Nick Munier, chef and restaurateur
I WISH I could say that I was a serial book reader, but I just don’t have the time for that. My favourite genres are autobiographies and biographies – I like to read about the lives of people that inspire me.
For instance, I've read Oliver Reed's biography, Evil Spirits, about 10 times. I go back to it because I just think it's a fascinating and gripping story. I've read the Yves St Laurent biography a few times as well, and Richard Branson's autobiography, Losing my Virginity.
Cookery books? I engage in them, yes, the most recent being Terence Conran's The Bibendum Cookbook, which I found to be a very good mix of food and design, and very interesting.
At the moment I'm reading – or should that be trying to get through – Tommy Cooper's biography Always Leave Them Laughingby John Fisher.
As you can see, I’m not a huge fan of fiction – what I’ve read either scares or bores me; I like true stories because extraordinary lives are much more compelling. Because my time is limited, I also dip into and out of a lot of magazines and newspapers. I would love to have the time to read more, but I don’t, so I tend to stick with books that I feel safe with, and that are entertaining.
As told to Tony Clayton-Lea
Are You Being Served?by Nick Munier (Merlin Press) will be published in September
