Naked
Just over a year ago I came to a dreaded title in the big pile of books I was planning to read - 'So Me' by Graham Norton. I've long despised the man as a comedian so I was convinced that I'd hate his autobiography, but my mum convinced me to at least give it a go and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. It wasn't especially camp or ditzy, and for all that it's never going to get a prize for its literary value it was generally a good investment of my time.
Flash forward to the start of this week, and The Naked Civil Servant is top of my pile of books. Suddenly, everything I feared about Graham Norton's autobiography is rearing its ugly head and I find myself hating Quentin Crisp more and more with every page. I don't know who is to blame for this thing staying in print, but quite frankly they need to be shot!
Yes, it's probably one of the first accounts of being homosexual in the twentieth century. And yes, that it quite ground breaking given sodomy had been illegal until not long before publication. But is this book really how early twentieth century homosexuality wants to be remembered? I may be speaking out of line since I wasn't born back then, but I rather suspect the answer would be "hell no!"
It's days like today that I realise that 'fame' really is all you need to sell something. With the right name attached, quality really means nothing.
Flash forward to the start of this week, and The Naked Civil Servant is top of my pile of books. Suddenly, everything I feared about Graham Norton's autobiography is rearing its ugly head and I find myself hating Quentin Crisp more and more with every page. I don't know who is to blame for this thing staying in print, but quite frankly they need to be shot!
Yes, it's probably one of the first accounts of being homosexual in the twentieth century. And yes, that it quite ground breaking given sodomy had been illegal until not long before publication. But is this book really how early twentieth century homosexuality wants to be remembered? I may be speaking out of line since I wasn't born back then, but I rather suspect the answer would be "hell no!"
It's days like today that I realise that 'fame' really is all you need to sell something. With the right name attached, quality really means nothing.