A defense of More Fool Me

Three and a half stars on Audible, two and half stars on Amazon - is this really a book written by Stephen Fry? I've always enjoyed audiobooks ever since earliest childhood and long car journeys to see family made bearable (the car journeys at any rate) with the addition of a story read over the cassette player.

I liked audiobooks for two reasons, firstly the story and second the narrator. I like Stephen Fry's books on Audible for the same reasons. There is nothing worse than an autobiography or memoir read by someone else. So Moab is my Washpot and the Fry Chronicles were a delight. Stephen, having some might say, lulled me therefore into a false sense of security with these two triumphs, disgorged me of my remaining credit in an instant.

And I must say I DID enjoy 'More Fool Me'. The complaints people have with Stephen, and they are justified in many instances, is that he does hark on a little at his 'incompetence' his 'celebrity' and his 'self loathing' and general 'lack of confidence.' I'm sorry to break it to you but this IS Stephen and if you haven't learned that by now, then perhaps you should never have picked up 'More Fool Me' in the first place.

It is self-deprecating in many places, depressing in others and repetitive upon the themes mentioned above, but it is also witty and funny and well written. Perhaps not to the same degree as his previous efforts and yes the second half is all diary-fied but if you're reading this, then you have been warned and per chance you can enjoy it for what it is - a comic although often in the dark sense, insight into another chapter of Stephen's life. And I for one, will be looking forward to the next installment.

Ben Waddams

54 people found this helpful

Should ask his editor for a refund

I enjoyed The Fry Chronicles very much and so was looking forward to this, the 3rd in the series recording the life of a bona fide National Treasure. But, oh dear, what has gone wrong? Not only does Mr Fry spend at least the first hour of this book recapping the story from the previous volumes (which frankly could've been done in a one-page summary) the initial chapters of this book meander about far too much. Call me old-fashioned but to me a key concept in a biography is that the narrative should flow in chronological order. Not so here as the story jumps forward and backward in time with little idea of how this book links to the end of the previous volume.

Only near the end of Part One does Mr Fry switch to a diary-style of narrative and, despite his protests that this style is not his forte, he proves to be an excellent diarist and the story suddenly shifts a gear into a flowing, consistent and highly-engaging thread.

I have seen some other readers reviews where Mr Fry comes in for some stick over this, but to me it seems it's his editor who should shoulder the blame here. Mr Fry has written openly and candidly about the events surrounding his success, the parties, the excess, the lost nights and, especially, his cocaine addiction that ran for a number of years. To me it is the job of the editor to take these various scribblings (no offence meant), sift the wheat from the chaff, and produce a finished piece of work that is suitable for publishing.

The editor in this case did none of these things. I assume he/she was so confident in Mr Fry's popularity that they thought any such dabbling to be an unecessary intrusion upon their time.

Shame really, as the diary section of the book was rivetting. Overall a definite C-minus...

25 people found this helpful

A disappointing third volume.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The introduction, which re-hashes both Moab and the fry chronicles is far too long, taking up an hour and a half of the audiobook. Whilst the latter half of the book comprises of diary extracts from the end of 1993, which are disjointed, awkward and ultimately rather boring.

What will your next listen be?

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) this has not deterred me from signing up to pre-order his next instalment.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The middle of the book see's Stephen returning to form as he recounts tales of his cocaine usage. With one particularly memorable story revolving around Blackadder, Kenneth Brannagh/Emma Thompson wedding, a condom holder, a glass or two of whiskey and the police.

Was More Fool Me worth the listening time?

For die hard fans of Mr Fry, no words of mine would dissuade them from listening to this book, after all I am a said die hard fan. Perhaps, to put things in perspective, if I was not such a propent of Mr Fry's work I would have given this audiobook only two stars overall. Stephen throughout the book worries that people will judge him harshly because of his drug use, I think this unlikely. However, I do think people will judge him harshly on the fact they have doled out their hard earned cash and been rewarded with this boring, poorly written and lazily sourced (diary extracts... Sue Townsend is rolling in her grave) memoir.

Any additional comments?

This really is only half a book. The second half are annotated extracts from his 1993 diary, that really only talk about massages, weight loss, babies and the pressure he felt to finish his book 'the hippopotamus'. I think there must have been similar parallels between that book and this. The book is read marvellously once more by Stephen, and as a little bonus for audiobook listeners, some grainy (though I suspect fake) audio snippets of Sigmund (Siggy to his friends) Freud. However, despite this, overall the book seems to have been written in a rush, poorly edited and lazily written. I am very disappointed by the whole affair and would recommend that all but the most hardened fans give it a miss.

31 people found this helpful

Oh Dear....what went wrong?

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I was so disappointed with this third part of the autobiography. The first third of the book is simply a repeat of what we already knew. Stephen does repeatedly make light of this and apologise for those that read the previous books but that is no excuse.

