The Letters of Noel Coward
by Noel Coward
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Book Reviews of The Letters of Noel Coward
Book Review: Noel Coward Is Still Iconic
Summary: 5 Stars
I've spent a month slow-reading these letters, which taught me more than I thought I'd care to know about the periods Coward "ruled." My feeling is, anyone who wants to know what it's like to be able to paint/draw/write poetry/write novels/write plays/write films/ direct all the above/sing/act/cavort/and be completely focused while still being a party animal.....all using the same brain, needs to read these letters. The poor marketing job done on this book does not point out how it's not just what HE wrote, but what GB Shaw, Churchill, the Roosevelts, Garbo, Dietrich and like a hundred more, wrote back to the man himself...and nothing is censored. I learned tons -- for instance, did you know there was a total U.S. embargo against Great Britain before we joined WW II??
And oh yeah, Coward's true love was his Mother - gross but true. And finally, what is inside this great one's head as he puts forth a career that is beyond belief what one man can accomplish. I am reviewing this because, except for Amazon, this book, reviewed wholeheartedly on the front page of the NYT, was unavailable that same week--in any store I tried to pick it up from. But alas, you could buy a Paris Hilton bio in the front of said store. Enough shouted. Get this - before it goes out of print like all of Coward's bios. And oh yeah, Diary of Noel Coward from X years ago is an unfettered (though sexually in-explicit) muttering of someone who knew damn well we'd read his thoughts one day. Go for it.
Book Review: Full points for Noel, null points for Barry
Summary: 3 Stars
Coward is a wit, a genius, a joy, a delight to read... Which makes it all the more annoying -- and inexplicable -- to come across the editor's sneering attitude to homosexuallity.
In his introduction he says that Coward believed love was important, but not, "not the homosexual definition of love that can now not only speak but positively shout its name" -- (why, I wonder, the addition of those two words "definition of"?)
Even more obnoxious is the editor's remark towards the end of the book, when he writes how Coward "remained firmly private in his private life, a decision that one wishes today's gay community would honor."
It's true that, like many stars of the day, Coward kept his private life out of the press. But bear in mind that for much of his life homosexuality was actually illegal, at least in the UK.
Considering the content of his plays -- and his letters -- I think it's fair to say he was, in fact, far from private. He was extremely public, but he used code. And it is impossible for the disapproving Mr. Day to say how Coward would or would not have behaved had he lived in more enlightened time. The editor's sour note seems at odds with the gay -- in all senses of the word -- sensibility of Coward's words and life.
Book Review: BUT NOT FOR ME!
Summary: 3 Stars
I loved the idea of visiting the sparkling and witty Noel Coward through his correspondence. However, I was not prepared to peruse every single scrap of paper that ever passed through the man's hands. I cannot really write a review as I was unable to finish the 700 plus pages. The whole thing began to feel like a forced march. From early on (dear Darling old Mummy-snooks) until I gave up somewhere around page 200 (Dear, dear, Noley) the pressure of all of these darlings and dearests weighted heavy. I wish the editor, Barry Day, had taken his task a bit more seriously and cut to the chase. Even the luminaries in Noel Coward's life sometimes wrote less than delicious notes to each other. But, to each his own.
Sign me Dearest old Dearest.
Book Review: Delirious and wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
If ever there was a book that offered more delirious pleasure , i don't know of it!!! What a treasure trove , i am spacing it out so that i don't race through it - What a life and what letters!!!. It is a shame that computers and e mail have killed the written letter - there will be no more books like this coming down the pike.... of course i cannot think of anyone who even remotely resembles Noel Coward either . so maybe the golden age is past..... if anyone wishes to correct me , feel free - i would be eager to change my mind if there were evidence.....Book Review: No coward he.
Summary: 5 Stars
A fine purchase for people interested in the life of Noel Coward and/or the history of the stage and screen over the first three-quarters of the last century. (If you have no interest in either of these two topics, consider buying another book.)
The editor, Mr. Day, is excellent in helping the reader understand the context of this diverse material while not interfering unnecessarily with the main object of interest, the vividly written letters to and from the great English wit, playwright, actor, and man of the world.