Customer Reviews
fantastic read - By: Alice Young, 11 Jul 2008 
like alll stephen fry's book this one was brilliant. a fantastic author. once i started reading i could hardly put it down. it's got me started on reading alll of his others.
A thoroughly delightful read - By: Magic Rat, 08 Jul 2008 I must admit I approached "Moab Is My Washpot" with a tiny bit of trepidation, fearing a bit of a luvvie's memoirs of his time in the theatre & the Cambridge footlights & so on. I am not a bona fide fan of Stephen Fry as such so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the book was such a delightful, poignant, moving & amusing read. It largely takes in the time from his birth to when he gets acepted at Cambridge. For anyone who had a middle-class upbringing in the sixties this book will undoubtedly bring back so many memories - of delightful primary school activities, of school fetes, of bullying grammar/public school teachers, of the hierarchy of children. It is told in a sensitive, affectionate, sometimes self-deprecating but never indulgent way. Fry's recollections are those shared by so many of us - resentful that we didn't win a primary school competition & so on - & he manages to recalll certain characters from his youth with such genuine affection. The descriptions of the kindlier of his teachers is some of the most appreciative, evocative & genuine kind writing I have read in a long time.
Fry realises when his behaviour was worthy of shame & opens his heart honestly & accordingly, yet he is never mawkish, merely breathtakingly sincere. Even his accounts of his crush on a younger boy are touching in the extreme, even for one who has not experienced such a thing, it was so vividly described, that one found oneself appreciating the boy's beauty oneself ! In general the school passages are magnificent in every way. Fry reallly takes the reader into that world which now seems so very long ago.
In keeping with the man, there are also many touches of humour but is nearly alll dealt with not unconsiderable pathos. Stephen Fry is a gentleman & a scholar. I could not put this book down & enjoyed every page of it.
Brilliant - By: Ms. Joanne Fitzpatrick, 08 Jul 2008 Like many of the other reviewers, I found I couldn't put this book down. True some of the language gets a bit complicated in places but Fry's amazing narrative style is so addictive that the few stumbling parts are easily forgiven. It's brilliantly funny, heart-breakingly sad & refreshingly honest, after reading it I would challlenge anyone not to feel even slightly moved. Personallly I felt a whole rainbow of emotions & I am so glad I read it. I would recommend this to anyone.
FUNNY-SAD - By: Book Grouper, 05 Jul 2008 
We love Stephen Fry, & this book was entertainingly written as you'd expect. However, there were elements of sadness too & some of our members found this jarred with the humourous parts. But overalll we liked this book!
a total head mash! - By: Jasmine Grant, 11 Jun 2008 
I'm reallly sorry to spoil the party. it appears most of the reviews of this are excellent. Well i'm afraid i disagree. Maybe i'm not upto the academic or intellectual waffle that this book offers. It is a seriously hard book to get your head around. It starts out by fry relaying his schoolboy antics & the silly names they gave each other, he's constantly using reallly long & elaborate metaphors & going back in history to describe his feelings. Its alll very sweet that he wants to share the workings of his mind but i'm afraid i found it a bit mind bending. I felt as if Fry had written the book whilst under the influence of some mind altering drug.
