Last Christmas I bought my sister C Stephen Fry's autobiography, 'Moab is my Washpot' (either haven't a clue what the title means or can't remember if it was mentioned in the book). In typical fashion she digested it in about 45 minutes, then stuffed it into a shelf somewhere to gather dust. I'm not a very big reader, and am definitely not a fan of non-fiction. Even 'The God Delusion' didn't stir me, a book many called 'unputdownable' and one I thought would be really fascinating, but I didn't even reach the halfway mark. So when I picked up 'Moab is my Washpot' it was because of vague interest in 'that guy off QI' rather than a belief that the story of his life would get through the fifty page test.
But I couldn't put it down. Fry writes extremely well and has a great sense of humour, always nudging the book's pace along in the same way you might do if you were having a very leisurely conversation with an old friend, probably after a few drinks though. His complete honesty when talking about himself is evident because after reading it you feel as if you've known him as a real person rather than as a t.v personality or general funny-man, and you mentally laugh and cry at all the right moments. And it doesn't hurt that his life makes for an extremely compelling story. But I wont ruin the plot on you.
Reading the book gave me a way stronger interest in the great man that is Stephen Fry, and by now I've seen loads of his comedy work for t.v, and his various documentaries, which are always informative, frank and excellently put-together, and I've just, right this very moment, found out that he has his own blog (...here I take a break to read his blog...) which on first reading isn't what I'd hoped* when I initially saw that he had his own blog and nearly fell off my chair; but it's great nonetheless.
*never meet your heroes.
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