

'Alex James is a witty, engaging guide to the mad goings-on behind the scenes of Britpop. Blur's bassist famously estimates that he blew around £1m on champagne and cocaine during the nineties. Here's how.' Independent

'Bright, passionate … James writes with wit and flair.' Time Out

'The definitive guide to Britpop … this effervescent memoir emerges as the most fascinating, as well as hilarious, document to date of those times.' Observer

'Guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye – in a good way.' Elle

'A mischievous romp through nineties excess from the eye of that peaceful decade's most inventive pop band.' Evening Standard

'For anyone seeking confirmation that being a pop star is the best job going, dive in.' Q

'A dreamy, witty spin on his life as a supremely debauched rock star … James's inquisitive nature makes him eminently and continuously likeable.' Guardian

'James is more than happy to reveal the nitty-gritty in a surprisingly honest and almost humble way … you get a really good sense of what it was like being him, of finally being in the right place at the right time and hell-bent on having a blast.' Daily Mirror

About the author

Writer, musician and cheesemaker Alex James is bestknown as the bass player in Blur, a time he chronicled in his acclaimed first book Bit of a Blur.

Alex James lives on a farm in Oxfordshire with his wife and five children. He writes a weekly column on all things food for the Sun, as well a regular column on farm and family life for the Sunday Telegraph.