The Fry Chronicles
Moab Is My Washpot: An Autobiography | |
Followed by | More Fool Me: A Memoir |
---|
The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography is the 2010 autobiography of
The book is Fry's ninth, and his second volume of autobiography. Critics have called the book "candid, sincere, and charming, with insightful commentary if occasionally flat stories".[citation needed]
It was published by Michael Joseph on 13 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It was simultaneously published as an e-book (in regular and an enhanced version), an
Background
Fry travelled to Los Angeles in January 2010 to write his second autobiography, when he publicly announced his "self-imposed exile" from various online services, such as Twitter. Fry returned to Britain and various online services in late April 2010. He publicly announced his return on his blog that there had been a few "exceptions" to his self-imposed exile and that he planned to gradually return to Twitter, so as not to annoy his followers. In it he also described his life while working on his book, saying that he wrote solely in the mornings, from "about 5 AM till lunchtime", leaving afternoons and early evenings for "other things". He acknowledges his "peculiar" lifestyle when writing, saying it is "the only way to coax a book out of me".[1]
Contents
Stephen Fry's first memoir,
The Fry Chronicles tells of his life up to his 30th birthday, covering his time at university, his rise to success as a writer and performer, meeting
The dedication of The Fry Chronicles reads simply "To M'Coll" meaning Hugh Laurie. Fry and Laurie both refer to each other as "M'Colleague" in their TV show A Bit of Fry and Laurie.
Style
Chapters in The Fry Chronicles are organised under headings all beginning with the letter "C". The book ends with Fry taking cocaine, a subject that he expands on in his third autobiography More Fool Me: A Memoir.
Fry acknowledges that he uses 100 words where "ten would do" and he defends this as showing his "great, generous love of words".[citation needed]
Promotion and release
The book was launched with a preview performance on 13 September 2010 at the Royal Festival Hall to promote the release of The Fry Chronicles. The event was broadcast, direct via satellite, to 60 locations across the United Kingdom.[2]
Publication
I am as pleased as punch by this wonderful response, but it especially delights me to know that our attempt to offer five such different and distinctive ways of reading and responding to the book has born fruit.
Stephen Fry on publishing The Fry Chronicles.[3]
The Fry Chronicles was the first publication to be published simultaneously as a conventionally printed book, an electronically enhanced
eBook
It was released as a regular eBook with an electronically enhanced version released exclusively via the
iOS application
The iOS application, titled MyFry, can be used on an iPhone, iPad or iPod. The applications interface is centred on a dynamic index that allows readers to explore the book's content in a non-linear fashion.[5]
Artwork
The photograph on the front cover of the book was taken by David Eustace in June 2010. Eustace was approached by John Hamilton, on behalf of Penguin Books.[6] Fry is dressed in a corduroy jacket and checkered shirt. The pattern used on the hardback book's endpaper coordinates with the socks that Fry is wearing on the book cover.
Reception
The Fry Chronicles debuted at No. 1 on The Sunday Times list of non-fiction best-sellers in England. It sold 37,000 copies in the first five days of its release, outselling the next most popular title, Lee Child's 61 Hours, by 8,000 copies.
References
- ^ Fry, Stephen (1 May 2010). "Back to Britain". Official site of Stephen Fry. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- National Media Museum. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- Pearson. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ^ Williams, David (13 September 2010). "Appy Memories? Stephen Fry Unveils e-Memoirs". Sky News. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- Fast Company. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ^ Corbett, Holly (June 2010). "The Fry Chronicles". David Eustace. Retrieved 1 December 2010.