Out to lunch with Barry Humphries

Off to lunch with Sir Les Patterson, Australian Cultural Attache, as I wish to seek his advice on my up-coming antipodean tour. He hasn't read the book yet because he's still waiting for his free copy. Actually the real purpose of our meeting is to chat about how we met, as we're both to appear in the Independent on Sunday. This afternoon I've got two phone interviews for Ireland, before flying off to Hong Kong at the weekend - glancing at my itinerary this morning, it seems I don't have a spare minute in the whole trip. From there I fly to Perth to begin the Australian leg of the tour, where last week the book was No.1. I heard a few minutes ago that A Prisoner of Birth has also gone to No.1 in New Zealand.

I intend to keep you informed by blog about what I'm up to south of the equator. Have a great weekend.

Twentieth century art and politics

I visited a quite exceptional exhibition at the Tate under the title, Modern Painters: The Camden Town Group. This is a group of painters led by Walter Sickert and Spencer Gore, that were founded in London in 1911. They were admirers of, and influenced by, Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin. It's always thrilling to find an outstanding painter you've never heard of, and in this case it was Charles Ginner. This show is a must for art lovers - full of surprises and one of the best exhibitions in town.

In the evening I went to the National Theatre for the opening night of Never So Good starring Jeremy Irons. This is a new play written by Howard Brenton, looking at the life of the former Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, from his days at Eton, through Oxford, the two World Wars, the Suez crisis when he took over from Anthony Eden, right through to his resignation soon after the problems of Profumo. I thought it was well written, although the author missed a trick at the end of the play by not showing us just how skillful Macmillan was in everything he did, because his final act was to stop Rab Butler becoming PM while making sure that Alec Douglas-Home got the job. But put that aside. If you're a political anorak, or more important, you lived through that era, this is an evening you'll enjoy. It will come as no surprise that Irons gave a first class performance, but backed up by a very good young Macmillan (Pip Carter), Churchill (Ian McNeice), Eden (Anthony Calf) and Lady Dorothy (Anna Chancellor).

A Cambridgeshire spring

I arrived back in England from Canada early on Saturday morning and drove straight up to Cambridge. In the evening, Will and I went to see And Then There Were None at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, which for those who are old enough to remember, was originally entitled Ten Little Niggers and quite rightly was re-named - I think around 1970. If anyone can tell me the exact year, I'd be fascinated.

On Easter Sunday, we woke to find the Old Vicarage covered with a light dusting of snow. It stopped snowing at 11.20am, and my son took some lovely photographs - by 1pm the snow had disappeared - almost as it it had never been there.

I arrived back in London after lunch to tackle the 100 or so emails from all over the world that my PA had left on my desk for me - all of which I'd answered by Sunday night. I'm grateful to so many people for their kind remarks about A Prisoner of Birth. In the evening I went to the cinema to see The Other Boleyn Girl. It's amazing how Henry VIII, Elizabeth and all concerned have now become such an industry. I'm a huge fan of Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson, but have to confess that I found this piece stretched historical imagination to breaking point. Maybe it was just the jet lag that caused me to fall asleep half way through.

Talking American politics

I opened up the Chicago leg of the tour with an interview with Milt Rosenberg, an old-fashioned Republican who wants Senator McCain to be the next President. After him, I went on to the Mancow Muller show that runs for two hours. The subject under discussion changes every few minutes - from Barack Obama to gun control to Irish folk singing to drugs. Mancow is one of the sharpest interviewers I've ever met, and treats his guests much in the way Dame Edna treats her victims, which is why the show is such a huge success and syndicated to 21 cities. I made the foolish mistake of saying I had never understood why the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution couldn't be re-written, banning hand-guns, and I had to remain on for the full 2 hours to explain my ridiculous position to those phoning in from the Wild West. No complaints though, as Mancow was kind enough to mention A Prisoner of Birth every few moments.

The other subject that dominated the programme and indeed discussion in America, was Obama's speech on race relations. The New York Times this morning describes it as faultless, and have compared it to Lincoln's speech on slavery and Kennedy's on segregation. I certainly get the feeling that I had when I was at Oxford some 40 years ago that they feel they've found the new John Kennedy. There are many who are worried about Obama's lack of policies (experience) and about some of his friends and supporters, but the general feeling is that he is going to beat Mrs Clinton for the Democratic nomination, although it still could be very close right up to the last moment.

This morning I'm off to Toronto on the last leg of the North American tour, and will report back on Tuesday.

Cars, planes and Chicago fog

On any author tour it is inevitable that something will go wrong. On Sunday, everything went wrong. From the moment I landed in Miami when my 'minder' and I missed each other at the airport, to having to switch hotels, and the following day having to spend 10 hours in a car to visit 5 bookshops - it was clear that whoever had arranged the tour had not done a dry run. Arriving at the airport yesterday morning for my flight to Chicago, the plane was delayed by an hour. As I was due on the Milt Rosenberg show at WGN Radio - one of the biggest radio shows in the US - I didn't want to be late. When the plane eventually took off, we were faced with another hour's delay due to fog over the city. Luckily, when I landed at O'Hare, my minder was waiting for me and able to get me to the studio on time. There could not have been a bigger contrast between that show, hosted by the distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, and the ManCow show I did this morning which goes out all over the country. But more of that tomorrow.

