When he turned sixty-five, the playwright Simon Gray began to keep a diary: not a careful honing of the day's events with a view to posterity but an account of his thoughts as he had them, honestly, turbulently, digressively expressed. The Smoking Diaries is the result, in which one of Britain's most amusing and original writers reflects on a life filled with cigarettes (continuing), alcohol (stopped), several triumphs and many more disasters, shame, adultery, friendship and love. Few diarists have been as frank about themselves, and even fewer as entertaining.
The Smoking Diaries Volume 1
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Review
'Mordantly funny and utterly involving account...full of wry humour, his diaries are addictive, comforting reading' -- Sunday Times - Paperback of the Week
'Splendidly universal...with a continuous tone of disgruntled drollery that is hugely and consistently entertaining' -- Guardian - Nicholas Lezard's Paperback Choice,
'This self- effacing ramble secures Grey’s position as one of the great comic writers in English today.’ -- The Irish Times
Gray’s ranting, moaning and complaining is a highly polished comic performance -- Daily Express
Swarming with black comedy and frank opinions, this is a tribute to the forces that shape us -- The Good Book Guide
‘A ragbag of stories and reminiscences, it must be one of the funniest books I’ve ever read’ -- Philip Hensher, Spectator Books of the Year
‘A tender tirade, hilarious, touching and wonderfully written’ -- Barry Humphries, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year
‘The funniest book I read this year... cunningly presented as meandering late-night jottings, but in fact scrupulously written’ -- Julian Barnes, Guardian Books of the Year
‘The latest volume of diaries from the playwright Simon Gray confirms his reputation as the Eeyore of modern English letters' -- The Mail on Sunday
'Splendidly universal...with a continuous tone of disgruntled drollery that is hugely and consistently entertaining' -- Guardian - Nicholas Lezard's Paperback Choice,
'This self- effacing ramble secures Grey’s position as one of the great comic writers in English today.’ -- The Irish Times
Gray’s ranting, moaning and complaining is a highly polished comic performance -- Daily Express
Swarming with black comedy and frank opinions, this is a tribute to the forces that shape us -- The Good Book Guide
‘A ragbag of stories and reminiscences, it must be one of the funniest books I’ve ever read’ -- Philip Hensher, Spectator Books of the Year
‘A tender tirade, hilarious, touching and wonderfully written’ -- Barry Humphries, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year
‘The funniest book I read this year... cunningly presented as meandering late-night jottings, but in fact scrupulously written’ -- Julian Barnes, Guardian Books of the Year
‘The latest volume of diaries from the playwright Simon Gray confirms his reputation as the Eeyore of modern English letters' -- The Mail on Sunday
Book Description
Published to coincide with the release of the third and final volume in Simon Gray's magnificent and blackly funny diaries.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed this book immensely and am rather bemused by the earlier reviews it has received here. The playright Simon Gray begins his diaries in his mid-sixties looking at the world around him and also back to his childhood. This is a hugely funny book, but also full of insight and honesty. Simon Gray has no illusions about himself and does not try to present a sanitised version of himself. He is frank about his faults and weaknesses and it is this that makes the book so special - it is refreshing to read a diary to which the air-brush has not been applied.
Although Simon Gray is deeply involved in the theatre of course, this is not the main theme of the book, as it concentrates more on his daily life and key events from his youth. Despite this, there are some moving accounts of his meetings with his close friend Harold Pinter during the latter's experience of suffering from cancer. Once I started this book I finished it within 24 hours - a rare event these days when few books seem to inspire me.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
If you have read Simon Gray's other volumes of diaries you will find this is a fitting addition to your collection. Gray's self-lacerating wit is still very much in evidence and despite his documented physical decay he avoids self-pity as he invites the reader into his world of cigarettes, writing and dining.
I first read Gray's volume 'An Unatural Pursuit' and was immediately hooked by his penetrating observations of his fading professional fortunes. Whether or not you like the world of theatre is irrelavent for the enjoyment of this volume. The candid observations of this brilliant and witty man in physical and carreer decline are wonmderful.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By L. Hennessy
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
This is the ideal way to get to know Simon Gray - there is no fixed pattern to his musings here; he writes at quiet moments of the day, or whilst on holiday, or after getting back from evenings out with his wife. It's also very funny, in a gently ascerbic way.
