I'm Not Making This Up, You Know: The Autobiography of the Queen of Musical Parody

Joan McGrath is a Toronto Board of Education library consultant.

Anna Russell is a very funny lady. Renowned as the Queen of Musical Parody, she spoofs anything and everything from Wagner’s Nibelungen Ring to Gilbert and Sullivan; she is equally wicked with pen in hand. The story of a life as varied as a patchwork quilt makes fascinating reading. A rather neglected child, dismissed as “The Toad” by a mother who failed to find her only child pretty or charming enough to suit, she was brought up in the main by devoted servants and erratic aunts and uncles. Following her unhappy and isolated school days, she launched herself into a career of astounding length and brilliance. Quite as willing to take a swipe at herself as at the next person, she tells of her triumphs and her tailspins, her travels and her attempts at nestbuilding. Even now, with the author-artist in her 70s, it is pleasant to reflect that, as she very justly remarks, “I have any number of places left to do farewell performances in.”