''Losing My Virginity'' is the

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

of the British businessman

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

. Published in 1998, it was later followed by other biographical books by Branson, including ''Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur'' (2008) and ''The Virgin Way: How to Listen, Learn, Laugh and Lead'' (2014).

Content

''Losing my Virginity'' is dedicated to "Alex Ritchie and his family" and a note before the prologue thanks Edward Whitley who helped Branson with the writing of the book. The prologue of the book recounts the start of a round-the-world balloon trip over the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

in Morocco, and is followed by 28 chapters in which Branson recounts the first 43 years of his life. The book ends in January 1993, in the wake of

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...

's victory in their court case against

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

. An epilogue briefly details events since 1993 including the launch of

Virgin Cola Virgin Cola was a carbonated cola soft drink, launched in 1994. In 2009, it was discontinued in the United Kingdom, and in 2014 it was stopped being made by its final licensee, in Bangladesh. History Virgin Cola was set up during the early 199 ...

, the financial services company Virgin Direct and Branson's charitable bid to run the United Kingdom's

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

Publication history

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

version () was released in 2002. An updated edition was released in 2005 in hardback and paperback expressing Branson's views on

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and how it has affected his business, especially his airline

. The book was serialized in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

Reception

''Losing My Virginity'' was positively reviewed by Tom Fawcett writing for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

in 1999. Fawcett wrote that "...Branson offers a fascinating autobiography of a man who succeeded by taking huge risks, proving that the established way is not the only way." and that "The strength of ''Losing my Virginity'' is Branson's modesty and honesty. ...Often criticized by the media for being a showman, Branson reasons that he only used his personality to help gain exposure for Virgin. Surprisingly, Branson comes off as a lovable underdog battling the establishment, instead of a spoiled tycoon. In the introduction, Branson explains that "Losing My Virginity" is Volume One of his autobiography, which takes him up to his early 40s. How Branson will reinvent middle-age and retirement should make for a compelling sequel".

Rumoured adaptation

In October 2010 it was reported by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' that ''Losing my Virginity'' was being adapted into a biopic by

David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...

, who would write, direct and co-produce the film with

Steven Paul Steven Paul (born May 16, 1959) is an American independent filmmaker, actor, and talent manager. He is the chairman, founder and CEO of Crystal Sky Pictures. Life and career Paul was born in New York City. His mother, Dorothy Koster Paul, was ...

References

Bibliography

*
Losing My Virginity
{dead link, date=January 2018, bot=InternetArchiveBot, fix-attempted=yes", ''Virgin Books'', Retrieved on September 14, 2010. 1998 non-fiction books British autobiographies Business books Virgin Group