Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

...are the key moments of Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry's seductively readable chronicle of his first 20 years. Or, more precisely, the 12 years between leaving for preparatory school at the age of eight, and his departure to another prep school, this time as a junior master. Like many others, I admire Stephen Fry. My favourite comedy has always been that which delights in the richness and absurdity of the English language. And that is where Fry excels. ...
...I had still not read Moab Is My Washpot. Let this review be my penance. Fry proves his skill as a writer from the very first pages. He dispenses with the traditional tedious preamble about the birthplaces of great-grandparents. Instead he plunges straight into a pivotal episode from his childhood. In just a few pages he has fixed his young self within family, social class and character. And all in an account of a few minutes in a stationary railway ...

Silverback 05.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

...all things dirty and bad. Moab was a nation which found displeasure with God because of "her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart." Oddly enough, Fry never makes a reference to the phrase in the book or provides any explanation to his choice – it is for the reader to draw their own assumptions or to google it as I did. In an interview with the Evening Standard Fry glibly states, “If you knew the ...
...his first love. Some of Moab is my Washpot is apparently a non-fiction version of The Liar (a novel also written by Fry) acknowledged by Fry in Moab. As I haven’t yet read The Liar, I can neither confirm nor deny this. What I particularly liked where the little gems that came out now and again like how Fry began his love for the character of Jeeves and the writing of P G Woodhouse, about his ancestry and his maternal grandfather. Sandwiched in the ...

MAFARRIMOND 12.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

Having read the book, I still only have a vague idea of what on earth the title is going on about, but never mind. "Moab" is an autobiography, recounting the first 20 years or so of Stephen Fry's life. It's an interesting, alarmingly honest sort of book. Stephen Fry was educated in prep schools (in Uley of all places, very close to where I used to live) and public school. It will not shock his fans to learn that he wasn't that good at fitting in ...
...he was always a bit of a pretentious oddball and that he knew he was gay from a fairly early age. Some details about his less pleasant youthfull exploits cast him in somthing of a different light, and his honesty in discussing the less appealing parts of his nature is surprising. "Moab" offers some insight into the Fry family background, but mostly concentrates on Stephen's early expereinces, with the odd dash of more modern references. There's a ...

Bryn_Pearson 13.08.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

...his life. Since I've read Moab Is My Washpot there has been this annoying question hanging over me: "How did this troubled, confused, oddball young man go from being in a detention centre for credit card fraud to becoming Stephen Fry as we know him today?" Why did Fry end it there? Yes, it's a contrast to Fry's celebrity persona and drives home the fact that you can get up from rock bottom, but still leaves me asking 'how?' Most people would focus ...
...teen years as a 'confused time' and trying to find reasons for the way their life's turned out in their childhood. Not Stephen Fry. I haven't read many autobiographies before, but this really wasn't what I expected. The detail was surprising and sometimes shocking, making you appreciate what an honest account this is - Fry doesn't omit incidents, feelings or relationships just to save face now he's a celebrity. It's uncomfortable to read at times ...

DoubleFantasy11 11.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

...of his Jewish ancestry: Hence the title of this autobiography, which is taken from Psalm 60. Moab was an ancient region by the Dead Sea, said to have been settled by the descendants of Lot who, you may remember, fled from the destruction of Sodom. Any irony here, I wonder?. ...

Cernunnos 20.01.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

This autobiography is an immensely enjoyable read. Stephen's early life was certainly troubled, but makes for fascinating and hilarious reading- he writes about his first twenty years with a complete lack of whining or self-pity, and is unafraid to show the reader his own very grave failings. Fry's wit and candour make this book very difficult to put down - and is the best book i have read in a long while. His use of the english language is spellbinding, ...

nicolabarnham 27.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

Never before have I felt that somebody I've never met understood me so completely. If you forget for a moment that Fry is a gay, 44 year old part time genius and millionaire, then we could be the same person. He managed to say in 500 pages exactly what I have always thought and felt. This book was nothing short of beautiful, and I have never laughed and cried similtaniously before. The story centres around Frys young life, and his "badness"- from ...
...the falling in love which came in the middle, Fry never ceases to entertain, amuse, shock, and dismay. Why, if I wasn't afraid that I'd be hauled in on some kind of stalking or harrassment charge, I might even say that this book made me fall in love with Fry... But I'm not just an obsessed groupy. Honest. This book got me onto all his other novels. Read it or miss out ...

arnoldey 13.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry

This is Fry’s autobiography of the early years of his life. It movingly describes the trouble the young Fry had at school and at home. He was thrown out of various schools for misbehaviour, he ran away and was detained for credit card fraud. He is truly a colourful character and this book goes some of the way to explaining his rich comic talent and wealth of experience, enabling him to take a side-ways glance at the world. The book is often very ...

lewiscrofts 13.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry