Book review

More fool me
A memoir by Stephen Fry.

With so many talents; author, actor, script writer, television host, comedian and out spoken public speaker Stephen Fry is well known to most people. His life, to say the least, has been chaotic and this tell all memoir is an eye opener.

He brought up in a normal, loving, middle class English family and yet seemed determined to be in trouble. He was a bright pupil however after several times being stood down by the local school, who were exasperated by his continuing impossible behaviour, finally managed to get himself expelled. His above average intelligence then enabled him to gain a bursary to a well regarded private secondary college. However his behaviour did not improve and eventually he was ejected from here as well. (Many years later he was diagnosed as having a type of bipolar disorder).

After a period of determined private study he attained examination results which led to acceptance at Cambridge University Here he found the Footlights Club and fellow students with the same outrageous tendencies. His comic acting ability was noticed by television talent scouts first appearing in a number of the television comedy shows of the 1980s and ‘90s then teaming up with Hugh Laurie in a highly successful comedy series ‘Fry and Laurie’ and later the Wodehouse’ Jeeves and Wooster tales.

He never looked back, first branching out to include script writing and then to his first novel ,The Liar, which was a best seller. Juggling all his commitments resulted in life became extremely busy.
A friend introduced him to cocaine and finding that an evening’s relaxation on the drug did not interfere with his next day’s work he became an enthusiastic user. A habit which he took ten years to shake off.
The book tells of this along with every imaginable aspect of his most unusual life, all in considerable detail. If you enjoy books about lives of the famous you will enjoy this one.

For me Stephen Fry’s memoir is more an interesting than enjoyable read, which is surprising as he is an excellent writer. At almost 400 page it is a substantial book and this is probably where the problem lies, it’s a bit padded out. I feel that a more ruthless editor would have resulted in a better book.