An anecdotal biography by the playwright, actor, author, designer, director and entertainer, Peter Ustinov. Dear Me by Peter Ustinov
I saw Peter Ustinov live, where he talked about his life. He was so entertaining, I remember laughing until I cried. Somehow, this did not come through in his biography. I'm not sure if it is because the writing is a bit dated, or if I just was expecting something else.
The first few chapters focus on his parents, grandparents etc. rather than his own life. Even once Peter entered his own story, it remained quite dark rather than the humorous story I was hoping for. This book is on my 'unfinished' shelf as it failed to deliver for me. (I think I got about a third of the way through it.) Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction Such an interesting and funny man. This book was written in 1977, so missed out the last 27 years of his life. Sir Peter was the Stephen Fry of my youth, the person you'd invite for dinner. I grew up listening to many of the anecdotes that are in the book from his numerous appearances on Parkinson. Listening to this on audible allowed for his accents, many fluent languages and impersonations to come out how he intended. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction I thought this was dull. Although he can write, he didn't actually tell you anything. Had dinner with Frank Sinatra. So??? What happened???? One or two funny anecdotes but no personal information about acting or his feelings. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction I've never rated Ustinov highly as an actor as I've found the performances of his that I've seen to be clever but somewhat superficial. I can't remember ever feeling moved by him in a film and I've got little time for all that Hercule Poirot shite. However, I recently watched an interview with him (an extra on the DVD of Spartacus), and realised that here was one of the great speakers of the English language. I could have listened to him all day and it's obviously not for nothing that he became a famous raconteur often hired to get up on a stage and just prattle on for a couple of hours.
This book demonstrates further what a magnificent command of language he had and the way he uses words is a pleasure in itself to read. As you would expect, he's also very witty, sometimes hilariously so, but I also found much to appreciate in the more reflective moments, and his thoughts on a range of subjects from acting to the death penalty are very eloquently expressed.
There's quite a lot about his family and childhood at the beginning, but I found all of it interesting. The later years seemed a bit rushed in comparison, but you know you've read a good book when it leaves you wanting more.
I'll end with an anecdote of my own. In the '80s in London, a friend of mine (who was at the time a teenager) was being attacked in the street by a gang of skinheads. A cab pulled up and a man in his 60s sprang out and confronted them, telling them they should be ashamed of themselves and to leave my friend alone. They all ran away. That man was Peter Ustinov. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction For a clever, comic writer like Ustinov, I thought the book lacked humor, and was so self-consciously erudite that it verged on being pretentious.
I was also put-off by how very little of Ustinov himself was in the book. He spent a great deal of time detailing his family history, and delving into his parent's lives and their motivations, and not much time on his own. When he does open up, he simply gives his intellectual opinions of various matters, and shares very little of himself on a personal level.
There's a sense of opinionated disdain that permeates Ustinov's writing, a kind of pseudo-sophistication which suggests that Ustinov felt he was above including any interesting anecdotes for fear they would be seen as mere gossip -- and that would never do! He's self-deprecating at times, but he also stands upon his dignity which makes the modesty seem contrived.
In the end, it wasn't a bad read -- Ustinov had a marvelous skill with prose. But, ultimately, it's an unrevealing, uninformative and, in a what is probably the most fatal flaw for an autobiography, and uninteresting book. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction
Reading The Mystery of the Blue Train, Hercule Poirot led me to recall Peter Ustinov's autobiography - although I don't think he mentions playing him there, indeed the book strengthen the impression that he was a good raconteur who got in the lazy habit of appearing in indifferent films for easy money. But it gave him a comfortable life I suppose. The implicit idea that this is what all celebrities do is suggested by an anecdote of shortly before his imminent divorce his wife (possibly wife #1) believes he does nothing while neighbour Frank Sinatra constantly practises his singing at which point neighbour Frank is seen changing the record.
Other stories give perhaps a better sense of his story telling style, his parent Russian refugees from Germany, or maybe German refugees from Russia arrive in England his father noticing that Englishmen of a certain class wear a monocle adopts the habit of wearing two monocles to appear doubly English. While at his school sports day his mother is persuaded to participate in a race for parents and does very well for the first ten metres were upon she collapses laughing overwhelmed by the sense of the inherent ridiculousness of it all and has to be stretchered off the field to receive medical attention.
Later during WWII Ustinov finds himself turned down for Officer training in the British army, in Ustinov's opinion because he was over qualified, with men of Goldilocks intelligence being preferred over those with like himself, more considerable intellectual powers. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction
Sir Peter Ustinov's autobiography goes from his birth in April 1921, and spans his extraordinary career as actor, playwright, film star and director to the mid to late 1970's.
