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S'està carregant… You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This: The Thoroughly Disgraceful Life and Times of Willie Donaldsonde Terence Blacker
   No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.  Lukerik | Mar 11, 2023 |   Donaldson was the descendant of a wealthy shipping family who attended Winchester and Cambridge, received a large inheritance in his early twenties, became a leading theatre impressio, putting on, amongst other ground breaking shows, Beyond the Fringe before become bankrupt more than once, including being homeless in Ibiza, then bouncing back with The Henry Root Letters, one of the biggest selling British books of the 1980s, discovering crack cocaine, writing more books but most importantly, having one of the more sordid private lives you could imagine and finally dying in a seedy flat, with lesbian porn playing on his computer. Donaldson lived a life that was made for biographers but while Blacker captures some of Donaldson's madness, his life doesn't seem to gel on the page perhaps as much as it should have. There are plenty of eye opening moments scattered throughout You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and not end up Like This, including the array of beautiful actresses and models that Donaldson somehow attracted (Carly Simon and Sarah Miles to name just two) but there was a spark missing from the writing, possibly because the author only knew Donaldson for the last third of his life and could only report on the drugs and the poor state of Donaldson's life. Read Great Disasters of the Theatre) first and then think about reading this. (  )1  MiaCulpa | Mar 7, 2023 | Donaldson was from a wealthy family and well-educated but ended up living in poverty, having been both a crack addict and pimp during his life. He was also a failed theatre impressio and successful writer. His story is one one hand the story of waste opportunity but on the other a very colourful life. Despite not being aware of Donaldson (at the height of his fame, I was 5), I knew of many of the supporting characters of actors, writers and celebrities, so still found the book interesting. (  )2 sanddancer | Sep 4, 2009 | Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
A startling and brilliant biography that reads like a Rake's Progress for the 21st century' - Daily Mail Though born into privilege and inheriting a fortune, Willie Donaldson ended up dying alone in a seedy rented flat, his computer still logged on to a lesbian porn site. To some, he had been one of the great, under-rated comic writers of our time, and to others, a dangerous force of corruption and decadence.His achievements were significant - he published Sylvia Plath while still at Cambridge, as a producer in the Sixties he staged Beyond the Fringe, and he was later to write the celebrated Henry Root Letters - but not as impressive as his reckless talent for self-destruction. The impresario became a serial bankrupt. The man about town, who had lived with Sarah Miles and been engaged to Carly Simon, ended up as a ponce in a Chelsea brothel. Success as a writer quickly led him into a dark underworld of crack addiction, fraud and sexual obsession. Now friend and collaborator, Terence Blacker unravels the intimate truth of Willie Donaldson's strange story in all its glamour, hilarity and pain.'What a young fool I was. But how I adored him' Carly Simon'A slimy crook' Private Eye'For the skill and wit of his writing he deserves to be hailed as the English Nabokov' Auberon Waugh'I am someone who always answers the phone at 1.00 am, because I know it isn't going to be my bank manager or the Inland Revenue, but probably a crack dealer or a prostitute' Willie Donaldson No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)941.085092History and Geography Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor 1945-1999 History, geographic treatment, biography BiographyLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana: (3.83)
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Very entertaining account of an unusual life. I detested Donaldson as a young man (and the book was all the better for it). I thought he was a smug little shit. Later, when things started to go wrong I warmed to him a bit. I suppose I just like the underdog. Or maybe it’s because his life-cycle exactly matches my own.
He’s an interesting mix of contrasts. Amazing ability and stunning incompetence. Funny, and foul to his friends. Teetotal and a crackhead.
It plays out against a backdrop of the small world of the British arts scene from the 50s onwards. Amazing to see how many of the people of that time are still going. Interesting to a Brit, but may be a little meaningless to others.
The book’s properly researched and written in quite an informal style. Blacker often let’s you see his workings. A good choice I think as he and Donaldson were friends. It’s biased, but Blacker’s sometimes questionable opinions are on full show and I never felt he was lying. Occasionally funny too, and a couple of times, where he quotes from Donaldson's own work I was in physical pain from laughing.
I’m going to read the Henry Root letters again now. (