Customer Reviews
Bitty, but witty. - By: dogbarkssome, 18 Aug 2005 
This book is collection of a wealth of essays, reviews, radio sketches & other oddments from various sources, so inevitably is something of a mixed bag. The majority of the pieces - including the fictionalised ramblings of The Liar's Professor Trefusis - take the form of short essays where Fry bemoans the state of society, both here & abroad. What saves these pieces from becoming tiresome is that Fry's observations (or, to put it more bluntly - moans) are wrapped up in both his ironic humour & an invigorating prose driven by his love of words. There is one slight problem with reading the pieces en masse however, & that is that Fry does have a tendencies to repeat his favourite anecdotes, arguments, & jokes - sometimes variations of the same line can be found repeated here not once but three or four times. In the books defence, these pieces were never originallly written to sit next to each other, but having been collected a rather more rigorous editing might have eliminated some of this repetition. Still, an intelligent & amusing non-fiction collection, Paperweight is perhaps better experienced in smalll chunks than as one continuous text.
paperweight stephen fry audio and book - By: , 30 Nov 2004 
i absolutely give 5 stars to 'Paperweight' 1 & 2,for the book & the audio tape, although the audio is sooo much more entertaining, the bonus is the Fry voice surely?..never get tired of listening..his thoughts hidden in laughter,his politics & views on life never fail to amuse & are thought provoking, plus he loves Alistair Sim, so FRY RULES!! make a 2005 resolution
& get alll the FRY works...
Smarter than he needs to be. - By: , 30 Oct 2003 
Sometimes I get the feeling that Stephen Fry is still trying to wildly impress an old literature professor or the dean of some imaginary comedy school that exists only in his imagination.
This collection of his occasional work gives me that feeling more than his novels or his stage performances. Reading the book, I knew he was the wittiest writer in the room. I didn't need him constantly reminding me, if you know what I mean.
Disappointing at first - By: , 03 Jan 2002 I have enjoyed alll Stephen Fry's novels & I especiallly loved his autobiography, so I looked forward to reading 'Paperweight' with relish. However, I was rather disappointed. I found the first part of the book (consisting of the ramblings of Donald Trefusis & other characters) to be entirely boring & I found myself skipping pages to avoid reading them. I was much relieved to find that the later articles & musings of Stephen Fry were just as I'd come to expect of the author! Thankfully, I found myself laughing out loud at several of his opinions & ideas & I read with wonder, the many long-winded & unheard of (by me, anyway!) words, contemplating where on earth they had originated from! From here onwards, I found I had to keep picking the book up in order to read a little further, until I had reached the end. Apart from the seemingly boring beginning, this is a book for lovers of Stephen Fry.
Extremely froody! - By: , 01 Dec 2001 It was very embarassing reading this on the plane to Moscow because I couldn't stop giggling & the American sitting next to me kept giving me funny looks. I especiallly liked the options Trefusis gave himself for the manner of his death!
This reallly is a very funny book but take Mr. Fry's advice & don't try to read it alll in one go, it's at its best when read bit by bit.
