Why do we read memoirs? For me, part of the appeal is getting a glimpse into the life of someone who means something to me. But I wonder if it isn’t also that I’m hoping they can give me some kind of insight into my own life. I’m not sure how much any of us would suppose we have in common with a movie star, a middle-aged comedian or an English prince. And yet, I find that these three memoirs offer not just great reads, but rich insight into life. I first encountered the British comedian Bob Mortimer on the British celebrity game show “Would I Lie to You?” Mortimer was one of six celebrities asked to read from cards scenarios that may or may not have actually happened to them, and to convince the other celebrities that in fact they had. On this particular episode, he claimed that he always cracked an egg in the bath. It’s a ridiculous idea, and yet over the course of about 10 minutes, Mortimer wove a delightfully insane tale that absolutely won over the contestants and audience. A long-time fixture on the British TV and comedy scene, known in particular for his absurdist brand of humor — think a weirder Monty Python — Mortimer had to have sudden open-heart surgery 10 years ago, and it completely changed his life. In “And Away…” he moves back and forth between his heart event and what followed, and his life beforehand. As demonstrated by his storytelling ability, he has a tremendous eye for detail. But here he also shows a way with words that is somehow simultaneously poetic and silly. “I am fifty-six years old,” he writes of the day his heart problems started. “My life is trundling along like a podgy golden retriever being dragged along the pavement by an indifferent owner.” Of one of his classmates on the school football team he writes that he was “built like a crocodile with horse’s legs.” Mortimer’s book is filled with laugh-out-loud stories, like the time he dared a friend to walk over to Brad Pitt to ask whether he knew how many murders there were in his film “Se7en.” Or the time he had the chance to meet Sinéad O’Connor — “All the boys I was with were in quiet disbelief about how beautiful she was in the flesh” — and how he completely ruined the moment: “I fell to pieces in the face of her radiance and blurted out, ‘Hi, Sinéad, do you have a local shop near where you live?’ She politely answered ‘Yes,’ and then turned away. It still hurts to think of it.” Americans may know Mortimer from his beautiful PBS series “Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing,” in which he and fellow British comedian Paul Whitehouse fish various rivers of the United Kingdom and talk about getting older. There’s a similar sweetness in the book, an innocence and deep kindness that radiates from Mortimer. “And Away…” is the kind of memoir that makes you grateful to have found it, a happy reminder of the many good people there are in the world.