Product Description

A publishing event! The first and definitive collection of letters (most of them previously unpublished) both from and to the incomparable Noël Coward, a unique and irresistible portrait of a society and age—from the Blitz to the Ritz and beyond.

The range, charm, and vitality of his talents—he was a playwright, actor, composer, librettist, lyricist, director, painter, writer, cabaret singer, wit—brought him into close encounters, and often close friendship, with the great and the gifted. He knew everybody who was anybody in the theater and in the movies, in literature and in politics, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Among those at his “marvelous party”: George Bernard Shaw . . . T. E. Lawrence . . . Virginia Woolf . . . the Churchills . . . Daphne Du Maurier . . . Greta Garbo (she wrote asking him to marry her; he wrote back saying he almost accepted) . . . Ian Fleming . . . W. Somerset Maugham . . . Marlene Dietrich (he advised her, “To hell with God damned ‘L’Amour.’ It always causes far more trouble than it is worth”) . . . Tallulah Bankhead . . . Edith Sitwell . . . FDR . . . Gertrude Lawrence (in a cable about Private Lives: “Have written delightful new comedy stop good part for you stop wonderful one for me stop”), and many more.

There are letters about his productions of Bitter Sweet . . . Cavalcade . . . In Which We Serve . . . Brief Encounter . . . Private Lives, etc. . . . about his activities during World War II (he was a spy for the British government along with co-conspirator Cary Grant) . . . about the move to make him a knight that was endorsed in a personal letter from King George VI and blocked by Winston Churchill. Here are letters to and from his beloved mother, Violet . . . his longtime set and costume designer, Gladys Calthrop . . . his traveling companion from the 1930s on, Lord Amherst . . . and his business manager and onetime lover, Jack Wilson, in which he reveals his “secret heart.”

Profoundly savvy, witty, loving, bitchy, and often surprisingly moving, The Letters of Noël Coward gives us “Destiny’s Tot” at his crackling best. An irresistible portrait of a time, of the man himself, and of the world he lived in and enchanted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212514 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-13
• Released on: 2007-11-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 800 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Writers labor to come up with lines half as good as those Noël Coward dropped into the mailbox every day—I felt that some sort of scene was necessary to celebrate my first entrance into America, so I said, 'Little lamb, who made thee,' to a customs official. The playwright, actor and songwriter is in fine form in these missives, telegrams and poems (he would rhyme almost anything, even communications to his business manager), presented along with return mail from friends and luminaries. Day (Coward on Film: The Cinema of Noel Coward) arranges the well-chosen selections in roughly chronological order with some unobtrusive narrative context; at times he spotlights a lifelong correspondence with a single person to flesh out Coward's relationships, such as with Gertrude Lawrence. Coward's voice is charming, whimsical, sharp-eyed and canny, often alternating, in the showbiz way, between effusive warmth (letter to Tallulah Bankhead: Thank you very much, darling, for all your sweetness and your insane generosity) and cutting putdown (letter about Tallulah Bankhead: a conceited slut). A true intellectual of the stage, his comments on the nitty-gritty of writing, pacing, character and acting technique are incisive. Fans of Coward's plays and students of 20th-century theater will be fascinated, but casual readers will also find an entertaining browse. Photos. (Nov. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Coward was a genius [and] as we see here, a letter writer extraordinaire…What we get is much more than Coward’s letters, however delectable…We also get letters to Coward, many of them as entertaining as [his] for he corresponded with many of the mightiest pens in literature and show business…The result is a first class biography.”

–John Simon, The New York Times Book Review


“Barry Day has done a superb job with the collection…it is a feast...”

– Edward Herrmann, The Wall Street Journal


“(It) glitters with the multi-gifted playwright’s claws-out bitchiness, tremendous charm, and creative genius…”

– Vanity Fair


“Evocative…addressed to an astonishing array of people…”

– Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times


“Delightful, absorbing, skillfully-shaped; this collection enables the reader to be part of Coward’s extended family.”

