Excerpt: Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles

"That Stephen Fry needs no introduction is what he has always wanted." 


So begins a recent Guardian Books coverage of Fry's latest installement in what is shaping up to be a multi-tome autobiography.


And yet, judging by Fry's relentless efforts to try and have himself explained to his audience (while simultaneously avoiding any classification and throwing sand in everybody's eyes, as it were) it seems as if the 54 year old actor, writer, journalist, comedian, television presenter, film director and director of Norwich City Football Club (is there anything Fry hasn't put his hand into? Oops! double meaning..) is doing everything he can in order to make that introduction a necessary factor of every (chance or not) encounter!


Indeed, there's not much Fry hasn't done over the past 30 years or so.. The man isn't considered a `National Treasure' in vain, after all.. 


Though he's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Fry suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in a West End play..) Fry has managed to publish 10 books thus far (amongst which one can find four novels, several non-fiction works and two volumes of autobiography.) He's also narrated countless audiobooks (amongst which, J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series of audio books, Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy audiobook, and, of course, his own novels' audiobooks..) His voice has been featured in a number of video games.


All this without mentioning his rich acting career: Theatre, Radio, Film - these are no strangers to Stephen Fry..


So much for the (elusive) intro. Let's cut to the chase..


Thirteen years after he's published Moab is My Washpot, the first chapter in his Memoirs, Stephen Fry returns with a sequel, The Fry Chronicles.


In Moab is My Washpot (Excerpt Reader devotees can catch up with an excerpt from the book here) Fry covers the first 20 years of his life, from cradle to college, so to speak.. 


Moab is a classic Black-Sheep story.. A dishonorable schoolboy who can't help but steal, cheat and lye, Fry is a terribly insecure yet highly intelligent little brat who finds himself entangled in one 'plot' after the other: One moment we find him manifesting his hatred for P.E. lessons (non-Brits won't understand..), coming to terms with his sexuality, struggling to understand maths, etc.. & the next we see him coping with prison, having stolen some credit cards from some very nice people and forged their signatures..


But don't worry (here comes a spoiler..) Everything is alright by book's end: the young Fry does everything he possibly can to catch up with his studies and makes it into Cambridge, where he will go on to meet fellow actors Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. 


So now he's got the sequel out.. 


What's it about? 


Embracing a trio of publishing platforms, combining the traditional with the modern (the book was simultaneously published as an iPhone App, iPad eBook and AudioBook, as well as the ever-so-traditional book form, paper and all - Mr Fry is well known for his passion for gadgetry,) The Fry Chronicles tells us what Fry got up to after leaving gaol. 


After Cambridge, Fry goes into lengthy, amusing little stories of the TV shows he's made, the many articles he's written, and of course, how he'd trousered his first million by adapting a musical, ‘Me and My Girl’. The book ends in August 1987, his 30th birthday, at his agreeable six bedroom house in Norfolk, leaving ample room for a third, and perhaps even fourth tome of the Grand-Autobiography.. 


Judging by his Twitter testimonials, Fry hasn't been working on the 448 pages which comprise The Fry Chronicles for too long (Fry's testified last April in his twitter account to his 1,888,895 followers that he'll be taking some time off to write the second tome of his memoir. He was back a couple of months later..)

Still, there's no denying a polymath, prolific writer like Mr. Fry has the writing potency of 10 able writers, which makes the reading of The Fry Chronicles, well, any of his books for this matter, a considerable enjoyment on any reader's part.


Not convinced yet??

Why don't you let Mr. Fry himself convince you: