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The Empress of Ireland
 
 

The Empress of Ireland (Paperback)

by Christopher Robbins (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
Price: £15.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (4 May 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743220714
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743220712
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 698,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Richard E. Grant

'Unique and hilarious . . . truly delumptious and exotic . . . A scoundrel of a good read'


William Boyd

'Wonderfully rich and vivid . . . perfectly pitched: full of deadpan comedy, but also shrewd and warm-hearted'

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A SIMPLE TREAT, 26 May 2004
By Mr. Allan Scott "ASTRL" (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I never read biographies. But having picked this up from a friend's desk, was completely hooked by page 10 and after a short tussle about who got to take it home, ended up buying my own copy that night.

THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND is sweet, funny, absorbing and as sharp and insightful a study of two people (the subject and the author) as you could find. The story (stories) draws you into the life of an entertaining eccentric and his youthful amanuensis (Robbins) in a most seductive way and you end up rooting for a happy outcome like a child yearning for Batman to break free from his captors.

Most of us have lived lives blissfully ignorant of Brian Desmond Hurst, the flamboyant subject of the book, and the measure of the author's success is that the veil of ignorance is lifted on very much more than a single person. It's wise and charming (did I say "charming" already? "Charm" always seems to be damning with faint praise when, in fact, its a rare commodity in a good read) and complete in its modest thought delightful ambitions. A little classic of biography. I'll have to look for another one now.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Colourful Companion, 27 May 2004
Brian Desmond Hurst was a wonderfully exotic character, highly talented and, clearly, a most colourful companion. We should be very grateful to Christopher Robbins for bringing him back from the relative obscurity into which his reputation has fallen with the passage of time. He describes their eccentric friendship so successfully that one feels on reading this excellent book that one has actually met and known his subject. I recommend it unconditionally to anyone who enjoys classic films and who likes to spend time in amusing, and often surprising, company.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Ireland's forgotten film-maker, 13 May 2004
A delightful book which opens a window onto an almost vanished age of artistic endeavour and immoderate drinking. Ostensibly a biography of Ireland's forgotten film-maker, Brian Desmond Hurst, the book is in truth a study of benign patronage and friendship which takes the reader by surprise with its frankness and humour. The narrative is organised around the writing and planning of Hurst's valedictory move - which was never made. There are fine books about finished films but those about un-achieved 'masterpieces' make for more rewarding reading since they allow greater scope for the exercise of fantasy - the key element of Hurst's life and indeed of every great artist.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating
I knew nothing at all about Brian Desmond Hurst before reading this book, which considering his pedigree in British cinema history is quite astonishing. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete knock out of a book
This book which is part biography and part the story of a friendship is a magical and engrossing read. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2005 by Mo Carroll

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete knock out of a book
This book which is part biography and part the story of a friendship is a magical and engrossing read. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2005 by Mo Carroll

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding biography
One of the finest biographies in years and an extremely moving, funny and life-affirming study of yet another Irish legend.
Published on 17 Jun 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Colourful Companion
Brian Desmond Hurst was a wonderfully exotic character, highly talented and, clearly, a most colourful companion. Read more
Published on 27 May 2004 by Ian Gordon

5.0 out of 5 stars A Grand And Vanishing Breed
Robbins' memoir of his friendship with Brian Desmond Hurst, a fiercely talented Irish film director, is brilliantly funny, deeply moving and reads like a page-turning, beautifully... Read more
Published on 14 May 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than A Biography
The Empress of Ireland is a great book. It's far more than a biography, it's a portrait of a time, of an artist, and of an unusual and long-lasting friendship. Read more
Published on 12 May 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Ireland- Hollywood
A wonderful story of an era when literature, education, manners and humor were valued.So very Irish in the apparent acceptance of opposing values ofr the protagonist and the mores... Read more
Published on 10 May 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Just read it!
Where to begin?? A memoir, a biography, a book about the movie business, ameditation on friendship, this book is all of these things and yet so muchmore. Read more
Published on 24 April 2004

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