Customer Reviews
First Biography - By: StyleeBob, 09 Feb 2007 
I picked this up to read on the train when I first started work & was the first biography I read. That was over fifteen years ago & I still remember much of this book. David Niven takes you through the highs & lows of his life. You are taken on a journey from the early twentieth century through his school years to Hollywood, back home to serve his countryin the second world war, to the changing times of the sixties. There are real highs & a devastating blow that you would not want to experiencein your own life. This book covers a span of time & experience that current biographies (Jade/Chantelle etc etc) cannot match as none of these chancers have experienced anything yet!
Excellent - By: N. A. Robinson, 25 Sep 2006 This autobiography is one of the best I have read. Often hilarious but tempered with tragedy & sadness this is a very honest account of a very self-effacing,likeable man(Niven seems surprised to have got where he did).An easy to read difficult to put down book; it will have youin fits of laughter. Enjoy!
Wonderful - By: Rebecca Longden, 01 Sep 2006 I first read this book when I was about 14 & try to read it at least once every couple of years. Its laugh out loud funny, touching & charming. From the moment I first read this wonderful book I fellin love with this true gentleman & only wish I could have spent just one hourin his company.
Everyone must read it at least once & find out what it means to have real class.
Simply a great read. - By: Ned Middleton, 22 May 2006 David Niven was not always a star. He had to go away & learn his tradein "B" movies before being allowed to enter the big time. He learnt that trade well but, unlike some who were destined to become greats of Hollywood, he also put his entire acting career on hold whilst he served as an officerin a fighting unit throughout WW2.
This book tells the first half of his life's story & what a story it is. Like every biography ever written, the best bits do not happen at the beginning, so some readers, therefore, might find it slow going at first. Though many will not. But then we meet the rich & famous stars of Hollywood from another era & learn a little about each of these people & their various relationships as we move from one to another & sometimes back again.
Writtenin David Niven's own hilarious style, there is so much humour here that you "will" find yourself insisting others read this book. In fact, it is so funny - especially his descriptions of the wrong use of English words by foreign movie directors, one finishes the bookin the knowledge that had David Niven not become an Oscar-winning movie star, he would easily have achieved great success as a writer.
The underlying theme, of course, is David Niven's life and, as one reviewer has already said, this book leaves you wishing you had met this man. Me too.
NM
If the moons a balloon then niven holds the balloon - By: , 07 May 2004 I wasnt really interestedin this book originally, my father had implored me to read it for the last 4 years however i havent seen any films with nivenin & really wasnt interested. eventually i did decide that i may as well read it becuase i had some free time.
I found it initially hard to get into but i perservered & when i got into his hilarious stories about school i was hooked, i couldnt put it down. although i knew nothing about the man or his films i found his entry to hollywood fasinating & was intregued about his relationship with a prostitute.
i am now a die hard fan, i have watched many of his films & am discovering new actors like william powell & carole lobard. His humour & self-depricating descirption were wonderful, i would go as far to say that this man should have wrote books professionally, he is better than many writers today.
i would recomend this book to anyone with our without an interestin hollywood.
