My rating:

add to my books

Moab Is My Washpot

by Stephen Fry

4.06 · rating details · 3,344 ratings · 353 reviews

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 h...more

Paperback, 376 pages

Published September 6th 2011 by Soho Press (first published May 1st 1997)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Memoir / Biography / Auto-biography

107th out of 1,161 books — 1,028 voters

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Humorous Memoirs and Non-Fiction

36th out of 167 books — 277 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 6,065)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 27, 2008

Trevor rated it

Shelves: biography, literature

In Foucault’s The History of Sexuality there is a chapter where (and I’m simplifying and summarising, possibly far too much) he compares Eastern and Western ways of sex. Basically in the East people are ‘initiated’ into sex – they are taught sex as one might be taught to dance. No one is expected to just know – it is something you need to learn. In the West we don’t bother with that sort of thing. What we do is turn sex into a science. We feel the need to talk endlessly about sex – Kinsy an...moreIn Foucault’s The History of Sexuality there is a chapter where (and I’m simplifying and summarising, possibly far too much) he compares Eastern and Western ways of sex. Basically in the East people are ‘initiated’ into sex – they are taught sex as one might be taught to dance. No one is expected to just know – it is something you need to learn. In the West we don’t bother with that sort of thing. What we do is turn sex into a science. We feel the need to talk endlessly about sex – Kinsy and Hite as much as Freud. And most of all, we do love to confess. There is a sense in which a good autobiography is really little more than a good confession. How we ever stopped all being Catholic is quite beyond me – but I never have understood religion. In short then, in the East they like to dance, in the West we like to get the sex over as quick as we can so we can all head down to the pub to tell our mates.

In a review of another of Fry’s books I wrote at the start of the week and before I had started reading this one I said, “The thing I like most about Fry’s writing is that it is disarmingly honest.” Now, you would have thought I would have been primed for a good dose of honesty here – this being his autobiography. But no, this book was infinitely more honest than I had a right to expect.

I enjoyed this book so much – so much that it may become a Christmas present for mum, hard to say. This takes his life up until he was about 20. He is the last person I could imagine ever being in gaol. The idea of him being a thief is even harder to reconcile.

There is a constant air of foreboding about this book. There are dark, dark thunder clouds – virtually always near enough to be heard, but for the most part still on the horizon. The storms never prove to be quite as horrible as they are in anticipation, but the anticipation is beautifully crafted.

I’ve long believed that we are only the vague acquaintances of our former selves – sometimes not even that. Fry brings this point out forcefully in a poem he wrote at 15 to his 25 year old self – the sell out he knew his 25 year old self would have to become. We are obsessed with the myth of the continuity of our ‘self’ – Fry plays with this idea in a fascinating way in the latter parts of this book.

There is remarkably little sex. I would have expected more, to be honest, but prefer that there is not more. If you believe all homosexuals are rampant sex manics you might be a bit disappointed with this book. Fry is perhaps the best known and best loved homosexual in Britain – or maybe that is Alan Bennett? – anyway, I’d have thought that this book would do as much as any to help dispel the eternal evil that is homophobia. I loved his ‘explanation’ of how he knew he was gay – that he never fantasised about having sex with women, only ever with men. This is about the only way anyone can tell their sexuality, I’d have thought.

People might find the swearing more challenging than the sex, though. There are four letter words that begin with F and even with C and both used repeatedly. Because of the frequent use of the C word I’m in the curious position of being able to buy this book for my mother, but not for Lorena. What a funny world we live in.

I’m particularly fond of people holding forth – and Fry does this throughout the book, and then undercuts it all nicely with typically British self-deprecation.

This was a good autobiography, at times quite amusing and at other times quite painful – a bit like life itself really.
(less)

like 12 likes

· see review

Dec 22, 2008

Rory rated it

Recommends it for: fans of his

Shelves: memoirs-and-bios

There's no denying that Stephen Fry is absurdly smart, and veddy, veddy funny. I've adored him since he was Jeeves to Hugh Laurie's Wooster. He could annotate a shopping list from 1986 and I'd be enthralled. Of course, his early life was full of much more interesting things--private English schools in the 1970s (a couple of which he was asked to leave), a suicide attempt, early explorations of his homosexuality, earnest struggles to find just where his genius might lie.