Number One in Australia

Arrived in New York on Friday afternoon, and was whisked straight into the city to do Fox News. Although they seemed more interested in the Governor's problems, they were kind enough to make the occasional reference to A Prisoner of Birth. The next 48 hours passed in a whirlwind of TV, radio and press interviews, ending with an on-line piece for the Wall Street Journal. Arrived in Miami on Sunday to find my room at The National Hotel wouldn't be ready until late afternoon at the same time as I had to make a speech and do a book signing. So I walked across the road and booked myself into the Loews Hotel who could accomodate me immediately. My 4pm event was attended by over 200 people, and I signed for over an hour. Back at my hotel later I received a message from London to say A Prisoner of Birth had gone to No.1 in the hardback fiction Bestseller list in Australia. I sat in my hotel room alone and celebrated with a lamb chop. I had intended to go out, but lay down on my bed at 9pm for a brief rest, and didn't wake up until 3am. Just off to do local TV and will report in tomorrow.

New York bound...

After doing an an interview yesterday with Natasha Kaplinsky for Five News, I went on to Lord's to conduct an auction on behalf of the Hampstead Theatre - theatres are always in need of funds. It was a very glamorous evening and the auction raised £53,000.

I'm now en route to New York to begin a short book tour in the US and Canada. Incidentally, A Prisoner of Birth came into the New York Times Bestseller list at number 7 after 5 days sales. I shall be blogging from America.

Amazing photographers and affordable art

I started the morning yesterday with a Parliamentary visit to the Natural History Museum to see the Shell Wildlife Photographer of The Year exhibition - highly recommended for grandmothers, grand-daughters and everyone in between. There are winners and Highly Commended in every category, but the one that really impressed me was the winner of the under 10s. Go and see it!

My afternoon 'phone interviews with several US regional radio shows were cut short when the Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, resigned, and I became superfluous. The journalist from the Wall Street Journal who interviewed me later that afternoon seemed more interested in my forthcoming trip to India than to America. The journalist explained that India was seen as the emerging market, and he suspects that to be No 1 on the Bombay Times will be just as important as No 1 on the London Times or New York Times. I explained that my sales in India had risen sharply when Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid admitted reading my books, but the man from the Wall St Journal had never heard of either of them.

In the evening I went to a charity private view of the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea. Prices range from £50 to £3,000, so it's always packed from the moment it opens. Look out for the sculptors Katy Poett and Mike Speller. I then went on to a party given by Peter and Virginia Bottomley (Virginia was Secretary of State for Health under John Major), to celebrate Virginia's 60th birthday. When I was a young man I thought that when you reached 60 you were approaching death's door, but I confess, without any flattery, that Virginia looked middle-aged when she gave her amusing speech to a packed gallery of friends from both sides of the House. I bet she lives to a 100.

The Number One Bestseller

Every Tuesday, sometime between 2-4pm, publishers receive the Bookscan figures for the following week's Bestsellers list. As the official publication date for A Prisoner of Birth was Friday, and the list is calculated from Monday to Saturday night, my publishers were happily anticipating my book would enter the top 10 at around 7 or 8.

I was in the green room at the BBC yesterday afternoon waiting to go on the Alan Titchmarsh show, when the Managing Director of Macmillan rang through to tell me the list had just been announced, and that A Prisoner of Birth had gone to Number 1 after only two day's sales. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. To say that I was thrilled would be accurate.

We're now live on air...

Yesterday afternoon I did an interview for Talk Radio 702 in South Africa, where A Prisoner of Birth was published the same day as in the UK. I've been interviewed by Jenny Crwys-Williams several times before, so it was a relaxed and pleasant chat. In the evening, I had dinner with John Madejski, chairman of Reading FC and Chancellor of Reading University, who was telling me about a £530m redevelopment project for a large area of land near Reading station, so that when you first arrive in the city you would be greeted by an impressive shopping and business area. He's hoping to achieve the double this year - getting planning permission, and staying in the Premier Division. He left in his Rolls Royce, the length of a London bus, while I departed in my mini.

Off to the gym for my morning hour of agony with my New Zealand coach, and this afternoon I'll be appearing on Alan Titchmarsh's ITV show.

Radio and film

On Sunday, opened up the day with an interview with Andrew Pierce on his new show on LBC radio. He was really quite anxious about the state of Lady Thatcher's health, and less anxious about the state of the health of the Tory party. This was only his second show, but he is clearly enjoying himself. I joined James and Tara, my son and daughter-in-law for lunch, before we went on to see Vantage Point at the cinema. The premise of the film is quite brilliant - you watch the assassination of a US President in Spain for 20 minutes, as recorded on the TV news, and you then follow the lives of 6 people in the crowd, fast reeling back to see the assassination from their point of view. In typical Hollywood manner, they spend the last 20 minutes tying these six peoples' lives together with a long car chase during which the hero (Dennis Quaid) manages to kill all the baddies and save the President's life. If they had come up with a truly clever Hitchcock ending, it would have been a masterpiece, rather than just another piece of floss from Hollywood.

