A very slight disappointment - Rated 
I thoroughly enjoyed The Noel Coward Diaries, edited by Graham Payn and Sheridan Morley and therefore I was looking forward to reading some more of The Master's barbed quips in the book, edited by Barry Day.
In fact, there was much of it that I did enjoy, but I was really not prepared for so many letters written to Coward, as opposed to from him. I really would have preferred the letters to have been in chronological sequence, instead of lumping the correspondence to Gertie Lawrence altogether in one chapter. It is rather confusing when it is not made immediately clear who is sending a letter to whom, especially when nicknames are used to start and/or finish - or indeed, when no reference is made at all.
But this is criticism of the editing, not the letters by Noel Coward which are everything the reader would expect; sharp, very amusing and brilliantly composed. A book which can be dipped into, time and time again.
THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY - Rated 
Granted, some very fine biographies have been written, those that seem to paint seamless portraits. Yet, for this reader nothing can compare to someone's letters, written with no thought that they will ever be read by anyone save the recipient. These letters are mirrors, if you will, of a person's thoughts and emotions. They are in the person's own words - every adjective, nuance, inflection is his or her choice. And when the choices are Noel Coward's, it is pleasurable reading indeed.
Urbane, witty, snippy, multi-talented, observant, caring, Coward had talent to spare. He was a songwriter, playwright, actor, artist, bon vivant, advisor, trusted friend. And such friends they were - from Marlene Dietrich to the Queen Mother to Somerset Maugham to Liz Taylor (whom he once described as being "hung with rubies and diamonds and looking like a pregnant Pagoda."
His quick wit was always razor sharp, used both to bolster and skewer. When his old friend Clifton Webb lost his mother, Webb was evidently given to prolonged crying bouts which caused Coward to comment, "It must be rough to be orphaned at seventy-one."
His jests and jibes made him a wanted guest and sought after companion. Many of these witticisms are contained in this delightful compendium of letters both from and to Coward. Thoughtfully arranged by Barry Day they are a chronicle of Coward's life from his earliest days when at the age of two he had to taken from church because he danced in the aisle to accompany the hymn being played. He faithfully sent a weekly missive to his mother, Violet. Thus, we're privy to what life was like for child actors at the turn of the century. During this period he met the 15-year-old Gertrude Lawrence who would play a large part in his professional life. Later, he telegraphed her re his play Private Lives: "Have written delightful new comedy stop good part for you stop wonderful one for me stop."
He first sailed to New York in 1921, where he was convinced that much of his future lay. Indeed, it did although he belonged to the world. Success was to follow success.
The Letters of Noel Coward is not only a joyful visit with Coward but a chapter of theatrical history. It's a weighty 753 page volume, and it's a keeper as I find myself returning to it to browse and savor again the turn of a phrase or Coward's unparalleled ripostes. Thanks to Barry Day for giving us the great pleasure of his company.
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
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