I was a tiny ...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Jan 23, 2011

Briar Rose rated it

Shelves: audiobooks, humour, memoir

Reading this book was much like listening to an interesting but self-important guest at a dinner party, who buttonholes you at the hors d'oeuvres and talks to you all night on a wide range of subjects. It's funny and endearing when Fry actually tells stories from his childhood, but he frequently goes off on tangents, which mostly involve long opinionated rants about random subjects, which add nothing to the story. For someone who is such a navel-gazer, he also seems strangely to lack self-awaren...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jul 24, 2008

Siria rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography, queer-lit

Meandering, witty, defensive, wildly self-indulgent, honest, conceited and very entertaining, reading Moab is my Washpot is an experience which I must imagine is very akin to sitting down with Stephen Fry and having him talk with and/or at you for a couple of hours about any subject which comes into his head. Fry recounts the first twenty years of his life—his periods at various boarding schools; his struggles with his sexuality; his suicide attempt and his conviction for fraud—with a great deal...more

like 1 like

· see review

Apr 08, 2008

Ruth rated it

· review of another edition

This book wasn't quite what I expected, although I'm not sure exactly what I did expect! It meanders a lot, almost like a Ronnie Corbett armchair sketch - one minute he's telling you about what happened on a certain day during his childhood, and then he starts wandering off, telling you all about his opinions on the subject matter of that day's school lesson, or the way certain people behave. I found it an enjoyable read, and I want to know "what happened next" - the book deals with ...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Jan 09, 2012

Billy rated it

Stephen Fry is a once-in-a-generation intellectual talent that, thank god, dedicated his life to show business rather than government, business, or the academy. Perhaps owing to the TV show Bones (which I have not seen), you're maybe a little more likely to have heard of him in America than a few years ago; you probably have heard of his long-time comedic partner Hugh Laurie, now better known as Gregory House, MD. My first encounter with Stephen was unwitting on my part - turns out he had writ...moreStephen Fry is a once-in-a-generation intellectual talent that, thank god, dedicated his life to show business rather than government, business, or the academy. Perhaps owing to the TV show Bones (which I have not seen), you're maybe a little more likely to have heard of him in America than a few years ago; you probably have heard of his long-time comedic partner Hugh Laurie, now better known as Gregory House, MD. My first encounter with Stephen was unwitting on my part - turns out he had written the book for the updated 'Me and My Girl' that my high school put on as a musical my sophomore year, the jokes of which I found genuinely funny unlike the hee-haw corniness of the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows that were otherwise on the menu. My next encounter was sometime in the early aughts, when one of the Manhattan public television networks (or was it NJN?) for some reason replayed the British series Absolute Power, which I thought was wicked and wonderful, and then later came the genius of 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' and of course Blackadder, followed more recently by his wholly-excusable-for-how-amusing-it-is turn as a game show host for the British panel quiz QI (short for "quite interesting", as you probably guessed). He and Hugh Laurie also played, respectively, Jeeves and Wooster, and Stephen was the titular Oscar in "Wilde." Oh yes, this is supposed to be a book review - Well, turns out Stephen had a semi-rebellious childhood and adolescence, with a penchant for stealing that ultimately earned him prison time; he is known for saying (not frivolously) that boarding school was the best preparation for prison as one could expect. This is a childhood memoir that covers that ground, as well as his recognition of his sexuality, educational development and career aspirations. It's quite an intimate, vulnerable undertaking at times (how many close friends even have you told the story of your very first, um, 'little death'?). Fry is a master and lover of the English language, and knows just when to be serious and when to suddenly interrupt his own flow with a playfully pointless tangent. I don't know if you'd enjoy it that much without some context of appreciating him as an actor/performer, so I'd say check him out in that arena first and if you find yourself charmed then come back here. (less)

· see review

Dec 18, 2011

Dorothea rated it

· review of another edition

I adore Stephen Fry and I enjoyed this book very much. It is of course funny, with some bits I laughed aloud at.

(I also laughed aloud at one of the blurbs on the back cover, which I'm not sure was funny on purpose: "The writing is rhapsodic, intoxicated, and very touching" -- Mail on Sunday, which might have meant to say "intoxicating"...)

I didn't know anything about Fry's childhood and adolescence before I picked up this book, which is about the first twe...moreI adore Stephen Fry and I enjoyed this book very much. It is of course funny, with some bits I laughed aloud at.

(I also laughed aloud at one of the blurbs on the back cover, which I'm not sure was funny on purpose: "The writing is rhapsodic, intoxicated, and very touching" -- Mail on Sunday, which might have meant to say "intoxicating"...)

I didn't know anything about Fry's childhood and adolescence before I picked up this book, which is about the first twenty years of his life. I didn't even know that he came from a wealthy family and went to prep and public schools. So I was surprised to read about his early habits of lying and stealing, which culminated in a spree of credit-card theft when he was 18, for which he was caught and given two years of probation.

I don't think I've ever previously read the autobiography of someone whose criminal activity was an important part of his or her life (although this will change as I want to read John Dean's Blind Ambition!), so it was very interesting to me how Fry described the lying and stealing part of his past self. He's very honest about how it made him feel good to do these things and how wrong he knew and knows that they were.