Books, entertainment and sport

Had a really first class interview with David Frost on Friday, who seemed just as interested in the future as he did in the past, and indeed I was quick to remind him that when I came out of prison, the invitation for his summer party was on my desk. A good and decent man. I then went on to appear on The One Show on BBC1, and I must confess I've never experienced anything quite like it before. They opened up by chatting about A Prisoner of Birth, then the subject changed to Natterjack toads, Crufts, the benefits of mortgage versus rent, and politicians' hairstyles - all in the space of 30 minutes. I just about survived, and confess I rather enjoyed it.

What a weekend of sport. The England rugby team humiliated, the England cricket team embarassed, and Manchester Utd and Chelsea are no longer in the cup. "Enough, no more. 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before."

In the bookshops

After the two radio shows yesterday, Nicky Campbell and Steve Wright, I went on to do an informal signing session at Hatchards, surprised to find no copies of A Prisoner of Birth on sale. They reminded me courteously, that although there were some larger chains who had put copies out, official publication day is actually today, and they are not in the habit of breaking embargoes. Slap on the wrist. I then called into the Albermarle Gallery where I recently purchased a painting by Alexandre Monntoya. It's always thrilling for a collector to feel you've picked a new artist at the right time, and I was delighted to discover red dots on every one of his works, and the gallery's proprietor told me that Monntoya now has a long waiting list for his next exhibition.

Seven of Macmillan's team took me to Le Caprice for dinner last night, and presented me with a beautifully bound leather copy of A Prisoner of Birth. Over the years, my publishers have kindly given me a leather bound book on each publication day, with the exception of Not a Penny More, Not A Penny Less, my first effort. To be fair, Jonathan Cape only published 3,000 copies in hardback, and no doubt felt it was an unnecessary expense. However, they finally came up with one after Not A Penny had sold 3 million in soft back.

Off to be interviewd by David Frost for Al Jazeera TV.

Publication Day

Publication Day at last...that dreaded moment whe the books arrive in the shops. Just rushing off to do Nicky Campbell's breakfast show on Radio 5 Live and at lunchtime am going on Steve Wright's show on Radio 2. I'll report back later.

An on-line grilling

Yesterday I spent an hour at the Daily Telegraph's amazing new offices in Buckingham Palace Road, where I answered on-line questions about, in theory, A Prisoner of Birth, but in practice they seemed more interested in talking about prison. I think one or two of the Telegraph staff were shocked by the positive tone of the majority of the questions and indeed, one of them privately admitted that he wondered if some journalists didn't know what was happening outside their own offices.

In the evening I went to see Major Barbara at the National Theatre. No-one will be surprised that Simon Russell Beale was outstanding as the arms-dealing multi-millionaire, but I was once again reminded what a brilliant actress Clare Higgins is. She gave a delicious performance which is worth a visit on its own. An outstanding production and highly recommended.

American Publication Day

Tuesday: American Publication Day. Just in case you think publishing a new book is all fun, I went to Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters this morning, sat in a tiny room with a microphone and did eighteen 10 minute regional broadcasts in a row. You have to try and be on top form for each one, which meant when 1 o'clock struck, I was exhausted. I came back for a light lunch before going on to the Richard & Judy Show - always an ordeal, because it's the most popular book show in England, and one has to realise, rather cynically, that however well you've done on 18 local radio shows, you can't afford to fail on what might be the biggest programme you do during publication week.

Start the week...

It's a hectic week. Monday began with having to go to my publishers to sign another 600 books because the demand has been so high. Arrived back in time to change before going on to the Donmar theatre to see The Man Who Had All the Luck - Arthur Miller's first play. Although it felt like a first play, and originally closed in New York some 60 years ago after only 6 nights, it didn't leave you in any doubt that this man was going to deliver plays of the quality of Death of a Salesman, The Price and All My Sons in the future. The acting was of the usual high standard one has grown to expect from the Donmar, and for genuine theatre buffs this is an evening you shouldn't miss.

My weekend

During the weekend I conducted two charity auctions - one on Friday evening for the Cambridge Rotary Club held at my local rugby club which raised £9,700, and on Sunday lunchtime at the Reform Club for Cancer Backup which sends in nurses to 'hold your hand' when you discover you have cancer. This one raised £14,400. Mary and I then went on to the cinema to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - a remarkable film, harrowing and moving at the same time, with a brilliant script written by the Oscar winning screenwriter, Ronnie Harwood.

Signed books

A Prisoner of Birth will be published in the United States tomorrow and on Thursday in Britain, but readers of The Sunday Telegraph will already have discovered that the first 200 callers can win a free signed copy by phoning 0844 848 9372 before midnight on Wednesday. The paper also serialised the first 2 chapters in Seven Magazine yesterday. On Wednesday lunchtime I'll be doing an on-line Q&A at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ so if you have a question about the book, do send it in.