A Short Walk from Harrods: A Memoir

Description

First published in 1993, this is volume six of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs. Forced into returning to London because of his manager and his partner's rapidly deteriorating health, Bogarde must re-adapt to life in the West London neighbourhoods that groomed him as an aspiring young actor. But with his fame fading and his descent into old age, the entire process becomes rather difficult to endure. He stalks the streets like an 'apologetic turtle' and avoids society, announcing with his effortless wit that he shall, from then on, only do 'matinees' because he is too tired to go out in the evenings. Although this memoir finds Bogarde at his most vulnerable, he retains the lucidity and charm that makes his writing so enjoyable. As ever, he expresses a deep sentimentality that ensures no detail goes unnoticed or unfelt.

Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death In Venice. As well as completing six novels, Bogarde wrote several volumes of autobiography. Between 1947 and 1991, Bogarde made more than sixty films. For over two decades he lived in Italy and France, where he began to write seriously. In 1985 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of St Andrews and in 1990 was promoted to Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

The autobiography comes full circle - appropriately enough, because this is a book in which people come to terms with the past, make peace with inner demons, learn to say goodbye to loved ones and become sensitive, caring human beings * The Independent *