Narrated by the author, Ustinov's renowned gift for mimicry is exploited to the full in Dear Me.
I found it interesting and entertaining, as Peter always is on interview/talk shows. He is a storyteller who is a joy to listen to.
Would I listen to the audiobook again? Yes, I read the book back in the 90's and this is the second time that I have listened to the audiobook.
An enjoyable, entertaining read/listen.
If you like the review and would like to read my other reviews on books I have read, visit my blog at www.finalchapterreadersgroup.wordpres...... like, comment and follow. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction So good to smile while working at home, to hear the great comedy voice of Peter Ustinov, reading his own autobiography with an incredible talent of numerous dialect, you feel like the book is being read by many different characters from all nationalities...
This expertise in dialectic and physical comedy made him a regular guest of talk show hosts and late-night comedians. His witty and multidimensional humour was legendary, and he later published a collection of his jokes and quotations summarizing his wide popularity as a raconteur, this shows through so much in his audible autobiography Dear Me
He was also an internationally acclaimed TV journalist. Ustinov covered over 100,000 miles and visited more than 30 Russian cities during the making of his well-received BBC television series Russia (1986).
In his autobiographies, Dear Me (1977) and My Russia (1996), Ustinov revealed his observations on his life, career, and his multicultural and multi-ethnic background. He wrote and directed numerous stage plays, successfully presenting them in several countries. His drama, Photo Finish, was staged in New York, London and St. Petersburg, Russia, where Ustinov directed the acclaimed production, starring Elena Solovey and Pyotr Shelokhonov.
In addition to his acting and writing, Ustinov served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and a president of WFM, a global citizens movement. He was knighted in 1990. From 1971 until his death in 2004, Ustinov lived in a château in Bursins, Vaud, Switzerland.
Such an intelligent, witty man with a wicked dry sense of humour, his stories of so many actors, and also using these actors voices so perfectly made this audible so interesting.
A lifelong friend of David Niven, so talented in languages speaking Russian, German, Spanish, French as well as English, a talent as an actor, writer and director. He surely lived life to the full and enjoyed it !
He was knighted in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.
He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.
Was the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF from 1968 until his death in 2004.
During WWII Pvt. Peter Ustinov was batman to Lt Col David Niven.
He died of heart failure on March 28, 2004, in a clinic in Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland. His funeral service was held at Geneva's historic Cathedral of St. Pierre, and he was laid to rest in the village cemetery of Bursins. He was survived by three daughters (Tamara, Pavla, and Andrea) and one son (Igor). His epitaph may be gleaned from his comment, I am an international citizen conceived in Russia, born in England, working in Hollywood, living in Switzerland, and touring the World. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction I loved the opening chapters of this classic memoir, but the story dragged for me a bit toward the end. This is often the way with biography/autobiography - the tension is all in the early years, when the subject is not yet sure of making a success of whatever they want to do or become. Once success is affirmed, that tension dissipates. But the other thing I found oddly galling were the 'dialogues' between Ustinov and the 'Me' he holds dear. These often debate points of politics that are no longer the sensitive issues they might have been in the 1960s or 1970s, so they leave me a bit cold (as does most politics, TBH). All in all, it's a good book and worth reading if you remember Ustinov fondly, as I do. Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction RE: _Dear Me_ by Peter Ustinov
I believe I discovered this book in the bibliography of _Royal Feud_.
An Amazon customer review by Thomas Duff says:
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Dear Me by Peter Ustinov is an autobiography of the actor/screenwriter/playwright. I'm not a big film fan, and I can't say I've seen any of his acting roles or stories. But as an avid reader, I greatly enjoyed his way with words. The book takes you from his birth through 1977 when it was penned. The writing style is unique, in that he's carrying on a conversation with his internal self, or ego. The ego interjects at the end of most chapters (or at the start in some cases) and attempts to draw Ustinov out when it comes to some of his motives and thought processes. The writing is funny and sharp, as he has a great sense of irony and sarcasm. While not a encyclopedia of his life, it does dwell on many of the life episodes (like the Army) that turned him into what he became.
If you're a fan of Ustinov, then you'll likely enjoy the book a great deal. Even if you're Ustinov-ignorant like me, it's worth the time to watch how an accomplished writer can spin a tale...
FROM: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0749...
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PS-Another customer review on the same web page said:
... so many quotes that have held up through the years. Most notably; Your friends are not always the people you like best, more likely they are the people that got there first. Don't know what the previous reviewer is talking about, that alone made the book worth reading... Biographies Memoirs, Literature Fiction
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