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Noel Coward: A Biography (Paperback)

by P Hoare (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 622 pages
  • Publisher: Chicago University Press; University of Chicago Press Ed edition (22 Jun 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0226345122
  • ISBN-13: 978-0226345123
  • Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.5 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,272,648 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Synopsis

To several generations, actor, playwright, songwriter and filmmaker Noel Coward was the very personification of wit, glamour and elegance. This biography was written with unprecedented access to the private papers and correspondence of Coward family members, compatriots and lovers.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars 'Best' Coward biography fails to live up to expectations, 28 Sep 2001
Swayed by the rhetoric, which states that Philip Hoare's book is the best and most comprehensive biography written about Noel Coward, I found that contrary to my expectations, the book was something of a disappointment. It isn't that this is a bad book, indeed it's well written in clear, accessible language, with plenty of 'behind the scenes' detail, but for all that I found it to be more than a little one-sided.

Advertising itself as the first Coward biography to take a really in-depth look into his homosexuality, my criticism is that it takes too in-depth a look; often straying from the point and relying too much on rumour, gossip and hearsay (a few too many "apparently"s and "presumably"s). Of course Coward's homosexuality was an important factor in his life, and it informed a large part of his work, but there is too much emphasis placed on the subject, to the exclusion of other concerns. There was a kind, warm and generous side to Coward's nature, which is not discussed here. In fact, for all its claims to be informative, I found that it failed to give me any great insight into Coward as a man, and that it remained strangely cold. For a better exposition on Coward 'the man', I would recommend, the sadly now out of print, 'Remembered Laughter', by Coward's secretary/advisor and constant companion, Cole Lesley, which although it doesn't focus as clearly on the work as Philip Hoare's book does (to give it its due), it gives a clearer, more rounded picture as to what Coward was like as a human being.

For all its faults this is a good book, when it's not straining too hard to find ulterior motives and anything vaguely 'naughty', and with regards to Coward's early life it certainly is very informative providing us with lots of details, the fact that it loses momentum somewhat towards the middle and the end of the book is unfortunate.

I would like to have been able to praise this book highly as it promised so much, but as so often when one is promised great things, it fails to live up to expectations.

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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Very Poor!, 20 Oct 2001
By A Customer
What a disappointment this book is. It has to be one of the worst Coward biographies ever written. The book jumps about too often, many of Coward's great achievements are missed out. There are many better books on Coward on the market.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive, 30 May 2008
By Nit Picker (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Noel Coward: A Biography (Hardcover)
I am puzzled by the rancour of other reviews here. Carefully and comprehensively researched and fluently written, this is without doubt the definitive biography of Coward. It's just a puzzle that it's no longer in print.
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