The Orton Diaries [Paperback]

Joe Orton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1996

”To be young, good-looking, healthy, famous, comparatively rich and happy is surely going against nature.” When Joe Orton (1933–1967) wrote those words in his diary in May 1967, he was being hailed as the greatest comic playwright since Oscar Wilde for his darkly hilarious Entertaining Mr. Sloane and the farce hit Loot, and was completing What the Butler Saw; but less than three months later, his longtime companion, Kenneth Halliwell, smashed in Orton’s skull with a hammer before killing himself. The Orton Diaries, written during his last eight months, chronicle in a remarkably candid style his outrageously unfettered life: his literary success, capped by an Evening Standard Award and overtures from the Beatles; his sexual escapades—at his mother's funeral, with a dwarf in Brighton, and, extensively, in Tangiers; and the breakdown of his sixteen-year "marriage" to Halliwell, the relationship that transformed and destroyed him. Edited with a superb introduction by John Lahr, The Orton Diaries is his crowning achievement.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The plays of Joe Orton (1933–1967)—Loot, What the Butler Saw, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and others—rank with Oscar Wilde's as some of the most outrageous and hilarious of our time. He was brutally murdered by his male lover at the peak of his career.

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition edition (August 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807335
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807336
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating minutae, January 26, 2000

By 

BoyWonder19 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Orton Diaries (Paperback)

Although I admire the principle of not excessively editing artists' diaries for publication, Lahr goes a little overboard in this one, leaving in every word from the last eight months of the diary's (and Orton's) life. So no one but a hardcore fan is really going to be interested in the endless meetings, correspondences and contract negotiations which provide the mundane background for the meat of the diaries: Orton's tempestuous relationship with Kenneth Halliwell, the lover who eventually kills him; and his promiscuous sex life. But for a fan, this diary IS fascinating, and knowing the end of Orton's life in advance does give even the most mundane details an eerie cast. For gay readers, the Tangier section gives a wonderfully intricate portrait of a lost gay refuge. For me, 4 stars -- for people who couldn't care less about Joe Orton, 2 stars.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Mind of a Genius, May 24, 2003

By 

"vampilord" (Nashua, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Orton Diaries (Paperback)

Not a book for everyone, I found it very interesting. I can't say I would recommend it for anyone but those who have an interest in the art of writing, and perhaps more specifically, the plays and short life of Joe Orton. A gay man in 1960's London, when it was not fashionable to "come out," Orton was always true to himself and to his desires (as awful as they were). He was a great playwright. He was not a great person. His diary, recorded over the last six months of his life, captures a slice of history when London was at its last zenith since the Renaissance. His short life involved hit plays of outrageous farce, work with the Beatles, and inumerous actors, producers, and directors. John Lahr does an outstanding job of editing the diaries of an interesting man who was butchered in his sleep by the one person he was nothing without. I highly recommend it, together with "Prick up Your Ears," the biography also by John Lahr.

5.0 out of 5 stars Orton fans!!!, February 6, 2008

By 

wenniegirl-Tris "Tris-T" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Orton Diaries (Paperback)

Absolutely wonderful! A look inside the mind of a genius. Playful, honest, funny and a bit disturbing at times. Orton was a risk taker who got off on the danger of his pursuits as much as just getting off! I love this man and wish he was still around. The last few pages of his diary are missing as well, which just makes the life of Joe Orton even more intriguing. John Lahr has done a beauitful job.