If you’ve listened to books by Stephen Fry before, how does this one compare?

The Fry Chronicles was simply wonderful and I enjoyed it immensely, even recommended it to one and all. And then this, chapter after chapter about the drug taking. How, where, what and when he consumed is really of little interest to most, I would think.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Not much unfortunately. I seemed to me that he gave ammunition to all of those who so dislike his attitude and style. I never did....until now.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not that I can think of

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your money and time.

30 people found this helpful

A frank and honest insight into Stephen's life.

Would you consider the audio edition of More Fool Me to be better than the print version?

Yes, without a doubt. With biographical books I have to be honest and admit that I quite often skim passages, but having them read by the author of the book makes the whole book more interesting. It feels like an actual conversation with the author.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Stephen obviously...

What does Stephen Fry bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

There are certain passages of the book that have more impact hearing them read rather than reading the printed word.
Hearing Stephen swearing was one of the funniest parts for me. My husband assures me I have heard him swear before but there was something utterly differnt about hearing his utter some of those curse words. I personally loved it.

Any additional comments?

Stephen has given us a great glimpse into his life, the ups and the downs. Those funny anecdotes mixed in with the touching and poignant insight into the lives of living with HIV and Aids in the early years of the diseases. His story is written so well, and I have to be honest, the diary entries near the end of the book have left me truly wanting more.

12 people found this helpful

More fool you for buying it.

So obviously released under pressure from a publisher, its just a mish mash of old diaries going on about snorting cocaine and stuff. Nothing at ALL like the splendid Fry Chronicles. Really, don't bother.

2 people found this helpful

Terrible compared to previous memoirs

Not so much a memoir, rather a series of anecdotes containing his various celebrity friends. No self reflection or stable narrative. A shame given his past two memoirs are so good.

2 people found this helpful

More fool me, too for buying this

A self-indulgent romp in which the author confuses honesty with candour. His much-publicised love affair with cocaine provides the backdrop to a narrative that begins by recapping some of the previous two volumes of his autobiography and continues with a verbatim reproduction of his diary for several months of 1993.

We get about 120 days of something like "Got up, did a voice over at 9.30 and then went back to my flat." He then details the problems he experienced writing a novel at the time and lists the rising word count, before detailing his drug excesses of the evening and late night.

Amid the lists of parties attended, we get a cockroach's eye view of seedy goings on at the Groucho Club, which would turn most people's stomachs. The low point for me was the description of hoovering up an enormous line of cocaine before he vomited out of an upstairs window, although the episode where he snorts cocaine off a urinal in the Commons is noteworthy. He then ends most days by playing poker or Perudo (a dice game a bit like poker.) When he doesn't party wildly with a cast of deadbeats, or dine with luvvies and retired politicians, he stays home and watches videos. And that's it for about a third of the book.

There's a bit of sermonising at the end along the lines of "What was I thinking about?" to provide some kind of moral uplift.

Between the poor quality of the content and the lack of originality (reprinting a diary that details the problems of writing a different book, more than 20 years ago), there is little left to enjoy. There is no sense of editorial discretion, no quality filter. As Steve Martin pointed out in Trains, Planes and Automobiles: "Not everything is an anecdote."

This book is an exposition of smug self-indulgence run wild and a massive disappointment.

17 people found this helpful

Disapointing.

Would you try another book written by Stephen Fry or narrated by Stephen Fry?

Having listened too Both Moab and Chronicles, I was expecting this to take me through Stephens life from that "first line" 1986 to some point in the future. What I got was a rehash of Moab and Chronicles that was far too long, followed by an increasingly monotonous reading of diary entries from 1993, that said little about Stevens life and everything about the lives of the people he met day to day. This book added nothing to my knowledge of Steven as the first two had, leaving me disappointed and pleased to have reached the the credits. Which in truth were far less mind numbingly boring than the rest of the book.

13 people found this helpful

Disappointed

Would you try another book written by Stephen Fry or narrated by Stephen Fry?

Yes, most definitely. I've read all Stephen Fry's works, both fiction and autobiography, and loved them all, apart from this book. It wasn't terrible, just quite disappointing.

What was most disappointing about Stephen Fry’s story?

The first part of the book focussed on subjects mostly covered in his first two autobiographies, which he acknowledges and would have been forgiven for had not the second part almost been entirely focussed on six months of his life in 1993, which was 21 years ago and quite repetitive in nature. The introduction promised an account of his life up until the present day and I felt more than 'miffed' that that wasn't delivered and we haven't heard a more varied account covering his more recent years. Perhaps, volumes 4 or 5 will cover that!

What about Stephen Fry’s performance did you like?

Despite the above comments, his performance is as wonderful as ever, it's a shame the content didn't match it.

10 people found this helpful