It seemed clear to me that some of this -- how he felt about his behavior, anyway, not the fact that he did it -- was related to his bipolar disorder (one of the few things I knew about his life before starting the autobiography), but he doesn't discuss this very much at all. Maybe that's because he wasn't diagnosed until much later. I expect he writes more about it in the second volume of his autobiography (strangely titled The Fry Chronicles instead of Over Edom Will I Cast Out My Shoe).

He writes about the end of his teens, from leaving his first public school to applying to be a prep school teacher, very briefly. This feels a bit strange because earlier in the book he had often referred to this period (e.g. "the next time I saw that place I would be running from the law"). I think this is partly because much of this period wasn't very clear to him while he was living it, and perhaps partly because it's painful to dwell on, but mostly that the earlier painful events he has described with far more detail and analysis have given the reader enough understanding of his character to fill in this period without need for more words.(less)

· see review

Oct 30, 2011

John Grinstead rated it

· review of another edition

The first instalment of the Stephen Fry autobiography provides a graphic, if not wholly unsurprising insight into the man (enigma?) who some regard as the People's Polyglot - clearly highly intelligent, with an incisive wit and with an extraordinary vocabulary who is able to effortlessly appeal across class and all ages from the highly accessible offerings of Blackadder and his partnership with Hugh Laurie to the more highbrow quiz shows and travelogs. 'Moab' recounts Fry's early days of prep s...more

· see review

Oct 23, 2011

P J rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

We all know what a clever-clogs Fry is, and I approached this with some caution. In any case, I’m not generally fond of autobiographical work and would not have read this if someone had not handed it to me. Sure enough I spent a lot of the time irritated by him, an irritation not lessened by his description of his defloration by a prefect at Uppingham, which seemed to me insufferably (mmm … that’s almost a Fryism) smugly self-effacing..
But the trouble is that Fry is a very clever man, He i...moreWe all know what a clever-clogs Fry is, and I approached this with some caution. In any case, I’m not generally fond of autobiographical work and would not have read this if someone had not handed it to me. Sure enough I spent a lot of the time irritated by him, an irritation not lessened by his description of his defloration by a prefect at Uppingham, which seemed to me insufferably (mmm … that’s almost a Fryism) smugly self-effacing..
But the trouble is that Fry is a very clever man, He is witty and complex, and well, nice. Asked to leave Uppingham he was sent to the Paston School in North Walsham, a day school - ‘Paston School lived up to all my prejudices, as things always will to the prejudiced’. Ah, yes, I though. As his adventures continued I warmed to him, and his tale, considerably.
I certainly identified with his problems with schools, and I was delighted to learn that we were both remanded in custody in the same detention centre, although my offences were embarringly humdrum in comparison with young Fry’s spree with the stolen credit card (and committed many years earlier).
I’m not particularly stupid: standard measurements consistently place mine (or used to) in the top one per cent of British IQs. But generally though, one of the impressions that I inevitably draw from Moab is my Washtub is that Fry is a lot cleverer than I am – what does the title mean? I cannot entirely put this down to his advantage in being Jewish and homosexual, although it must be pretty much established that particularity commonly inspires outstanding performance. No, Stephen is bloody bright.
Incidentally he makes a nice point about Jewishness. To us goyim, a surname tends to suggest Jewish – Goldstein, Finkler etc. So the offspring of a gentile father and a Jewish mother is seen as Jewish. To Jews, Jewishness is passed through the mother, so Stephen, with a Jewish mother, was Jewish to Jews and not to gentiles. Weird eh? Or is this the sort of play that he is just too fond of – nit-picking and pointless? The sort of that a clever, kindly, but irritating uncle says to baffle us children, while we hope that what he is saying, if we can only work it out, is more interesting than it in fact is.
Well, hell. Yes I had had some reservations. But this is the story of the formative years of a national treasure. One who disarms you with the self-denial of his own intellect, ‘Mathew was no exception to the general view of me. He looked up to me, physically because I was a foot taller, and intellectually because he sincerely believed that I had access to wisdom and knowledge which were denied him.’ Mmm… But it is witty, and chatty and learned and fun. A great read.
And who is so sad, so lacking in their experience of new starts that they have not at some time in their lives felt as Stephen does in the final paragraphs of the book when he sums up himself, part philosopher, part Mr Toad: -
‘Was I exuberant? …..
Go and sin no more? I’m sorry, Mr Cromie, but there are sins out there I haven’t even heard of yet – not even me: clever-clogs, smart-arse, read-it-all, know-it-all, done-it-all me.
You bet I was fucking exuberant.’

