Fathomless Riches

Or How I Went From Pop to Pulpit

By: Richard Coles

Narrated by: Richard Coles

'The best vicar ever' Caitlin Moran

'Sex, drugs, death, religion, more sex... it has got it all' Guardian

FATHOMLESS RICHES is the Reverend Richard Coles' warm, witty and wise memoir in which he divulges with searing honesty and intimacy his pilgrimage from a rock-and-roll life of sex and drugs in the Communards to one devoted to God and Christianity.

'All the humour, quirky characters and incidents that life - and death- serve up' Mail on Sunday

'One of the most immensely readable - and redeemable - memoirs of the year' Sunday Times

'A frank, worldly-wise, bleakly comic memoir' The Times

'Full of wit and humour ' Independent on Sunday©2014 Richard Coles

Critic reviews

One of the most immensely readable - and redeemable - memoirs of the year. His book is an engaging account of eccentricity, curiosity and a profound spiritual journey. I give it a screamingly camp, happy-clappy thumbs up (Helen Davies)

Sex, drugs, death, religion, more sex, many more deaths - it has got it all. Like a sparkling old-style chasuble worn by a Spanish priest, it is difficult to ignore (Chris Bryant)

He writes with charm and erudition and his take on 1980s Britain is fascinating (Virginia Blackburn)

Beautifully written, disarmingly frank and utterly charming (James Delingpole)

Richard's devastating honesty makes his journey from gay pop-star to celibate parish priest comprehensible even to atheists (Linda Grant)

[O]ne of the most readable memoirs of 2014 (Helen Davies)

It is a tale of redemption and of a sinner come to transformation... The Church of England is all the better for having such a priest within its ranks. (Stephen Bates)

Full of wit and humour about finding god, and Jimmy Somerville. (Katy Guest)

Richard Coles has achieved a rare thing in writing an astonishingly honest autobiography, which, alongside the sex and drugs, presents Christian faith in a way that will surely be invitingly intriguing to an audience well beyond the church ... An immensely enjoyable memoir, whether a reader's primary interest is the music industry, the impact of AIDS, the Church of England, or a wonderfully Anglican combination of all three. (The Revd Christopher Landau)

Witty, honest and - no pun intended - irreverent, it is very much a personal and at times heartbreaking account about what it was like to be gay during the period with a bit of pop-world gossip thrown in as well. Readable to say the least.

A bit too boringly confessional

Would you try another book from Richard Coles and/or Richard Coles?

Yes, I would. There were many aspects of the book that I enjoyed. Overall, however, I felt there was too much confessional info and it was not even that interesting. I read it as I know of him as a personality. The religion bit left me cold.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I already knew how it would end.

What three words best describe Richard Coles’s performance?

Erudite, fast-paced, listenable.

Was Fathomless Riches worth the listening time?

In retrospect, no. I read it to the end to see if would improve. Some of the prose was lovely, but I wanted more dialogue and meaningful interactions.`

Any additional comments?

I suppose this captures an era, but I didn't feel it went deep enough. It wasn't Joe Orton. Also, the conversion stuff was not terribly believable or interesting. The best bits were about the BBC and his travels.