F. G. Hamer |

02/10/2001
In `Moab is my Washpot' (the best-written celebrity memoir of 1999), Stephen Fry, the intellectually intimidating archetypal Brit tells his life story to the age of 20. Often outrageous, always full of humour, Fry is the darling of the media, appearing regularly in TV series and chat shows. He is highly regarded as raconteur, newspaper columnist, actor and writer. But above all else, Stephen Fry is eccentric in the Oscar Wilde sense of the word.
In this, his autobiography, he is frank about his early years, which included perpetual lying, expulsion from one of Britain's better known public schools, his discovery that he was homosexual, his theft and misuse of a friend's credit card, his imprisonment and, eventually, the discovery of his own personal road to Damascus.
The multi-talented Fry writes as he speaks. He is the ultimate wordsmith, taking his cue from Wilde the one that paints the most vivid mind picture, rather than a pompous, flamboyant word that sends everybody scurrying for the dictionary. `Moab is my Washpot' is simultaneously daring, impertinent, open, moving, sacrilegious and funny.
You'll read `Moab is my Washpot' not just for the factual story of a young man whose confused sexuality takes him to the edge of self-destruction, but for the joy and beauty of the written word.
A stunning work and a pleasure to read.