(less)

· see review

Aug 04, 2011

Jesse Young rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

· see review

Jul 26, 2011

Jenny Sparrow rated it

"Моав - умывальная чаша моя" - это автобиография, в которой описываются первые 20 лет жизни человека-феномена Стивена Фрая. Тут собраны не только замечательные, красочные описания быта английского поместья середины 20 века, жизни в закрытых школах и даже местах не столь отдаленных, но и многочисленные размышления автора на темы музыки, писательства, образования, комедии, культуры, гомосексуализма и прочих материй, с которыми автор сталкивался в жизни.

К сожалению, я читала не ...more"Моав - умывальная чаша моя" - это автобиография, в которой описываются первые 20 лет жизни человека-феномена Стивена Фрая. Тут собраны не только замечательные, красочные описания быта английского поместья середины 20 века, жизни в закрытых школах и даже местах не столь отдаленных, но и многочисленные размышления автора на темы музыки, писательства, образования, комедии, культуры, гомосексуализма и прочих материй, с которыми автор сталкивался в жизни.

К сожалению, я читала не в оригинале, но даже на переводе видно, как богат, многослоен, уникален язык Фрая. Книга чиатется быстро, легко (хотя некоторые отвлеченные лирические отступления требуют концентрации мозга :) ), приятно. Фрай словно ведет с вами диалог, постепенно разворачивая картину своей бурной молодости и вплетая в узор повествования лирические, порой многостраничные, отступления. Но неизменно возвращается к начатой теме, что создает атмосферу длинного откровенного разговора. Прочитав автобиографию этого человека, я с удивлением заметила, что стала считать его своим очень хорошим знакомым - столькими интимными мыслями и подробностями делится он со своими читателями.

Я никогда прежде не читала автобиографий, и тем более таких захватывающих. Советую книгу и тем, кто уже успел подпасть под обаяние "национальной гордости Британии", и тем, кто о нем слышал только смутно. Удовольствие гарантировано :)(less)

· see review

Nov 30, 2010

Helen (Helena/Nell) rated it

Fry has so much charisma, even on the page, that one preserves a certain reticence. He oozes charm, and therefore the natural response is to turn put an anti-charm cloak. Even so, he got me.

For a start, he's so intensely readable, so easy to read that there's pleasure just in that. And then for me -- well he's my decade, a couple of years younger than me -- and so many of his references were my references, his life is my life.

I even know a bit about the sort of background he...moreFry has so much charisma, even on the page, that one preserves a certain reticence. He oozes charm, and therefore the natural response is to turn put an anti-charm cloak. Even so, he got me.

For a start, he's so intensely readable, so easy to read that there's pleasure just in that. And then for me -- well he's my decade, a couple of years younger than me -- and so many of his references were my references, his life is my life.

I even know a bit about the sort of background he thrived in, the whole public school thing, because although I didn't go to one, I did grow up in a private primary school that prepared wee boys for the Common Entrance exam. Later I even tutored one or two myself.

I like the way he stops and examines things minutely -- like the whole corporal punishment thing, for example. His argument is really interesting, the idea that when a thing is 'normal' -- i.e. everybody is doing it, it can be less damaging somehow. And he's good on sex, really. And he's enormously clever at creating the sense that he's actually conducting a conversation with you, and with himself, and that he's worrying away at stuff until he works it through. Sometimes you even get the sense that you just SAID something to which he's obviously replying.

I wouldn't want to be Stephen Fry. Not ever. He couldn't help being a scene stealer throughout his childhood, and he's still doing it. His public persona is who he is. The honesty about his own impulse to steal -- that thing which must have been a product of acute unhappiness -- even that becomes a disclosure which is part of the personal drama. It must be so difficult to take off your clothes in public. And then so difficult, if you're Stephen Fry, not to.

He talks about how much he still hates not being able to sing, because it means not being able to join in. That took me back to a lovely little film -- Peter's Friends -- in which Fry plays the central role. My favourite scene, which moves me to tears even to think about it, is the bit where the entire cast assembles round the piano and sings. And Imelda Staunton turns out to have such a beautiful voice -- and the whole point of the scene, as I remember it, is the way the singing lifts him, the way Peter's friends are a kind of glory of which he is a part, though he isn't partnered. It's almost a rejoinder to the bits in this book about not being able to join in.

