ABRIDGED
AUDIO BOOK
4½ HOURS ON 4 CDs
READ BY THE AUTHOR
The whimsical musical introduction to each disk
of this audio book sets the tone for the delightful experience
of getting to know Rupert Everett. Perhaps best known as Julia
Robert's gay friend in My Best Friend's Wedding, Rupert Everett
shows himself to be a witty, articulate observer of humankind.
Born to an affluent couple in Great Britain, Rupert attended
private schools until he convinced his parents to let him
abandon academia in favor of a career on the stage. Even a
child, Rupert recognized that his preferences differed from
those of most of the boys around him. There is a very funny
scene where he salvages one of his mother's discarded skirts
and dances around as his idol, Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins.
Rupert has been befriended by many literary and
theatrical celebrities over the last four decades. He tells
of time spent with Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger and Madonna
in as casual a manner as the rest of us might describe a high
school club meeting. He uses the English language the way
a gifted artist would use a palate of fresh oil colors and
a blank canvas. When he describes the green room of a Glasgow
theater as a place where "one could score anything from
drugs to a washing machine," he not only paints the picture,
but he suggests the smell of the paint.
This audio book was so enjoyable that it invites
periodic rehearing. Rupert Everett's informed views of a vast
range of diverse environments, from a traditional English
upbringing, to life on the streets to celebrity acclaim are
presented in matter of fact, kindhearted prose. I found myself
laughing out loud at some of his improbable, but expressive
similes and metaphors. Aware and accepting of his own shortcomings,
he is able to point out others' weaknesses without seeming
spiteful or unkind. He sounds like the kind of concerned,
supportive, funny companion anyone would want to have, so
it's no wonder that he was able to fill his entertaining audio
book with so many anecdotes about famous friends and colleagues.
,
by Rupert Everett