– Robert Kimball

“Thanks to Noel and Barry, ‘I feel I’ve been to a marvelous party.’ What a treat!”

– Rosemary Harris

 “The sheen of the Coward legacy is further polished with this fascinating document of an important era in our collective cultural history. Sir Noel continues to be impertinently pertinent!”

– Michael Feinstein

 “Noel Coward’s letters are everything one would expect: witty, sentimental, peevish, touching. They are wonderful to read. What astounds me, however, is Barry Day’s brilliant, imaginatively edited commentary. He sets the letters up with care and intelligence; Noel Coward comes to life because the letters have been placed in such an informed and vivid context.”

– Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, Lin...

Review
Coward was a genius [and] as we see here, a letter writer extraordinaire…What we get is much more than Coward’s letters, however delectable…We also get letters to Coward, many of them as entertaining as [his] for he corresponded with many of the mightiest pens in literature and show business…The result is a first class biography.”

–John Simon, The New York Times Book Review


“Barry Day has done a superb job with the collection…it is a feast...”

– Edward Herrmann, The Wall Street Journal


“(It) glitters with the multi-gifted playwright’s claws-out bitchiness, tremendous charm, and creative genius…”

– Vanity Fair


“Evocative…addressed to an astonishing array of people…”

– Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times


“Delightful, absorbing, skillfully-shaped; this collection enables the reader to be part of Coward’s extended family.”

– Robert Kimball

“Thanks to Noel and Barry, ‘I feel I’ve been to a marvelous party.’ What a treat!”

– Rosemary Harris

 “The sheen of the Coward legacy is further polished with this fascinating document of an important era in our collective cultural history. Sir Noel continues to be impertinently pertinent!”

– Michael Feinstein

 “Noel Coward’s letters are everything one would expect: witty, sentimental, peevish, touching. They are wonderful to read. What astounds me, however, is Barry Day’s brilliant, imaginatively edited commentary. He sets the letters up with care and intelligence; Noel Coward comes to life because the letters have been placed in such an informed and vivid context.”

– Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater



“Noel Coward is my number one hero. As far as I’m concerned, the British have a monopoly on humor, and our beloved Noel has a monopoly within a monopoly.”

– Hugh Martin

“A sumptuous banquet! Bringing Coward’s world so vividly to life that I keep expecting him to walk through the door.”

– Lynn Redgrave

 
“So many letters from his friends makes the telling of Noel’s life so much deeper and well-rounded. All in all, a rich book with a remarkably protean hero who both shapes and reflects his times.”


– Margot Peters


“Master had a singular impact on so many of our lives and Barry Day’s perceptive analysis of his correspondence is both illuminating and irresistible. Noel’s renowned wit, his unfailing generosity, his acute sense of contemporary history is here for everyone to enjoy.”

– Richard Attenborough


“Precise, Witty, remarkably observed, and gloriously English.”

– Judi Dench


“Thirty years after his death, it seems increasingly obvious that Noël Coward is the most enduring English playwright of the mid twentieth century. This meticulously edited collection of his letters will excite and amuse anyone interested in him, the theatre and his staggeringly wide circle of correspondents.”

– Nicholas Hytner, Artistic Director at the National Theatre


“A uniquely charming and enticing journey through a remarkable life. Coward’s own record is made all the more delightful by the wise and helpful interpolations of Barry Day, the soundest authority on the Master that there is.”

– Stephen Fry


“Here you get the truly private Noël…what really matters is the insight we get from these letters into a far more complex, thoughtful and kindly figure than the one we thought we knew.”

– Sheridan Morley

Customer Reviews

THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY
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 be 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

Noel, Noel
Day, Barry, editor. "The Letters of Noel Coward", Knopf, 2007.

