Product Description
In this autobiography, Quentin Crisp describes his unhappy childhood and the stresses of adolescence that led him to London. There in bedsits and cafes he found a world of brutality and comedy, of shortlived jobs and precarious relationships. All of which he faced with humour and intelligence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Memoir of a narcissist.
"When the telegram announcing my father's death arrived, I felt nothing except irritation at the thought of having to go home, attend the funeral, and come back."

Quentin Crisp is not a likeable human being. About one quarter way into this book, I was tempted to throw it aside for good. But given its generally favorable reviews, I felt I should give it another chance. And a peculiar thing happened. Although Crisp does nothing to present himself in a more favorable light - if anything, he goes out of his way to make the point that the reader's approval matters nothing to him - by the two-third mark, one cannot help but develop a grudging admiration for the man.

It's hard to know why this happens - perhaps just a case of sympathy for the underdog. Crisp was born in a time when homosexuality really was the love that dare not speak its name, and made his mark by never obliging those who would have him live life in a shadow, instead choosing to flaunt his difference. This book is an account of the price exacted. While the reader may be moved toward a grudging admiration for Crisp's refusal to be ground down by the prejudice and cruelty surrounding him, it's impossible to feel any real sympathy for the man. Because, ultimately, this is the autobiography of a narcissist. Reviews of this book invariably mention its wit and brilliant self-mockery, qualities I found singularly absent. Given a 200-page book in which no other character appears as remotely human, as anything other than a sketch or cipher, and in which the author admits to never having loved, or been loved, the final effect of this strangely empty memoir is bleak indeed. I feel a certain admiration for Quentin Crisp. But I can't say that I enjoyed spending time in his company.

The story of a funny, fascinating, melancholy life.
Rereading "The Naked Civil Servant" after many years, I find Quentin Crisp's melancholy wit just as bracing as I did when I first encountered the book. The chiseled perfection of Crisp's aphorisms recall Oscar Wilde (though Crisp's distaste for Wilde was famous; Wilde's hubris and subsequent downfall made life that much harder for the gay men, such as Crisp, who came after him). One famous example: "I would have been tempted to say that he was ill did I not know that health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors." Another: "'Immaturity' is one more word that requires definition. To men it means the inability to stand on one's own two feet. A woman flings it at anyone who doesn't want to marry her. Here I find myself for once inclined toward the masculine view." Yet despite the humor, the overwhelming mood of "The Naked Civil Servant" is of loneliness. Crisp, who outed himself flamboyantly forty years before Stonewall, presents himself as a wildly contradictory character: exhibitionistic yet inherently and Englishly modest, too honest to present himself as anything other than he was, yet realizing fully the opprobrium and loss of companionship he would suffer by doing so. Reading his autobiography shows a younger generation of gay men precisely the mindset a hidebound society instilled in homosexuals in the early 20th century. Crisp, despite his flamboyance, was not immune to it: "Homosexuals were ashamed. They resented not being in the mainstream of life. The feeling varied from irritation to the anguish of irrevocable exile. It had little to do with God or the neighbors or the police. It was private and irremediable." In subsequent years--he lived to be ninety, outliving the publication of "The Naked Civil Servant" by three decades--Crisp found a measure of public acceptance and acclaim he would have thought impossible in the 1930s. Yet the loneliness and melancholy never really left him. To read "The Naked Civil Servant" is to be impressed by a great personality and a brilliant, acute observer of sex and society. But, at the same time, you wish he could have found a little more happiness for himself.

Disappointing
I have heard of The Naked Civil Servant for many years and finally decided to pick it up to read.In many ways it is a great piece of gay history that would have been lost were it not for Quentin Crisp's acerbic wit and very English sense of time and place.As a historical piece, The Naked Civil Servant is well worth reading.

Unfortunately, I also found myself wanting the book to end - in the same way that I wanted the movie Capote to end.I found Quentin Crisp to be a singularly unpleasant and self absorbed man who strives for fame by being outrageous, but never pleasant.His personality took away much of the value that I was hoping for in this book.I found his humor to be too cute in many cases and his quest for self-importance highly aggravating.

I don't give five-star reviews
What kind of title is that? Well, for 35 years, he was a nude model for art classes. So there you go. A naked civil servant. Now there's a career choice my high school guidance counselor never told me about.

Quentin is the quintessential outsider. He outed himself as flamboyantly gay in 1931, and manages to be both sincere and parody at the same time. Forget the gay part. Focus on the outsider part. His writing style is quite crisp, ho ho!

Time to scan the cover again, as opposed to being original.

"His wit is brilliant, his observations acute, his self-mockery undiluted by the need to sentimentalize."

"'As soon as I stepped out of my mother's womb... I realized that I had made a mistake,' Quentin declares, giving a small hint of the witty and wry approach he takes toward the life he describes with undiluted exuberance in this classic autobiography, which is both a comic masterpiece and a unique testament to the resilience of the human spirit."

