08/04/2014

Moab is my Washpot- Stephen Fry

Moab is my Washpot- Stephen Fry



Author:


Stephen Fry

Published:


1997

Blurb on the Back:



A number one bestseller in Britain, Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir is the book that his fans everywhere have been waiting for. Since his PBS television debut in the Blackadder series, the American profile of this multitalented writer, actor and comedian has grown steadily, especially in the wake of his title role in the film Wilde, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and his supporting role inA Civil Action.

        
Fry has already given readers a taste of his tumultuous adolescence in his autobiographical first novel, The Liar, and now he reveals the equally tumultuous life that inspired it. Sent to boarding school at the age of seven, he survived beatings, misery, love affairs, carnal violation, expulsion, attempted suicide, criminal conviction and imprisonment to emerge, at the age of eighteen, ready to start over in a world in which he had always felt a stranger. One of very few Cambridge University graduates to have been imprisoned prior to his freshman year, Fry is a brilliantly idiosyncratic character who continues to attract controversy, empathy and real devotion.


Review:


This was read as part of my 2014 reading challenge on goodreads.com.


Is there a man alive who is more eloquent than Stephen Fry? The man is a national treasure. This is his first autobiography and spans his life from birth to his 20th year when he was starting University. The book is both in equal parts funny and brutally honest about his early years. 


He makes no bones about his problems in school both with expulsion and with theft. His subsequent arrest and prison term as well as his honest retelling of his suicide attempt makes for a personal and interesting read. Interspersed are tales of life, love, family and the unique observations that make Stephen so beloved to so many people. It is these tales that make the book hard to put down once started. 


I must admit that I have done his autobiographies back to front as I started with the Fry Chronicles last year but Moab gives a good ground on his pre Fry and Laurie life and if you like Stephen then it is a must read.

For shear enjoyment there is not much better. 

10 out of 10 

Peace 

Deejay.


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