Non-Fiction Books

Over the years, when not wearing his acting, television or novelist trousers, Stephen Fry has written many articles for magazines, newspapers and radio. Collected together in this excellent volume, the reader will find the print debut of Professor Donald Trefusis; a previously undiscovered Sherlock Holmes mystery; discourses on the subjects of piles and critics, and many more witty and incisive articles from the pages of the Listener and the Daily Telegraph .

Both wildly funny and moving -- a journal of Stephen Fry’s bid to rescue Peru’s endangered spectacled bears. Spectacled Bear : The spectacled bear is small and dark, ranging in colour from black to brown, and a few have a reddish tinge. It has distinctive circular or semicircular creamy white markings on the face around the eyes, reminiscent of spectacles. Stephen Fry : Large, unwieldy and with a distinctive bent nose and characteristic rumbling tones. Wide-buttocked from hours of sitting at writing desks and on barstools. It has been a personal mission of Stephen Fry’s to draw the world’s attention to this endangered species. A BBC television programme of Fry’s Peru trip was broadcast on New Year’s Day 2002, and a follow-up programme was made when he went back to Peru and helped to rescue a mate for the first young bear. This is his diary of the experience. It is packed with beautiful colour pictures of Stephen, bears and Peru and it is, of course, wildly funny. Stephen Fry is set to become the Diane Fossey of the bear world. All author proceeds will go to “Bear Rescue.”

A riotous, rambling and incomplete history of classical music, complete with leg measurements Hello, I'm Stephen Fry. Now time for the first outing of a brand, spanking new feature here on The Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music . . . putting some unsuspecting figure in music under the spotlight.' Stephen Fry presents a brilliantly rambling 700-year history of classical music and the world as we know it. Along this musical journey he casually throws in references to pretty much whatever takes his fancy, from the Mongol invasion of Russia and Mr. Khan (Genghis to his friends), the founding of the MCC, the Black Death (which once again became the new black in England), to the heady revolutionary atmosphere of Mozart's Don Giovanni and the deep doo-doo that Louis XVI got into (or "du-du" as the French would say). It's all here—Ambrose and early English plainsong, Bach, Mozart (beloved of mobile phones everywhere), Beethoven, Debussy, Wagner (the old romantic), right up to the present day. Entertaining and brilliantly written, this is a pretty reckless romp of a history through classical music and much much more.

Britain''s best-loved comic genius Stephen Fry turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab. Stephen''s account of his adventures is filled with his unique humour, insight and warmth in the fascinating book that orginally accompanied his journey for the BBC1 series.''Stephen Fry is a treasure of the British Empire.'' – The GuardianStephen Fry has always loved America, in fact he came very close to being born there. Here, his fascination for the country and its people sees him embarking on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its 50 states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, beliefs and landscapes combine to create such a remarkable nation.Starting on the eastern seaboard, Stephen zig-zags across the country in his London taxicab, talking to its hospitable citizens, listening to its music, visiting its landmarks, viewing small-town life and America''s breath-taking landscapes – following wherever his curiosity leads him.Stephen meets a collection of remarkable individuals – American icons and unsung local heroes alike. Stephen starts his epic journey on the east coast and zig-zags across America, stopping in every state from Maine to Hawaii. En route he discovers the South Side of Chicago with blues legend Buddy Guy, catches up with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, strides around with Ted Turner on his Montana ranch, marches with Zulus in New Orleans'' Mardi Gras, and drums with the Sioux Nation in South Dakota; joins a Georgia family for thanksgiving, ''picks'' with Bluegrass hillbillies, and finds himself in a Tennessee garden full of dead bodies.Whether in a club for failed gangsters (yes, those are real bullet holes) or celebrating Halloween in Salem (is there anywhere better?), Stephen is welcomed by the people of America – mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers and hobos, bringing to life the oddities and splendours of each locale.A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry in America is our author''s homage to this extraordinary country.