The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry arrived at Cambridge University as a convicted fraudster and thief, an addict, liar, fantasist, and failed suicide, convinced that any moment he would be sent away. Instead, he befriended bright young things like Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie, and he emerged as one of the most promising comic talents in the world.This is the engrossing, hilarious, and utterly compelling story of how the Stephen the world knows (or thinks it knows) found his way. Tales of champagne, love, and conspicuous consumption jostle with insights into Broadway and TV stardom. A feat of trademark wit and verbal brilliance, this is a book unafraid of confronting the chasm that separates celebrity from a young man's personal reality.

Published: (Michael Joseph)

ISBN: 9780718154837

Language: English

Format: Hardcover, 438 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Nonfiction Memoir Biography Autobiography

Reviews

Damiano rated it

Stephen Fry er en fænomenal oplæser og fortæller

Dionysus rated it

Ah, Stephen. A 5 star man, 1-5 star anecdotes with 5 star humour. 5 stars for the veneration of Alan Bennett (55 stars?) and another 5 stars for including stories about him. 1 star for being a relentless twat, but 5 stars for being someone whom I love enough to forgive such a thing. 3 stars overall because there wasn't enough Alan Bennett. No, I jest. It just seemed an awful lot of pages just for 10 or so years. Even if there were chocka full to the brim of, well, EVERYTHING. Full review to follow.

Jessamyn rated it

A quote that's been regurgitated again and again this year is the most arrogant and smug thing I've read this year year, that Stephen Fry is "A stupid persons idea of what an intelligent person looks like". I can't ever recall anyone regarding him with genius status. He's well learned and quite knowledgeable. Someone with a thirst for knowledge and a great memory. Yes, of course that doesn't equate to intelligence, but why be so arrogant about it? There's a lot of Fry Haters out there. I guess it's the inevitable backlash because he's well liked by so many. I'm one of the latter. Anyway - the book. It's good but nothing of any breathtaking depth. It's mostly about the career path of him and his chums. He barely touches on subjects like mental health. I did enjoy the bit of probing he does on personality types such as himself but would have preferred to hear a bit more rather than haring so much about other people. Was surprised to hear he was in prison for stealing and that's not a spoiler, it's the very start of the book but otherwise no major surprises or revelations.To be chalked up along side Mark Kermode, that's one more author who's the perfect narrator for his own audio book. Wouldn't have been right for anyone else to do it.