Stephen Fry is a British actor. He played Oscar Wilde in Wilde. Fans of British television will know him as the butler Jeeves in Jeeves & Wooster (Hugh Laurie, who now plays the title character in Fox's House, played Wooster). Years ago, Fry and Laurie had a comedy show called A Bit of Fry and Laurie.
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This book tells of Fry's early years, starting when he is still living at home and attend a school in his village. At seven, his family sends him off to a boarding school, which his older brother also attends. This book describes how he became adjusted to school, his work there, his friendships, his tries at sports, his terrible attempts to sing, etc. One very funny part of the book revolves around his learning to swim. Others deal with his many schoolboy escapes. A near genius, Fry tormented the headmaster at his school, who recognized his talent but was exasperated by his bad behavior.
Fry is quite open in this book talking about his first llove and homosexual experiences. Towards the end of the book, Fry will be expelled from school. Eventually he will commit a crime for which he goes to prison. He is one of the only Cambridge University graduates to have gone to prison before enrolling.
The review of this Book prepared by Ann Gaines
A personal, honest yet wittily written account of Stephen Fry's early to early middle-aged years, in which he reflects on his rises and falls in his lifetime, including his suicide attempt, his expulsion from school, and his arrest for theft. He also draws parallels between this and his semi-autobiographical novel "The Liar"
The review of this Book prepared by S J Fletcher
Has there ever been a coming-of-age story more gracefully and honestly told than Stephen Fry's "Moab is My Washpot"?
British actor/comedian/author/playwright Stephen Fry gives his lucky readers a peek inside his early years, full of well-drawn "characters" and a painfully honest look into the things running through the mind of a not so average young man. From his first days at a very British (rugby and discipline) public (private) school, as a very small boy, to his later teen years (stealing credit cards and taking someone else's identity), Fry's early autobiography is an emotional, funny, witty, clever, tender, dark and light account.
If you've read other books by Fry and not this, by all means do so ... it gives greater clarity to his other works. If you haven't read any Fry at all, START WITH THIS ONE!
I loved it!
The review of this Book prepared by Lauran Burrell
The British actor's odd 1997 autobiography takes him only up to the age of 18. We are treated to life in the private ("public" in England") school he attended, his schoolboy crushes, his alienation from his parents and milieu, and the crimes for which he was convicted in his late teens. In almost every way, this boy showed little or no promise, yet this engaging book is obviously the product of a warm, sensitive, and charming personality.
The review of this Book prepared by David Loftus
