Spilling the Beans is an autobiography written by Clarissa Dickson Wright and first published in 2007. [1] [2]
Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright was an English celebrity chef, television personality, writer, businesswoman, and former barrister. She was best known as one of the Two Fat Ladies, with Jennifer Paterson, in the television cooking programme. She was an accredited cricket umpire and one of only two women to become a Guild Butcher.
Wright's autobiography tells the story of her troubled youth as the unexpected youngest child of an accomplished doctor and a conservative mother. It goes on to explain her plight at the hands of her alcoholic, violent father and the subsequent trauma at the death of her mother and the love of her life (named Clive) which all lead her to extreme alcoholism. Wright's story delves into her darkest thoughts and feelings and tells of love, loss, friendship, wealth, poverty and her eventual recovery from her addiction. Her love of food features heavily in this book and eventually explains how food saves her life due to her decision to make it her career. A large portion of the autobiography explains how she forms a long-term friendship and working partnership with Jennifer Patterson which leads to the famous cookery programme Two Fat Ladies. The autobiography concludes with the telling of the loss Wright felt when Patterson died of lung cancer and how her life is at present. The autobiography has been described as both "funny" and "heart-breaking".
Alcoholism, also known as alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in mental or physical health problems. The disorder was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts of alcohol over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. Risky situations include drinking and driving or having unsafe sex, among other things. Alcohol use can affect all parts of the body, but it particularly affects the brain, heart, liver, pancreas and immune system. This can result in mental illness, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, irregular heartbeat, an impaired immune response, liver cirrhosis and increased cancer risk, among other diseases. Drinking during pregnancy can cause damage to the baby resulting in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Women are generally more sensitive than men to the harmful physical and mental effects of alcohol.
Addiction is a brain disorder characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli despite adverse consequences. Despite the involvement of a number of psychosocial factors, a biological process – one which is induced by repeated exposure to an addictive stimulus – is the core pathology that drives the development and maintenance of an addiction. The two properties that characterize all addictive stimuli are that they are reinforcing and intrinsically rewarding.
Two Fat Ladies is a BBC2 television cooking programme starring Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson. It originally ran for four series, from 9 October 1996 to 28 September 1999, being produced by Optomen Television for the BBC. Since then, the show has been repeated frequently on the Food Network and Cooking Channel in the U.S. and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia. In the UK, the show has been transmitted many times on the satellite channel Good Food.