These are the diaries of a relatively content man - although he doesn't have anywhere near as much money as he once had, because of the Lloyd's crash - and he's very at ease with translating his thoughts onto paper. He says at one point that he doesn't go back and edit things - once they're written, they're in.
He comes across as a typical product of 1940s-50s private school to me (certainly his erudite language and straight-speaking attitude, combined with his chainsmoking and problem drinking - although when he wrote this he had given alcohol up in favour of diet coke, poor chap); he reminds me so much of friends of that age - most of them tremendously non-pc (thank God), very entertaining and good-minded company.
It gives an insight into a lot of his plays too - many details of which are certainly autobiographical. If you're an actor looking to get a slightly different perspective on a character, there's so much in here that could inspire. The descriptions of his meals with close friend Harold Pinter are quite moving - especially when Pinter reveals that he has cancer - but as always, it is related with full disclosure in a relaxed way that never goes OTT on the emotions, although it's plain how affected heis by it all.
I never really enjoyed Simon Gray's plays, but this is such an enjoyable book to just sit back with and enjoy. It's a great holiday read if you don't fancy going for one of the usual blockbusters. One gets the feeling that there won't ever be a happy ending, but this is the first of a series of three, so things don't get too bad.
I ended up feeling very fond of the old curmudgeon :)
These are the diaries of a relatively content man - although he doesn't have anywhere near as much money as he once had, because of the Lloyd's crash - and he's very at ease with translating his thoughts onto paper. He says at one point that he doesn't go back and edit things - once they're written, they're in.
He comes across as a typical product of 1940s-50s private school to me (certainly his erudite language and straight-speaking attitude, combined with his chainsmoking and problem drinking - although when he wrote this he had given alcohol up in favour of diet coke, poor chap); he reminds me so much of friends of that age - most of them tremendously non-pc (thank God), very entertaining and good-minded company.
It gives an insight into a lot of his plays too - many details of which are certainly autobiographical. If you're an actor looking to get a slightly different perspective on a character, there's so much in here that could inspire. The descriptions of his meals with close friend Harold Pinter are quite moving - especially when Pinter reveals that he has cancer - but as always, it is related with full disclosure in a relaxed way that never goes OTT on the emotions, although it's plain how affected heis by it all.
I never really enjoyed Simon Gray's plays, but this is such an enjoyable book to just sit back with and enjoy. It's a great holiday read if you don't fancy going for one of the usual blockbusters. One gets the feeling that there won't ever be a happy ending, but this is the first of a series of three, so things don't get too bad.
I ended up feeling very fond of the old curmudgeon :)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent book especially for those who do not know this writer
An unusual book for me ("steeped" in fantasy). Unlike the majority of readers I had no prior knowledge about this author but found that it was impossible to put down once I... Read more
Published 2 months ago by alan
4.0 out of 5 stars
I know nothing!
I bought two copies of this book as Ed Smith, journalist with The Times, said it was the book that inspired him to get writing. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lloyd Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Year of the Jouncer
Utterly hilarious. Simon Grey is cunning, wise and funny. I cannot wait to read 'The Last Cigarette' and complete 'The Smoking Diaries' saga.
Published on 5 May 2011 by Calio
4.0 out of 5 stars
Addictive
Like Jane Austen, this author could make an interesting anecdote out of the loss of a pocket handkerchief. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2010 by Clive A. H. Still
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful, full and interesting life
A complete, sensitive and honest confession, funny too and enlightning.
I'm a complete Simon Gray fan.
I'm a complete Simon Gray fan.
Published on 3 July 2010 by Bastien Sabine
3.0 out of 5 stars
Peculiarly Brave
These diaries/memoirs are a strange beast. I couldn't quite get my head around them if I'm honest. I really wanted to like them. Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2009 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant
this book is fabulous. gray is hilarious and poignant within the one sentence. the ease with which he describes his past could only be achieved by a master. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2009 by Roisin Byrne
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit of a rogue
Funny, wry, witty and moving, this memoir of Simon Gray, a playwright and novelist, published when he was 85, is a delight. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good read
The critical reviews had suggested that this book is quite hilarious, but it isn't really like that. However, it is an excellent read, amusing, wry and elegantly written. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2009 by Caren Firth
4.0 out of 5 stars
An honest man writing emotional truths - with a few writer's devices
This book first came to my attention a few years ago when it popped up more than once in a newspaper's `My Books of the Year' feature. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2008 by Andy Miller
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