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tinkerbell2706's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
It was a very good listen did start reading the book originally but found it hard to get Stephens voice out of my head so listened to it instead in his voice and loved it.
marginaliant's review against another edition
5.0
Stephen Fry is masterful. You know this if you're at all familiar with British film, television, and comedy, but if you didn't know that he is a masterful storyteller and wordsmith then I highly recommend you pick up this book. Actually, pick up the audiobook. Find some quiet time to listen to a few chapters (or, in my case, finish it all in less than a day.) This tells the story of Fry's later life, as he has other books devoted to his childhood and young adulthood (although he passes over them briefly.) It would also help if you were at least somewhat knowledgeable about the British political and artistic scenes in the 1970's through the 2000's. Anyway, this was brilliant and I'm glad I listened to it.
egwright09's review against another edition
3.0
As a book, More Fool Me wanders. I once heard Stephen Fry give a speech without notes, quoting what seemed like every major western and eastern thinker in the course of an hour; that glorious talk hung together much better than this memoir. As a way to pretend you're spending a few hours with Stephen Fry, More Fool Me is worth a read. Fry sounds like himself, and his voice is charming and entertaining.
tigerlily987's review against another edition
Read a few chapters and flipped through the rest. Needs an editor and I'm just not as interested in the author as I used to be.
mediocre's review against another edition
3.0
What an... odd book.
At the beginning, it kept referring to his two(!) other biographies, which I haven't read and don't intend to read. I almost stopped reading after some 40 pages but then it became much more interesting. So I kept reading.
And then, the diary entries came. Half a book of copy-pasting, which I think this is a rather lazy way to fill a biography, but I must admit that they gave an interesting insight in Stephen's life, some 30 years ago. You get the gist of them pretty quickly though, which was another point where I doubted if I should continue. Then they stopped abruptly, a quick roundup word and that's that.
In the end, I thought the subject of his destructive lifestyle was a fascinating one, it was charmingly written in a distinctively Fyish way, but I am still left thinking that this was the oddest book I've read in quite a while.
At the beginning, it kept referring to his two(!) other biographies, which I haven't read and don't intend to read. I almost stopped reading after some 40 pages but then it became much more interesting. So I kept reading.
And then, the diary entries came. Half a book of copy-pasting, which I think this is a rather lazy way to fill a biography, but I must admit that they gave an interesting insight in Stephen's life, some 30 years ago. You get the gist of them pretty quickly though, which was another point where I doubted if I should continue. Then they stopped abruptly, a quick roundup word and that's that.
In the end, I thought the subject of his destructive lifestyle was a fascinating one, it was charmingly written in a distinctively Fyish way, but I am still left thinking that this was the oddest book I've read in quite a while.
ronanmjdoyle's review against another edition
3.0
Would have taken me eons to finish if I'd not "read" via audiobook; honestly, I'm tiring terribly of this non-fiction Fry and his dreary routine of braggadocio barely skirted by a disingenuous self-loathing addendum. I was, and variously day-to-day am, a firm fan of his, but the extended segment here given over to his 1993 diary, despite a convenient coda, feels awfully like a fond recollection peppered with starry names. I have so very little time for these "gosh, how busy I was" recollections interspersed with extravagant upholstery bills. Not even the earlier autobiographies' pleasing prose is much present here; even at his most indulgent, Fry often has at least a few funky new words to add to my vocabulary. So little of that here—or dare I imagine it's just independently expanded?—and so little else, save spectacular swearing, to keep me from wishing it would end. And yet three stars. Well... so much of this negativity stems from disappointment. The book is fine. It ought to be so very much more. Time, I suspect, to re-read The Liar.
theriff's review against another edition
4.0
As one might expect, this autobiography is smart, insightful and beautifully written. As well as detailing Fry's relationship with cocaine it offers an interesting insight into the day to day life of a busy, high-profile celebrity and the ups and downs of being a creative craftsman. I was rather disappointed by the end of the book, the latter quarter consists of Fry's journal entries for the period which clearly approach his depressive breakdown(s) - but he concludes the book without covering this period or even remarking upon it. He probably felt this was a topic that needed its own volume - but this decision means that More Fool Me rather fizzles out towards the end and doesn't quite deliver on the narrative promise of the text. Bit of a shame.
Addendum: I changed my mind about this a bit. It's struck me that in this period Fry did the most amazing things, he wrote and produced two or three series of Fry and Laurie, he was in Blackadder II - IV, worked on a lot of other stuff; but he doesn't say a thing about them. Not one story, not any expression of what it was like, what happened at work; nothing. Just that Hugh turns up at his flat to write quite frequently. That's a huge element missed, surely? John Cleese's book had a much more interesting balance of his working and personal life, and covered many more years too...
Addendum: I changed my mind about this a bit. It's struck me that in this period Fry did the most amazing things, he wrote and produced two or three series of Fry and Laurie, he was in Blackadder II - IV, worked on a lot of other stuff; but he doesn't say a thing about them. Not one story, not any expression of what it was like, what happened at work; nothing. Just that Hugh turns up at his flat to write quite frequently. That's a huge element missed, surely? John Cleese's book had a much more interesting balance of his working and personal life, and covered many more years too...
ccurtner's review against another edition
2.0
The first 80 pages were a rehash of his earlier memoirs. The last 150 were diary entries from 1993. I suspect he was contractually obligated to write this and struggled the whole way. Is it weird to feel sorry for him?
noondaypaisley's review against another edition
3.0
Fry is always charming and articulate, but sadly he's mostly boring and repetitive here. Lots that could, should and I deeply wish had been included was not and lots that was not interesting and was far too lovey and namedroppy was.
Some great moments of course and worth it if you love Fry, but not the book that it should have been.
Some great moments of course and worth it if you love Fry, but not the book that it should have been.