The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography by Stephen Fry

Thirteen years ago, Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry's autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge best seller. In the years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director, and presenter.
In January 2010 he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least-well-known years of his life, with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you, and, above all, surprise you.

What a life. Stephen Fry is a phenomenal narrator and he's got quite the tale to tell as he describes part of his life. His first biography, Moab is my Washpot chronicled his childhood and getting into trouble (even imprisoned), and The Fry Chronicles picks up where the other left off. Or so I imagine, I haven't read it, but he does in quite some detail sum it up. The Fry Chronicles focus thereafter of his going to university, getting into acting/comedy and afterwards making a big career of it. The book ends somewhere around his 30th birthday where he's already very financially stable, but has just had his first snort of cocaine.

This book is all about the ups and not so much the downs. He leads a very lucky, a very blessed and very good life (though of course he works hard for it too and is extremely talented). The downs are yet to come in the next book, More Fool Me (which I'm currently, at the time of writing this, listening to.)

Half of this book's success is because of the narration. Stephen has a phenomenal talent for talking - the pronunciation, the posh accent, the melody is just sublime. I call him Stephen, because having spent more than 20 hours listening to his voice, telling me about his life, I feel I'm allowed ;)

The book is very good on it's own too, I imagine, if you are interested in Fry's life, British actors/comedians, television and comedy and such. I happen to be so, though I must confess to not knowing a third of the many people that are mentioned. I must credit Stephen for never just name-dropping. He genuinely just knows all these famous people. To him they are everyday life and old friends.

All in all, it's a jolly good book and was a pleasure to listen to.

THE FRY CHRONICLES: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY Memoir 2 by Stephen Fry ISBN13: 9780141964652 Audiobook, 12h 28m / Published in 2010

Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2015