| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
‘A work of great wit, intelligence and sensitivity.’ Washington Post Book World
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product Description
In this autobiography, Quentin Crisp describes his unhappy childhood and the stresses of adolescence that led him to London. There in bedsits and cafes he found a world of brutality and comedy, of shortlived jobs and precarious relationships. All of which he faced with humour and intelligence.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Most autobiographies are too long, too dull and too self-congratulatory. Quentin Crisp's The Naked Civil Servent isn't. Crisp comes across as completely charming: a lovely, witty man, quick to laugh at himself, ready to listen to others.
He is full of eccentricities aside from the obvious - his decision to promote his homosexuality in a time when such an activity was unheard of, by his wearing makeup/dying his hair with henna - including never cleaning his flat ("after the first year the dust really doesn't get any worse") and never reading any books, ("books are for writing, not for reading" - actually a quote from another book of his).
He is endlessly quotable and very funny.
Yet for all the humour the tone of this book is sad. Crisp was endlessly abused, beaten-up and victimised because of his appearance.
The book is also a valuble historical document shedding light on the blacked-out seedy streets of wartime Soho.
And what exactly is a naked civil servent? You'll have to read it to find out, won't you?
He is full of eccentricities aside from the obvious - his decision to promote his homosexuality in a time when such an activity was unheard of, by his wearing makeup/dying his hair with henna - including never cleaning his flat ("after the first year the dust really doesn't get any worse") and never reading any books, ("books are for writing, not for reading" - actually a quote from another book of his).
He is endlessly quotable and very funny.
Yet for all the humour the tone of this book is sad. Crisp was endlessly abused, beaten-up and victimised because of his appearance.
The book is also a valuble historical document shedding light on the blacked-out seedy streets of wartime Soho.
And what exactly is a naked civil servent? You'll have to read it to find out, won't you?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After reading so many positive reviews about The Naked Civil Servant on Amazon i bought a copy,i wont talk about the book as the other reviews have said everything,all i will say is that once i opened the first page i found that i couldnt put the book down,i absolutely loved it,and i personally think that this is a book that everybody should read before they leave this mortal coil.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The autobiographical sketch by Quentin Crisp was selected by our Book Group because at first glance it seemed an unexpected and amusing look on life and a book that we had heard about through the author's notoriety in the media ( in the 1960s and later ) and about which we felt we would like to form our own opinions. The resulting opinions tended, sadly, to be somewhat negative. The narrative was considered repetitive, chronologically confusing and in general a dismal and depressing tale. One reader described it as a strange mix of pride in his sexuality and self loathing. However some readers did feel Crisp's story was more one of courage against the odds, and that the tone was lifted with his many quips and quirky insights. Perhaps Crisp's skills as an entertainer, turning humiliating incidents into droll stories, had been enhanced over the years as he `sang for his supper' in the bars of Soho?
It was argued that Crisp had good reasons for offering muddled chronology and failing to mention the names of his acquaintances because his homosexual lifestyle had been illegal and specifics could have compromised his friends and supporters. It was also argued that it was an important text because it was published immediately after the Decriminalization of Male Homosexuality Act went through parliament in 1967 and represented a `scream from Soho' telling just how it had felt to be a person who could not feel remotely safe anywhere but in a few streets in Central London. Crisp arguably writes `a survivor account' that is still worth reading, whatever its failings are in organisation and precision, because it represents the life of one forced to be a social fugitive - an outcast - banished from ordinary life, mobbed even in the metropolis, just because he dyed his hair and wore high heels. At the same time Crisp celebrates the few people who gave him work, lodging, and friendship so that there is a positive thread running through the general wail of daily woe. At least we learned that `the naked civil servant' of the title derived from the fact that Crisp became an artists' model at Saint Martin's School of Art (which is located on the edge of Soho) and was therefore someone paid from government funds to pose in the nude.
Keyne Readers
It was argued that Crisp had good reasons for offering muddled chronology and failing to mention the names of his acquaintances because his homosexual lifestyle had been illegal and specifics could have compromised his friends and supporters. It was also argued that it was an important text because it was published immediately after the Decriminalization of Male Homosexuality Act went through parliament in 1967 and represented a `scream from Soho' telling just how it had felt to be a person who could not feel remotely safe anywhere but in a few streets in Central London. Crisp arguably writes `a survivor account' that is still worth reading, whatever its failings are in organisation and precision, because it represents the life of one forced to be a social fugitive - an outcast - banished from ordinary life, mobbed even in the metropolis, just because he dyed his hair and wore high heels. At the same time Crisp celebrates the few people who gave him work, lodging, and friendship so that there is a positive thread running through the general wail of daily woe. At least we learned that `the naked civil servant' of the title derived from the fact that Crisp became an artists' model at Saint Martin's School of Art (which is located on the edge of Soho) and was therefore someone paid from government funds to pose in the nude.
Keyne Readers
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
audiobook
Having read the book years ago and enjoyed very much, I thought it would be even more to inspiring to hear the author telling his story, I was not disapointed. Read more
Published 1 day ago by marina
Great Book, Lovely Man
I learn't alot about Quentin Crisp in this book.
Very interesting character, not many around like him anymore.
Also very sad.
Very interesting character, not many around like him anymore.
Also very sad.
Published 12 months ago by C. Belshaw
Brilliant servant is hurt
Having read the autobiography of the The Naked Civil Servant I thought the DVD brought so much more depth and humour to the story. Read more
Published 15 months ago by studyfreak
A piece of gay history
Crisp is obviously eloquent and I found the book easy to read and entertaining, though turgid in places. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2009 by richie
20th Century England - The Outsider's Guide
It's extraordinary to think that this autobiography, in which Mr Crisp describes his first 60-odd years, should now appear as almost an introduction to his life. Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by Vitamino
An Englishman in the Soho
This is the book that made Quentin Crisp famous (and infamous) and that gave him the title of England's Stately Homo. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2002 by bagoas
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Gay & Lesbian > Gay
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