I must send for that film on DVD and watch it again.(less)

· see review

Apr 29, 2010

AdultNonFiction Teton County Library rated it

Shelves: biography, humor

TCL Call #: BIO Fry

Madeleine - 4 stars
I picked up this book after watching Craig Furgeson host the Late Late show. He changed his format when he had Stephen Fry on - dedicating the entire hour to him and having no studio audience. The end result was a rapid fire, quick-witted and simultaneously funny and intellegent discussion that gamboled all over the place.
This autobiography has the same qualities. Fry is more famous in England where he is known for his acting and his ...more

· see review

Mar 19, 2010

Madeleine rated it

Shelves: non-fictions-ok

TCL Call #: BIO Fry

I picked up this book after watching Craig Furgeson host the Late Late show. He changed his format when he had Stephen Fry on - dedicating the entire hour to him and having no studio audience. The end result was a rapid fire, quick-witted and simultaneously funny and intellegent discussion that gamboled all over the place.
This autobiography has the same qualities. Fry is more famous in England where he is known for his acting and his time with Blackadder....more

· see review

Feb 27, 2010

Raj rated it

Shelves: biography, autobiography

I wondered for a lot of this book why it seemed so familiar before it dawned on me: it looks like Fry plundered large parts of his own life for his novel The Liar. In fact, he did it so well, you almost wonder why he bothered with this autobiography. Although it's as well written and full of the wonder of language as you would expect from Fry, much of it comes across as pretentious and somewhat self-pitying, or rather, pitying his younger self, since this book covers the first 20 or so years of ...more

· see review

Jan 29, 2010

Sean Randall rated it

As I grew up, Stephen Fry was the witty panelist on radio programmes, a voice of documentaries and later, of course, the voice of the Harry Potter books. his play - with words, with accents, with intonation and inflection was something I found remarkably adult, as an impressionable teen. It seems to logically follow that the same distinction should be applied to his pursuit of trivia:

"The aural replication of milk delivery is clearly a common (if evolutionarily bewildering) gi...moreAs I grew up, Stephen Fry was the witty panelist on radio programmes, a voice of documentaries and later, of course, the voice of the Harry Potter books. his play - with words, with accents, with intonation and inflection was something I found remarkably adult, as an impressionable teen. It seems to logically follow that the same distinction should be applied to his pursuit of trivia:

"The aural replication of milk delivery is clearly a common (if evolutionarily bewildering) gift amongst the domesticated mynahs of the West Country and a phenomenon into which more research cries out to be done."

Having read a rather dry and encyclopedic page on Fry, I knew about his public shame - or at least knew of it sufficiently to not be surprised by it in this book. But related here is far more than that: problems of a more mundane nature, for instance.

"So. Your friend, he is saying Hit it, bitch... and next music is starting and you must
be singing? Yes?"

the hypnotist session fascinated me, as I suspect it would anyone who's never had cause to use such methods themselves. And there's a lot of sexual content, of course - not in substance but in theme, as it were; we get these marvelous peeks into the things that flow behind his outlook.

"It involved some of the things I loved best: early mornings, the sound of my own voice, efficient service and a hint of eroticism."

I'm not a big reader of non-fiction, as a rule. Generally, what people have to say about themselves is of little interest to me; not, at least, when it's published en-mass. Of course there are some people, I suppose they're almost childhood heroes,of a sort (a category into which Fry fits perfectly), where the rule fails. But this work was not just of Fry, it was of some of the beliefs of Fry.

"A culture that demands people apologise for something that is not their fault: that is as good a definition of a tyranny as I can think of. "

Bravo, and all that.

I will refrain from popping any more morsels in. there were many more I could have, and passages throughout that made me pause - not to denote an interesting quotation but just to think. Intellectually, I understood that Fry's seminal years hadn't been a walk in the park, but as is the wont of a young life, I hadn't stopped to even consider the particulars. Normal is as one sees it: one blind from birth does not question a lack of site - one used to seeing a celebrity in a position of top-of-the-worldlyness does not ask how he came to be there. Not initially, at least. I'd wanted to read this book for a while, now seemed opportune.

I can't say it's changed my views on the man, either. I still follow him on Twitter, read his blog posts with the interest anyone might show, and keep an ear out for him on the radio (or should I say wireless). Mixed in with all the humourous asides and anecdotes of a youth of a different generation, the thing I found most remarkable about this volume was the bravery. Not of coming clean, because the facts were already out there for anyone to see. But nobody is as harsh a critic as oneself, and Stephen Fry, in this work, is as forthright, as open and as utterly frank as anyone can ask of a man. For that, I applaud him. For the honesty, the attempt at explanation, the chance to glimpse into something that ninety-nine of a hundred men would rather forget and bury, I salute him. it is, I firmly believe, an unparalleled act of bravery, of manliness - even of heroism. To throw out ones persona into the world in such a vibrant, heartfelt way - the good, the bad and the ugly included - that is now what Stephen Fry means to me.(less)

· see review

Mar 03, 2011

Debbie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography

This book with the wonderfully obscure title is Stephen Fry's account of the early years in his life, from childhood until just before he entered Cambridge University.

