Customer Reviews
Got to be British... - By: S. Anderson, 17 Dec 2008 
Fantastic book - interesting reading the reviews of some of the other people: It seems the positive reviews are mainly from British people, & this is probably because Stephen Fry is so unbelievably English that to an American or an Austrian it may seem like puerile drivel. Being German, it took me a while (30 years!) to get used to the humor, but trust me, it really is EXCRUCIATINGLY funny.
Funny, informative, different - know what you're getting... - By: Dodster, 19 Nov 2008 I wonder what some people expect from this book. When I bought it I expected a light hearted trip through the history of classical music. That is what I got.
The book may not be exclusively written by Stephen Fry, (as is clearly stated on the cover), but it certainly has his voice & humour running throughout. The humour can at times be silly, but then that the is the style of the Stephen Fry. On one or two occasions it has made me laugh out loud!
I like the short 'sound-bite' sections the book is divided up into. It is informative. I now know quite a few things about composers & classical music I didn't before. There is not a great depth of information, but enough that if a certain period or composer is of interest, more scholarly books can be sought out.
Allin all I think this is a very entertaining read & a great introduction to classical music - if you are engaged by the style of Stephen Fry!!!
Amusing, refreshing and genuinely interesting read - By: giraffe123, 12 Jul 2008 
I first borrowed this book a while ago from the library. I haven't read any other books by Stephen Fry, only seen & enjoyed him on the small & big screen. While the book is indeed written "As told to Tim Lihoreau", its content is still Frysian, & evnthough I couldn't possibly argue whether it is typical, I definitely found it highly enjoyable.
The book reads like a charm, from cover to cover, & back again for reference. The humour is cheeky & silly at times, but never offensively so,in fact it is this light & playful style that packed more information into my memory than reading an entirely serious text ever could. Never patronising to the reader, this book will appeal to many people who may be scared off Classical Music as being "posh" (which is crying shame!), & if you are too precious to have fun with a wonderful subject, such as music, & an often frustrating & saddening subject, such as history, then what is wit good for?! :)
Personally, I extended this book so much at the library, I decided to just buy it. It's a friend :)
unreadable - By: J. Jenkins, 10 Mar 2008 
I felt as though I was being arched & punned & whimsied to death. An insult to any reader any age any amount of previous knowledge. Just awful.
Does what it says on the tin - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 27 Oct 2007 
The thing to understand about this book, apart from the fact that it isn't really written by Fry himself, is that it is indeed incomplete, as it saysin the title. I approached this with high hopes after reading his excellent book on poetry, & found myself somewhat disappointed. If I had read it first I suspect I may not have been so underwhelmed. As it is, there are very few books available which offer a readable, albeit necessarily potted history of classical music, & when approaching the subject as a rank amateur, desperatelyin need of a way into the genre one takes what one can get. It isn't technical, it doesn't have all the answers, it doesn't cover everything & there are some terrible jokesin it, but it does offer a glimpse into & reasonable overview of the world of classical music without either being 12 billion pages long, or so technical you haven't a hopein hell. This,in my opinion, is a good thing.
