Product Description

Following the publication of "The Kenneth Williams Diaries", this is a collection of his letters. Corresponding with all manner of people, including Alec Guinness, Maggie Smith, Joe Orton, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and the Stokers' Mess of "HMS Leverton", the letters call forth the performer in Williams - many are virtual comic monologues. They evoke the likeable and constructive nature of a man who remains, neverthless as outrageous and "difficult" as ever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216893 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
These letters are even more interesting than Williams' Diaries, and present a considerably more sympathetic portrait of the man. A lot of theatre gossip; some literary criticism; some philosophy; a lot of - sometimes very funny - smutty talk. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

An excellent insight into a 20th century legend
Kenneth was a prolific letter writer, and a great one too. He could talk about endless subjects (religion, homosexuality, acting etc) and make them all sound interesting. Some of the people he communicated with were famous (such as Richard Burton and Stanley Baxter), others were just 'ordinary' people from all around the world.

As you can probably gather from the text above, The Kenneth Williams Letters book is a very varied but interesting read. It's a shame that Kenneth never saw the effect his letters and diary books have had on the public since his tragic death in 1988. He would have been justifiably proud of their success and influence on people in the 21st century, such as me!!

Kenneth took a great deal of care and consideration into these letters, so I hope you will firstly buy this book (and his diaries too) and secondly take in everything he says. Well, almost everything!

Russell Davies edited both the diary and letters books, and he has done a great job on both.