Moab Is My Washpot
by Stephen Fry
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans
Stephen Fry's autobiography is fascinating. Before he was accepted to Cambridge--the point at which the book ends--he lied and stole his way through life, a fact which is actually quite hard to reconcile with the image I had of him previously. Fry goes to great pains to draw attention to the fact that, despite being respected and loved by so many fans, he is very human and very flawed. "Fucked up" is the term used, actually, and I don't think anyone could disagree with this diagnosis a...more
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Read in April, 2008
In which Stephen Fry gives a frank and funny recounting of the first twenty years of his life. Dude’s got balls, man: I could never be this honest about myself or my life. And I’m saying that as someone who has not emerged semi-intact from the truly insane-sounding English public school system. It really is an entirely different world, and Fry makes for a straightforward, yet sensitive, guide. Everything he says about not fitting in just makes me ache, especially his discussion about ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I have a bad habit of reading books so fast, that even though I know I really enjoyed them and was deeply moved several times, I find it hard to remember anything specific about them when I've finished. This is what happened with Moab is my Washpot (I still have no idea what the title means), and I'm looking forward to reading it again, and now I know what happens, being able to linger on the details and language.
This is about the first 20 years of Stephen Fry's life, about his family, goin...more
This is about the first 20 years of Stephen Fry's life, about his family, goin...more
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Read in July, 2008
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&mdas...more
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recommends it for:
anyone n their granny
I proper loved this. It's a departure for me as to listen to spoken word as I usually read books but come on? Fry's autobiography as read by him.Legend.I found myself nodding in agreement about his not fitting in at school, and his dislike of games although being female mine were for rather different reasons, also I loved his little asides on his likes and whatnot, that bit about a cyborg from the planet aaak pausing in his killing spree on hearing hugh laurie describing the norfolk countryside...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Fellow Dandies and Fops
If you're already familiar with Stephen Fry, I would recommend this book whole-heartedly. If you have no idea yet who Stephen Fry is, my suggestion is to read The Liar before embarking on this journey. This is his memoir as an English public schoolboy in the 1960s-1970s, documenting his wild younger years and eventual imprisonment in a hilarious, snarky, and thoroughly Fryesque manner. The first part is a bit slow, which is the only reason why I didn't give it five stars (which it actuall...more
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Read in June, 2008
Normally autobiographies are not top of my reading list, or anywhere around the middle or bottom either for that matter. However, I am rather fond of Stephen Fry - television presenter / actor so I picked this up before jumping on a plane back from the UK to LA. That was two months ago and I have finally finished it. That should reflect more on my ability to sit down and read a good book than the book itself.
Fry mostly addresses his childhood and teen years which were largely spent at public ...more
Fry mostly addresses his childhood and teen years which were largely spent at public ...more
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recommends it for:
fans of P.G. Wodehouse, anglophiles, and Black Adder fans.
I love Stephen Fry. He has an amazing command of the language, and he is also the voice of my alarm clock (true story).
This is Fry's first memoir (no others have been published, but I can hope). It chronicles his boyhood up to his late teens/early twenties, or whenever it was that he got out of jail (I KNOW).
It's an interesting read, though it's much too short. I certainly learned a lot about British boys' boarding schools, maybe too much, in fact. Boys are weird.
Fry eventually w...more
This is Fry's first memoir (no others have been published, but I can hope). It chronicles his boyhood up to his late teens/early twenties, or whenever it was that he got out of jail (I KNOW).
It's an interesting read, though it's much too short. I certainly learned a lot about British boys' boarding schools, maybe too much, in fact. Boys are weird.
Fry eventually w...more
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Only on Chapter 3 but I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Fry is incredibly, jaw droppingly bright but there is a real kindness about him. He is very frank in this autobiography. His descriptions of his feelings of being different as a child ring true to anyone who ever felt like they didn't fit in.
I was nodding my head in agreement at his description of being a poor swimmer among strong swimmers as a child. Basically, when the instructor deemed you a strong swimmer you could move from blue ...more
I was nodding my head in agreement at his description of being a poor swimmer among strong swimmers as a child. Basically, when the instructor deemed you a strong swimmer you could move from blue ...more
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Read in April, 2008
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
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It's charmingly written and everything, but - and I hate to say it - Fry had a really boring childhood. The story becomes much more interesting at young adult Fry's arrest for credit card fraud and shoplifting, which is unfortunately where the book ends.
