a) A fatuous, wasted, degenerate & wholly useless existence captured in delicate, lyrical & exquisitely realised prose. b) Lightly amusing anecdotes & tender reminiscences of the great men & women encountered during a rich, varied & rewarding lifetime, fondly remembered in the tranquil evening of a career of public service. c) The autobiography of a dizzying life fuelled by the lust for power & the search for ever more degrading downward paths of repulsive sexual adventuring & self-destructive debaucheries: the unrepentant libertine author seeks revenge on his many enemies & tears the lid off the private life of blameless churchmen & librarians. Fry`s autobiography is all & none of these. too old to rock & roll, too young to die, the author looks back with bruising frankness at his life so far.