The Letters of Noel Coward (Hardcover)

by Noel Coward (Author), Barry Day (Editor)
Key Phrases: present indicative, intermission dab, New York, Private Lives, Blithe Spirit (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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)
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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... --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 800 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 3rd edition (November 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375423036
• ISBN-13: 978-0375423031
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,476 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY, November 23, 2007

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Noel, Noel, November 28, 2007

By	Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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".

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coward: A Genius, December 13, 2007

By	R. Mitra "mystery writer" (Long Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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)