Given his struggles to get into Cambridge, his friendships with fellow comedians and actors developed at college and his time spent writing and performing alternative comedy on British television AND portraying a pivotal literary chara...more
Given his struggles to get into Cambridge, his friendships with fellow comedians and actors developed at college and his time spent writing and performing alternative comedy on British television AND portraying a pivotal literary chara...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Anglophiles, Fry & Laurie fans
This was just okay - I expected much much better from Fry. He is the King of Tangents (which drives me crazy - I'm too linear), and he's waaaaay too defensive about just about everything. He'll spend pages explaining why there's really nothing wrong with homosexuality and so there, and then turn around and spend pages on why he's covering up someone's identity so everyone doesn't think they're queer...... I mean, I understand *why*, but he just goes on too long about it, which turns it into a...more
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It's probably the most sincere book I've ever read. Funny, but I discovered that Stephen's childhood and adolescence resemble mine in many ways, though he lived in a large house in England and studied in a public school, and I - well, quite the opposite :) I mean, all this "self-conscious self-consciousness" and other things that make the life of teenagers so difficult - these must be universal. I was amazed how clever the man is, how many things he knows, and how tender and loving he ...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys original autobiographies or moving stories told with intelligence.
This is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable books I have ever read, and is without question Fry's greatest literary accomplishment. Not only is the narrative fiery, beautifully-sentimental, utterly refreshing, exhaustingly funny, and astoundingly intelligent, the story itself is phenomenal. As Fry writes, his 'early life was at one and the same time so common as to be unremarkable, and so strange as to be the stuff of fiction.'
I will no doubt read this book again many times, for the pure p...more
I will no doubt read this book again many times, for the pure p...more
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Read in September, 1997
recommends it for:
anyone who loves a good school story, stories about the fervour of youth, and stephen fry
I've just re-read this book- finished it just this afternoon, in fact. Funnily enough, in the afterword Stephen writes that in the coming weekend he'll be turning 40. In *this* coming weekend, he'll be turning 50!
Ten years on, this is still by far the most moving book he has written.
He signed my copy of The Stars' Tennis Balls (if that's the British title or not I can't remember), with a note that described the scarf I was wearging as 'scrumptious'. Oh Stephen Fry, YOU are scrumptious....more
Ten years on, this is still by far the most moving book he has written.
He signed my copy of The Stars' Tennis Balls (if that's the British title or not I can't remember), with a note that described the scarf I was wearging as 'scrumptious'. Oh Stephen Fry, YOU are scrumptious....more
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I'm only 62 pages into this, Stephen Fry's autobiography, but have probably laughed aloud several dozen times. His narrative meanders as though he is sitting next to you in a pub telling you his life's story, rather than having outlined it all neatly like a dissertation. His descriptions of boarding school remind me a bit of Roald Dahl's in Boy, though it may just be that I'm not that personally acquainted with the life of the British schoolboy. More's the pity.
Full review later.
Full review later.
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Read in March, 2005
recommends it for:
GLBT, Stephen Fry fans, people who aren't Stephen Fry fans yet, ex-convicts, and everyone else
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.
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Read in February, 2008
This book is artsy, self-indulgent, conceited, and uproariously funny. It's to be held up as an example to all those pratty hipster books like Prague. It manages the balance between dreadful, teenagerish "individualism" and funny moral insight with great delicacy. And having read it, it made spotting Stephen Fry's tiny role in A Fish Called Wanda during a viewing the following week all the more hilarious.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
What a wonderful book! I had never heard of Fry until I stumbled across a snippet from this book somewhere and took a flyer on it. He offers extraordinary insight with such ease and fluency and a wicked sense of humor, I really can't think of another book to compare it too. I found myself folding down page after page to remember quotes and funny passages and what not. Highly recommended.
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Read in March, 2008
Everything I wanted and expected from the story of the first part of the life of Mr Fry.
He doesn't boast, he doesn't brag, he doesn't even tell a particularly wild tale. But he tells it well and warmly. He invites you to sit for a few gentle hours and hear his story.
I particularly love the way you learn from Stephen without ever feeling like you are being taught.
He doesn't boast, he doesn't brag, he doesn't even tell a particularly wild tale. But he tells it well and warmly. He invites you to sit for a few gentle hours and hear his story.
I particularly love the way you learn from Stephen without ever feeling like you are being taught.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.07 (356 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.07 (279 ratings) number of reviews: 54popular shelves
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quote
"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."
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