I will confess that I am a huge fan of Stephen Fry, but not the type of fan to go stalking their prey on the internet, so I knew virtually nothing about his life outside of TV shows and books. This book then was a revelation in many ways. What a tempestuous youth he lived through - I can imagine an army of psychologists...more

· see review

Feb 23, 2011

wrench rated it

· review of another edition

So I really liked this book.
Um, I think it's definitely worth reading especially if you're a fan of Stephen Fry.
A few problematic things I'd like to flag, just off the top of my head because I don't have the book anymore (damn library always wanting its books back), but anyway.

So the main thing I can think of (and will probably add more later)is the way he talks about accessibility to queer literature.
I don't know the exact line, but he says something like nowadays ...more

· see review

Dec 21, 2010

Greg added it

Shelves: autobiographies

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

· see review

Sep 04, 2007

Maria rated it

Recommends it for: GLBT, Stephen Fry fans, people who aren't Stephen Fry fans yet, ex-convicts, and everyone else

Shelves: nonfiction, glbt

This is definitely a book I'd take to a desert island. Stephen Fry's writing about his pre-university life is touching, funny, sad, and indescribably brilliant. It's also a fascinating glimpse into English public school life in the late 1950-early 1960s. I think my favourite parts, though, are his little asides on music, literature, and history. The bit about his relationship with music is, to me, some of the most memorable writing I've had the pleasure of knowing.

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 30, 2012

Kirsten rated it

· review of another edition

Tiddly tiddly um-pum-pum, bum. Bum, poo and rudies. This autobiography of the first twenty years of Stephen Fry's life is crammed full of boarding school, teachers, the awakening buds of first homosexual frottage, and the screamingly frustrating boundaries imposed on a young, freakishly intelligent aesthete 'à fleur de peau'. However, given that this is an autobiography rather than a piece of fiction, Fry had little choice (although this does beg the question as to why then his fiction is often ...more

· see review

Oct 31, 2011

Sofia rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Posted on my book blog.

I am ambivalent about this book. On one hand it is an extremely well-written account of Mr. Fry's early life and old-style English education, that manages to be both extremely funny and tragic in its sincerity. On the other hand, the author goes off on tangents a lot, and his love for words meant that his writing was either beautiful and poignant or rather painful to read.

Still, I don't think I've ever seen such an honest and spot-on account of what...more

· see review

Dec 12, 2010

Laurel Carmichael rated it

In this book Stephen Fry is at his absolute best. Witty, insightful, incredibly intelligent, personable, and, as other reviewers have mentioned, disarmingly honest. The book meanders, yes, but this never detracts from the quality of the book- rather, serves to provide incredible insight into so many important issues. Fry has an amazing sense of self-understanding and while, at some stages of the book I found his actions shocking, and quite disconcerting, I found that I could relate exactly to ma...more

· see review

Aug 30, 2009

Bec is currently reading it

I just admire Stephen Fry so much. It's easy to assume things, to assume that because of his intelligence, that he must be arrogant, and very egotistic. But he's far from it, and reading his words, I can just hear him speaking them. It's very sad in part, from what I've read so far, but a very good read. It does make me giggle in part, especially when he explained his like for italic handwriting. Obviously for a 16 year old like me, there are parts where he drifts off into explanations which ref...more

like 1 like

· see review

Dec 27, 2011

Laura Eydmann rated it

I started the year with Stephen Fry and I nearly ended the year with him too! I picked this up from a second hand bookshop after I enjoyed the Fry Chronicles. I should have flown through this as I really didn’t want to put it down, but Fry’s writing is so beautiful that I wanted to savour the words, and found it very difficult to read quickly! It was however, addictive.

This book tells the story of his life from the age of 0-20. It’s basically his schooldays, and whilst there is quite a...more

· see review

Sep 22, 2011

Tony Johnston rated it

I would find it tough to fully explain why I dislike this book because to do so would require a long essay and frankly, it doesn't deserve that.

In summary, I am very disappointed. Like a lot of people, I had got used to Stephen Fry the "national treasure" and I looked forward to understanding and appreciating a little more of this enigma. The man with millions of Twitter followers.

The problem is, I ended up wishing I hadn't bothered.

On the one hand...moreI would find it tough to fully explain why I dislike this book because to do so would require a long essay and frankly, it doesn't deserve that.

In summary, I am very disappointed. Like a lot of people, I had got used to Stephen Fry the "national treasure" and I looked forward to understanding and appreciating a little more of this enigma. The man with millions of Twitter followers.

The problem is, I ended up wishing I hadn't bothered.

