The Noel Coward Reader »

Barry Day is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation. In addition to his seven previous books on Noël Coward, he has written about Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, Johnny Mercer, and Rodgers & Hart. Day was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) "for services to British culture in the United States."

Noël Coward said, “The only thing that really saddens me over my demise is that I shall not be here to read the nonsense that will be written about me and my works and my motives . . . There will be lists of apocryphal jokes I never made and gleeful misquotations of words I never said. What a pity I shan’t be here to enjoy them!”

Here is a book that Noël Coward did write; jokes he did make . . . No gleeful misquotations here . . . only the best of Coward’s best.

Barry Day, editor of the acclaimed Letters of Noël Coward, who knows more about Coward and his writing than almost anyone, has brought together in one volume a Coward reader any Coward reader—or Coward appreciator—will delight in.

It’s hard to believe that, to date, there has never been a Noël Coward reader; this volume marks the very first.

Here are scenes from Coward’s plays, The Vortex, Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, and Design for Living . . . from his film screenplays, Brief Encounter and the previously unpublished script for In Which We Serve . . . from his only published novel, Pomp and Circumstance, as well as four of his best short stories.

Included, as well, is his verse, in which Coward reveals the “secret heart” behind the surface wit of his more formal work . . .

And here, too, are the lyrics of his sublimely Coward songs: “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” . . . “The Stately Homes of England” . . . “I’ll See You Again” . . . “Someday I’ll Find You” . . . “Mad About the Boy” . . . “Sail Away” . . . “Mrs. Worthington” . . . and much more that embodies what Coward hoped would be his epitaph: “He was much loved, because he made people laugh and cry.”

Eddie Cantor said Noël Coward was “the British George M. Cohan . . . The most brilliant contribution England ever made to American show business.”

The Noël Coward Reader is a must-have book for those who luxuriated in the collection of his letters; for those who adore his work and those who are just discovering the delights of his writing.

Kenneth Tynan said of Coward, “Theatrically speaking, it was Coward who took sophistication out of the refrigerator and put it on the hob . . . Even the youngest of us will know, in fifty years’ time, precisely what is meant by ‘a very Noël Coward sort of person.’ ”

Those who read The Noël Coward Reader will agree: this is a very Noël Coward sort of book.

The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley

Since a genuinely satisfactory biography of the great Noël Coward has yet to be written, this compendium of bits and pieces from his massive life's work can serve as a useful and thoroughly entertaining introduction to that life and work for those who do not know either, as well as a treasured bedside companion for those who do. Coward…seems in no danger of vanishing from our collective consciousness, but it is good to have Barry Day's Reader because it covers the full sweep of his career and leaves no doubt as to the depth and breadth of his accomplishment.

List of Illustrations

Foreword Sir Cameron Mackintosh Mackintosh, Sir Cameron

Introduction: The Man They Called "The Master" 5

Chronology 17

One "Overture. Beginners ...": The Early Years 25

"Personal Reminiscence" Verse

"The Boy Actor" Verse

"Forbidden Fruit" lyric

"When You Come Home on Leave" lyric

excerpts from The Unattainable play

Two The 1920s 37

"I Like America" lyric

"Touring Days" lyric

"Red Peppers" (one-act play) containing "Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?" lyric and "Men About Town" lyric

"Me and the Girls" short story

"Why Must the Show Go On?" lyric

excerpts from The Vortex play

excerpts from Fallen Angels Play

excerpts from Easy Virtue play

excerpts from Hay Fever play

"Epitaph for an Elderly Actress" verse

"Preface to Semi-Monde"

excerpts from Semi-Monde play

"Green Carnation" lyric

"Sail Away" lyric

"I Travel Alone" lyric

"Parisian Pierrot" lyric

"Poor Little Rich Girl" lyric

"Dance. Little Lady" lyric

"What Is Love?" lyric

"If Love Were All" lyric

"I'll See You Again" lyric

"I'll Follow My Secret Heart" lyric

"I Am No Good at Love" verse

"Something Very Strange" lyric

"A Room With a View" lyric

"This Is to Let You Know" verse

"I Knew You Without Enchantment" verse

"Mad About the Boy" lyric

"Bronxville Darby and Joan" lyric"

"Come the Wild, Wild Weather" lyric

Three The 1930s 175

"Twentieth Century Blues" lyric

excerpts from Private Lives play

"Someday I'll Find You" lyric

"Strictly Private Lives" sketch

"Mad Dogs and Englishmen" lyric

"Mrs. Worthington" lyric

"Social Grace" verse

"I've Got to Go Out and Be Social" verse

"Mrs. Mallory" verse

"The Kindness of Mrs. Radcliffe" short story

excerpts from Design for Living play

"Design for Rehearsing" sketch

excerpts from Tonight at 8:30 play seouence --- "Fumed Oak"

"Shadow Play" (one-act plays) including "Then" lyric, "Play, Orchestra, Play" lyric and "You Were There" lyric

"What Mad Pursuit?" short story

"I've Been to a Marvellous Party" lyric

"The Stately Homes of England" lyric

"I "Wonder What Happened to Him?" lyric

Four THE 1940s 357

"Friendship in Wartime" essay

"Notes on Liaison" verse

"News Ballad" verse

"Personal Note" verse

"London Pride" lyric

"London. 1940." essay

"Lie in the Dark and Listen" verse

excerpt from This Happy Breed play

excerpts from Blithe Spirit play

excerpts from Time Remembered play

"Canton Island" verse

"Mr. and Mrs. Edge-hill" short story

excerpts from In Which We Serve film

"I've Just Come Out From England" verse

"Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans" lyric

excerpts from Present Laughter play

"The One Man Play" sketch

excerpts from Brief Encounter film

"This Is a Changing World" lyric

"Uncle Harry" lyric

"Alice Is at It Again" lyric

excerpts from Peace in Our Time play

"Victory?" essay

Five THE 1950s 479

"There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner" lyric

"Tribute to Marlene Dietrich" verse

"Louisa" lyric

"A Bar on the Piccola Marina" lyric

excerpt from Nude With Violin play

"Consider the Public: A Warning to Actors" essay

"Consider the Public: A Warning to Dramatic Critics" essay

"Together With Music" lyric

"Jamaica" verse

"House Guest" verse

"World Weary" lyric

Six THE 1960s 519

Excerpts from Waiting in the Wings play

"Later Than Spring" lyric

"Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" lyric

"Useless Useful Phrases" lyric

excerpt from Pomp and Circumstance novel

"The Battle of Britain Dinner, New York, 1963" verse

excerpt from Suite in Three Keys ("A Song at Twilight") play

"How I Wonder What You Are" essay

excerpt from Star Quality PLAY

excerpt from Age Cannot Wither play

Seven Envoi ... The 1970s 579

"The Party's Over Now" lyric

"When I Have Fears" verse

"I'm Here for a Short Visit Only" verse

Acknowledgments 585

Index 587