Weekly Reading Report





I am giving a talk on my beloved Noel Coward on Saturday June 18, so I am totally absorbed in The Autobiography of Noel Coward. This is a collection of Coward's two published autobiographies, Present Indicative and Future Indefinite, along with the ten extant pages of his unfinished work of memoir, Past Conditional. It is, of course, all you would expect from Coward - funny, camp and sophisticated, and strangely honest (despite his avoidance of the constant question of his sexuality). I look forward to returning to the book each day.




While randomly picking up books at home doing my research for Coward, I found myself immersed in Tennessee Williams: An Intimate Biography by his brother Dakin Williams. I am always interested in anything to do with Williams, and now I keep picking this book up, "just to read a couple of pages." It helped me find out that Noel Coward starred in the film of one of Williams' plays, in a part originally written for a woman. Seems perfect.




The book in my bag is a new self-help title from the revered Louise Hay. Life Loves You is an absolute delight, though it's a bit cheeky as a publishing project - it is basically an account of chats between Hay and the book's real author, Robert Holden. That said, it's terrific fun, and I have found it incredibly inspiring and helpful. I recommend you grab a copy and, like me, keep it in your bag. It's the perfect pick-me-up when you are waiting for a train. 



The final book I have been dipping into this week is Richard Ellmann's Oscar Wilde. this is, of course, one of my favourite books, and it had an enormous influence on me in my youth. I have promised to re-read it this year, but every time I pick it up it seems so enormous that i find it difficult to commit myself. Even still, every time I read a couple of pages I am reminded of some fascinating fact I have forgotten, or some unexpected 19th century connection I had never really made before. It really is a superb book.

 

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