On the one hand I found myself disliking the author in a way I hadn't anticipated. This in itself is not a reason to dislike a book although in the case of an autobiography it doesn't help.

Clearly you should judge his character for yourself; his use (and abuse) of privilege, his dishonesty (not just in terms of thieving), his problems with bipolar disorder and his own achievements in TV and other areas are all things that are matters of personal opinion. All I will say is that this book has somewhat spoiled my enjoyment of his fantastic portrayal of the Jeeves character and that is a crime the author himself might appreciate. I'll get over it.

For the book itself, I found the writing variable. Sometimes there are glimpses of good prose and you kid yourself that this man is actually living up to the hype. However, the sum of the parts left me feeling that this is a hollow book written by a hollow man.

It seems to me that he justifies everything by clouding your mind with words. In between the descriptions of his amazingly well appointed schools are passionate apologies, heartfelt splurges of polemic and hints of mental eccentricity.

I think most of this is an act. He dismisses his own intelligence but then spends a lot of effort creating the impression that he is a victim of his own superlative brain and character. This is privileged man who uses words and quotations to create an aura of erudition around himself when on close inspection there is little to justify this view.

"Oh I am not so very bright and even if I were, I wouldn't care" said the dull boy to the judge. Sure.

Clearing away this cloud, I realised that I found his thoughts overblown and poorly presented. About a third of the way in I remembered that I had read "The Liar" and that it was, frankly, trash. Here, underneath the excessive verbiage and constant reference to his extensive literary knowledge, his own thoughts come through as a mishmash of gimcrack (his word) ideas, self-aggrandising and egotistical nonsense covered at appropriate times by the aforementioned passionate apologies.

Finally, it occurred to me that this book tells us a lot about our society. Surface over substance. We see Stephen Fry the genius say a few smart things on TV and ergo he is amazingly talented in the eyes of the people.

We don't look underneath; we tag, we label, we assume.(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Feb 08, 2010

Hollis rated it

Shelves: biography

A funny and sometimes disturbing autobiography. My favourite bit was probably this:

''This was in the days before video cassettes and it was my job to order reels of film from Rank and show them in the assembly hall of the college. I suppose that's why I was chosen to represent the students for the Great Exorcist Debate. I remember the screening well. I had already managed to see the film twice before in London, so it hardly came as a surprise. The expression on Councillor H.K. R...more

· see review

Apr 22, 2011

Adrian Balston rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who like biography, Stephen Fry and humour

Shelves: favourites, biography-autobiography

Well. Well, well, well well, well. How to start reviewing this wonderful book by Mr Fry? It is, for those who don't already know, an autobiography of his childhood and adolescence up to his very early twenties and his acceptance into Cambridge. As he puts it himself, though, it is his chance to 'luxuriate in the bath of self-revelation, self-curiosity, apology, revenge, bafflement, vanity and egoism that goes under the name Autobiography' (sic.)

It is unusual for me to enjoy a biograp...moreWell. Well, well, well well, well. How to start reviewing this wonderful book by Mr Fry? It is, for those who don't already know, an autobiography of his childhood and adolescence up to his very early twenties and his acceptance into Cambridge. As he puts it himself, though, it is his chance to 'luxuriate in the bath of self-revelation, self-curiosity, apology, revenge, bafflement, vanity and egoism that goes under the name Autobiography' (sic.)

It is unusual for me to enjoy a biography of anyone's early years (obvious exceptions to this would perhaps include Shirley Temple or piano prodigy Lang Lang). Usually I'll be champing at the bit to reach the section of a life where they have been most in the public eye. I am no admirer of celebrity, not one bit, but I am interested in the hows and whys of a creative/productive/emotional/intelligent person's life. It is also one of the more pleasant aspects of autobiography/biography when one can read the description of an event that one has knowledge of - the making of a favourite film, the writing of a much-loved book...

I have long admired Stephen Fry as an intellect and actor and, as this book proves, he displays all of the qualities listed above. Since the book ends with his entrance into university it is clearly the case that his limelight years are not covered. Thanks to the witty, intelligent, thoroughly engaging and, above all, honest style of Moab is My Washpot I was hooked from the very start and, rather than skimming through to the juicier sections, found myself giving undivided attention to every anecdote, metaphor, simile, description, conversation, paragraph, sentence, word, comma and full stop. I was particularly enraptured by his thoughts and reminiscences on public school life, from the absurdities of the English language to his views on sport and his great (belated) admiration for teachers and tutors. I attended comprehensive school myself but it seems that, despite the English predilection for noting class differences, the gulf between state-run and privately-run educational institutions is not that big. There were several episodes and attitudes described by Fry that I could find direct analogues for in my own experience. I will not elaborate on those here, but, suffice to say, this shared experience endeared me to Stephen Fry and to his book all the more.