Noel, Noel

Amos Lassen

Noel Coward is a legend in theater history and now we get to look behind the scenes at one of the shakers and movers of modern times. "The Letters of Noel Coward" is richly funny, deeply sincere, and a wonderful read.
The letters, edited by Barry Day, include letters written by Coward as well as letters written to him. It is absolutely amazing to see that some of the most outstanding people in literature and show business are either writers or recipients of the correspondence included in the book. John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guiness, Irene Worth, David Niven, Marlene Dietrich, Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Ian Fleming are all there right alongside many of the aristocrats of Great Britain, statesman and royalty. The editor not only gives us the letters but he amplifies and explains with great detail as well as provides biographical and background information and we not only get the letters but a biography of a man with one of the sharpest minds of modern times. And of course there is gossip and lots of it.
Noel Coward was many things but above all else, he was a genius. He was an actor, a playwright, a lyricist and a composer. He wrote novels, short stories and poet to a degree. He wrote his autobiography; he wrote about travel and he wrote great letters. He could make us laugh and he was a good friend to many. To his mother, who was his chief correspondent, he was the model son. Coward worshipped her and he wrote her a letter a week during her life. The letters between the two, mother and son, read like a love story.
Day divides the book into four sections with titles from the words of Noel Coward but interspersed throughout the book are sections entitles "Intermission" where Day looks at relationships in detail and gives the information to make everything crystal clear.
Coward's sharp wit is there throughout as well as some very serious thoughts especially those reflecting his love for England. He loved the Queen and she loved him. But if one thing is to characterize Noel Coward it is his comedy. His humor never seemed planned and was often "off the cuff".
Noel Coward was also very gay but he kept his private life very private. His letters break down a bit of that privacy and give us a true picture of the man. Barry Day has done quite a job and a service to us all by bringing Coward back to all of us and I feel like singing to the tune of "Hello Dolly, "Hello Noel, it's so nice to have you back where you belong".

Coward: A Genius
If There Wasn't Death

Noel Coward was a genius. In 1925, he had four plays running in the West End. He was twenty-six years old. The first play that brought him success and recognition was The Vortex, about a middle aged woman who is sleeping around with younger men, and one day her young son comes home. The Lord Chancellor of London briefly thought about banning the play for reference to drug use (Coward had to appear in person and plead his case to the contrary)and for deep Freudian implications and someone said to ban the play was to ban Hamlet forever.
I am just mentioning this to show what kind a mature thinker Coward was at an early age. He wrote extensively, and he wrote verses which were funny, tart and at times poignant:
Cocktails and laughter
But what comes after?
Nobody knows.

He had a tendency to sign his epistles with terms like Poppa, Snoop, Master.
In case you did not know, he was gay.
But his inner circle consisted of three women, including Joyce Carey, daughter of Lillian Brathwaite who played the unhappy woman, mother to Coward in the Vortex. (Don't confuse her with him: Joyce Cary, the celebrated Irish novelist), Gladys Calthrop and the invaluable Lornie. So whatever he was, he was not flashing it around.
He helped Laurence Olivier's early career (Larry might not have agreed to that) and John Gielgud was his understudy in the Vortex.
This is an epistolary feast, spanning decades and stretching to 800 pages in the current tome.
It is delicious, it is delectable and one reads and wonders what manner of man could think of such lines as:

With shoulder-straps of shagreen and maybe
A brassiere of lapis lazuli.

Forget that one truth must be faced-
Although you may measure repentance at leisure-
You HAVEN'T been married in haste.
This was interestingly to Ian Fleming (remember him?) for they worked in British Intelligence during the war.

I am not going to mention the oft repeated Mad Dogs . . . but his was a free spirit, although at times incarcerated in relationships (Jack Wilson for example.)

Still it is a triumph for Barry Day, the editor.I have read letters of many great letter writers (the last one was of John Gielgud) and in this book the arrangement-closing a chapter by breaking chronology and adding comments that gives this book almost a novel like quality. One can get lost in it like in a Noel Coward play and not realize these are just a bunch of letters.

I strongly recommend the book to literature lovers, playgoers, appreciator of verses and of the glorious English Theatre. (I put the spelling knowingly)