Dyslexic Jamie Oliver reads his first book

 
Jamie Oliver
PA
Miranda Bryant26 June 2013

Jamie Oliver has written nearly 20 recipe books but has revealed he only just finished reading his first novel.

The 38-year-old father of four, who is dyslexic, “never got through a book” until he read all 391 pages of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sci-fi sequel to The Hunger Games.

When asked about the last book he read, he replied: “I’m dyslexic and until recently I’d never got through a book. But I read Catching Fire. I loved disappearing into a story.”

Dyslexia, which affects 10 per cent of the population, impacts on people’s ability to process information that can make reading, spelling, maths, memory or organisation more difficult. The chef, who finished school with two GCSEs, previously admitted that he “got bored easily” when reading.

He said: “The one book I nearly finished was Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. But then the author came to Britain and didn’t stop slagging me off for five years. So on principle I threw it on the fire.”

A spokesman for The British Dyslexia Association said: “Getting lost in a story is an incredible experience and one that many people take for granted.”

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