In life itself Stephen Fry and I have followed very different paths: he is very middle-class, my background is working-class; he was difficult and rebellious where I have always toed the line (all be it, at times, grudgingly). In spite of these differences we both have been and are, it seems, eternal strugglers against our own natures and against our own, largely self-made, circumstances. No great drama in this, just the way some people are wired. These, and other aspects revealed in the book are also responsible for my love of it and of its author. In short Moab is My Washpot has so instantly become one of my favourite books because, not only does it reveal something of a person I have long admired, it reveals much about my own nature, understanding of and approach to this madness we call life. Surely this is a mark of all great literature.

Moab is My Washpot would not be suitable for all readers. Its frankness and unswerving commitment to lay bare all of the emotions, actions and consequences of Fry's most tumultuous years will leave some readers quite distressed, I should imagine. While the content of the book does not quite pitch the reader into the depths of despair - largely thanks to the ever-present humour and extreme self-awareness of the author - it can at times be mildly harrowing (if that isn't an oxymoron). The prose can at times betray much anger and Fry also likes a good swear (none do it better than he). Again, some readers may find this objectionable. The one thing to note and which should allay any hesitancy in reading this incredible book is that the whole enterprise is undertaken with such humour, affability and panache that its charm, just like the author's charm, is irresistible. To corrupt the quote I gave in the introduction to this review, it is the reader's chance to 'luxuriate in the bath of self-revelation, self-curiosity, apology, revenge, bafflement, vanity and egoism that goes under the name' Moab is My Washpot.(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 21, 2011

Sam rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography

Witty, charming, over-the-top, very colourful and brutally honest is the only way you can describe this autobiography covering the first troubled, chaotic and indulgent twenty years of Stephen's life. He is completely honest throughout, showing that even though at times he can be a complete and utter arse, he can be man enough to admit he can be a complete and utter arse. His style of writing and frequent diversions are as witty and entertaining as the man himself and he writes so well you lit...more

· see review

Jan 25, 2012

Elin rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: autobiographies

This book is an absolute joy to read. The life he has lived is almost as astonishing as his ability to remember it all. Many laughs, many almost-cries (blessing or a curse, I don't know, but I rarely cry), countless "ohh"'s and "aww"'s. More as a safe keeping for my own sake, I will quote my favourite parts below.

(view spoiler)...moreThis book is an absolute joy to read. The life he has lived is almost as astonishing as his ability to remember it all. Many laughs, many almost-cries (blessing or a curse, I don't know, but I rarely cry), countless "ohh"'s and "aww"'s. More as a safe keeping for my own sake, I will quote my favourite parts below.

(view spoiler)(less)

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 202 203 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (15)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

195 users

Biography

146 users

Biography > Autobiography

69 users

Autobiography > Memoir

48 users

Humor

24 users

Humor > Comedy

12 users

Humor > Funny

12 users

Glbt

9 users

European Literature > British Literature

9 users

Glbt > Gay

6 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Stephen Fry

Stephen John Fry is an English comedian, writer, actor, humourist, novelist, poet, columnist, filmmaker, television personality and technophile. As one half of the Fry and Laurie double act with his comedy partner, Hugh Laurie, he has appeared in A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. He is also famous for his roles in Blackadder and Wilde, and as the host of QI. In addition to writing fo...more

More about Stephen Fry...

Books by Stephen Fry

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Moab Is My Washpot

4 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Moab Is My Washpot

“Choking with dry tears and raging, raging, raging at the absolute indifference of nature and the world to the death of love, the death of hope and the death of beauty, I remember sitting on the end of my bed, collecting these pills and capsules together and wondering why, why when I felt I had so much to offer, so much love, such outpourings of love and energy to spend on the world, I was incapable of being offered love, giving it or summoning the energy with which I knew I could transform myself and everything around me.” — 137 people liked it

“It's not all bad. Heightened self-consciousness, apartness, an inability to join in, physical shame and self-loathing—they are not all bad. Those devils have been my angels. Without them I would never have disappeared into language, literature, the mind, laughter and all the mad intensities that made and unmade me.” — 97 people liked it

More quotes…

Groups That Shelved Moab Is My Washpot

Russian Bookworms Society

10 members

last activity Jan 15, 2012 05:40am

shelf: to-read

title link	preview: Moab Is My Washpot
avg rating	preview: Moab Is My Washpot Goodreads rating: 4.06 (3344 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66857.Moab_Is_My_Washpot?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327963490m/66857.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66857.Moab_Is_My_Washpot?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Moab Is My Washpot by Stephen Fry[/url]

Moab Is My Washpot

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website