Paperweight
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"I do more than invite you to read Stephen Fry. I urge you to. Fry is by turns observer, humourist, reviewer, philosopher, parodist, autobiographer, academic, scourge, clown and, as often as not, an antic amalgam of all these and more, and his variant style conforms flawlessly with each selected role."
-- Alan Coren
"Huge, crammed, wise, hilarious and utterly captivating."
"-- Literary Review
""A joyous collaboration of winging humour and sarcasm."
"-- Mail on Sunday
""Naughty but terribly nice."
"-- "Julie Burchill", Sunday Times
"
-- Alan Coren
"Huge, crammed, wise, hilarious and utterly captivating."
"-- Literary Review
""A joyous collaboration of winging humour and sarcasm."
"-- Mail on Sunday
""Naughty but terribly nice."
"-- "Julie Burchill", Sunday Times
"
Book Description
'Appallingly funny' Daily Telegraph
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is actually a collection of tonnes of different articles written over the years for a variety of publications. Most are only 1 to 3 pages long, and fit as many laughs into each one as you would normally get in one whole 'comedy book'. Steven's veiwpoints are so refreshing on so many issues, yet at the same time you think to yourself, "why has no-one though of this before ?". If your sense of humour is the kind that likes originality and new twists (with surreal and quirky touches) then this is what you will laugh at.
It turned me into a big fan of his, but I did not enjoy his novels so much. This format I think gives you the best of him. He says in the intro. that he used to get loads of desperate requests from readers for copies of articles he'd done; later you see why. Actually the introduction is one of the best bits as he is SO ironic, modest and more witty than anyone I've ever read. In fact simply, Fry = Wit. If anyone else finds a book similar then please, please contact me.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is collection of a wealth of essays, reviews, radio sketches and other oddments from various sources, so inevitably is something of a mixed bag. The majority of the pieces - including the fictionalised ramblings of The Liar's Professor Trefusis - take the form of short essays where Fry bemoans the state of society, both here and abroad. What saves these pieces from becoming tiresome is that Fry's observations (or, to put it more bluntly - moans) are wrapped up in both his ironic humour and an invigorating prose driven by his love of words. There is one slight problem with reading the pieces en masse however, and that is that Fry does have a tendencies to repeat his favourite anecdotes, arguments, and jokes - sometimes variations of the same line can be found repeated here not once but three or four times. In the books defence, these pieces were never originally written to sit next to each other, but having been collected a rather more rigorous editing might have eliminated some of this repetition. Still, an intelligent and amusing non-fiction collection, Paperweight is perhaps better experienced in small chunks than as one continuous text.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Much as I like 'The Liar', I reckon 'Paperweight' for Stephen Fry's best book. This hefty but unputdownable volume collects a great tranche of Mr. Fry's reviews, essays, columns for (e.g.) 'The Listener' and (maybe best of the lot) 'radio essays' delivered by his professorial alter ego, Donald Trefusis. ('Paperweight' also contains his early play 'Latin!', which makes a truly eye-watering read decades after its first performance and is really not indicated reading for the easily offended.)
I don't think I can recommend this book highly enough - of course, Mr. Fry's wit and ear for parody never let him down, but then you'd maybe expect that. What might be more of a surprise is what an incisive commentator and critic he can be. Every topic Mr. Fry writes about is illuminated by his efforts - be it cricket, 'Clause 28', the Father Brown stories, Sherlock Holmes, socks, sex or Bernard Levin. Be careful how you use this volume though - once you open 'Paperweight', there's a fair chance the rest of the day will have to be given over to its perusal.
I don't think I can recommend this book highly enough - of course, Mr. Fry's wit and ear for parody never let him down, but then you'd maybe expect that. What might be more of a surprise is what an incisive commentator and critic he can be. Every topic Mr. Fry writes about is illuminated by his efforts - be it cricket, 'Clause 28', the Father Brown stories, Sherlock Holmes, socks, sex or Bernard Levin. Be careful how you use this volume though - once you open 'Paperweight', there's a fair chance the rest of the day will have to be given over to its perusal.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A collection of witty anecdotes...but
Readers will find themselves mentally adopting the tone and style of Stephen Fry as heard on tv and radio as they read this book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Barry Lees
thoughtful
This is mostly a compilation of short pieces for newspapers. Some if it is trivial, but much is thoughtful, and all is elegantly phrased. A pleasure to read.
Published 20 months ago by Brian
paperweight stephen fry audio and book
i absolutely give 5 stars to 'Paperweight' 1 and 2,for the book and the audio tape, although the audio is sooo much more entertaining, the bonus is the Fry voice surely?.. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2004 by L. B. savy
Smarter than he needs to be.
Sometimes I get the feeling that Stephen Fry is still trying to wildly impress an old literature professor or the dean of some imaginary comedy school that exists only in his... Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2003
Very Amusing
If you enjoy Fry's humour (and in many respects even if you don't) you will simply love this colleciton of newspaper essays and radio transcripts. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2003 by Paul Johnson
Disappointing at first
I have enjoyed all Stephen Fry's novels and I especially loved his autobiography, so I looked forward to reading 'Paperweight' with relish. However, I was rather disappointed. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2002
Extremely froody!
It was very embarassing reading this on the plane to Moscow because I couldn't stop giggling and the American sitting next to me kept giving me funny looks. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2001
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