"His hilarious descriptions of encounters with parents, friends, employers, soldiers and sailors, and the law reveal the strength and humor of an honest man, determined to face the world with the uncensored, unapologetic truth about himself."

"A work of great wit, intelligence and sensitivity."

Quite.

An Unusually Riveting, Exuberant Autobiography
"This is an unusually riveting, exuberant autobiography of a man who, in 1931, 'came out' in the streets of London as a self-confessed and self-evident homosexual. At a time when the slightest sign of homosexuality aroused immediate disgust, Quentin Crisp made the courageous decision to be true to his nature. He adopted an outrageously effeminate manner and appearance ('I wore makeup at a time when even on women eye shadow was sinful'), and his flamboyant exhibitionism, henna-dyed hair, and unconventional behavior shocked London society of the thirties. Though he was harassed, ridiculed, and beaten, he was determined to spread the message that homosexuality did not exclude him or anyone else from the human race. ¶ Quentin Crisp has become a cult celebrity since the highly acclaimed dramatization of The Naked Civil Servant was first aired on American television. His is a unique life story. One feels the strength and humor of an honest man, determined to face the world with the truth about himself."--© zebraz
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Customer Reviews (4)

A simple piece of divine work from heaven
I'm much impressed by Mr Crisp's humor and how he used simple, yet practical ways of bring forth our best in ourselves through good manners. My usual habit of reading a book is often two weeks or more. But I'm so captivated by the way he wrote this book, that I finished reading it in four days. I'm very much inspired by his keen observations and in-depth thoughts. His advices left me with much after thoughts. I will definitely try my very best to be a person with good mannerism, so that others can benefit from me. From the bottom of my heart, I'm thankful to Mr Crisp for such an outstanding book.

Although the book is a recycled one, I'm astonished at how well the book's overall condition is. It is so well preserved. Not forgetting to mention the swift delivery service provided by Amazon.com, it is amazing. Lastly, I also must thank Amazon.com and World of Books again for such a wonderful book.

A classic
Quentin Crisp's funniest and most profound book combines the wisdom of the Tao with a breathtakingly honest assessment of human nature. This book should be in print.

Never leave home without it!
Before I read Quentin's book, I lived my life as one whom he describes in the book; I ran about willy nilly, living others' lives as if they were my own, suffering from their disasters as much as they did. I frittered away enough personal energy to light several skyscrapers, and wondered why I was so very drained all the time.Taking an interest in others' lives, WITHOUT becoming emotionally involved, literally, saved my life.I have learned from Quentin that I can just listen to mere acquaintances, many of whom are drama addicts looking only for a forum, and then move on to what truly interests me.This is not being shallow; this is protecting yourself from those takers of the world, who, as Quentin says, "...are infinite and insatiable."This practice of tuning out the banal has allowed me to have the energy to devote to my husband, son and family, who deserve my energy.

I employ "Crisperanto" and the little white lie, nearly every day of my life.This has protected me and given others the satisfaction of being heard.Instead of standing on my head to avoid the takers of the world, I have learned to assertively and diplomatically put them off.

If I could, I would require that this book become part of school curriculums the world over. Members of the Senate, Congress, and the President should be coached, DAILY, in the art of "Crisperanto." Using "Crisperanto" could very well have prevented the "need" to go to war, at various and sundry times in our country's history.

I will continue to honor Quentin's memory by using "Manners from Heaven" as my bible.

A guide to good manners that will not terrify
Mr Crisp has (with the help of co-writer John Hofsess) written a fine guide to manners in the troubling modern age, with all its noise and haste, where what once was impolite or unthinkable is now enpowering. Crisp sees aworld devouring itself, and sees good manners and civility as a way ofrectifying this. His chief point - that manners are a way of getting whatwe want without appearing an absolute swine. They are a way of makingeveryone happier and more comfortable, rather than a dusty old set ofexclusionary rules.

The language is fluid, dare I say crisp, andoverflowing with wit, and has the authoritative, wisened, grandfatherlytone of one who has seen it all. It is caustic and by no means conventional- for example, he feels that telling the truth all the time is not the bestidea for smooth social relations - "The lie is the basic buildingblock of good manners."

Concise, knowing, acid and honest. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A tasty bon-bon
Quentin Crisp passed away last year at the golden age of 92 -- an infinitely wise child who managed the difficult trick of never growing up.What a loss to society and the English language!

As a film critic, he wasnot in a class with, say, Stanley Kauffmann for discussion of film qualityand technique, or John Simon for bitchiness, but Crisp was a lovely Englishstylist, and his unique point of view made him a delightful companion atthe movies.

Even if you don't agree with his judgments, they are a hootto read.This book has a sunny quality that contrasts with the acrid humorof his autobio, _The Naked Civil Servant_.While you might visualize himtelling you that story over a stiff drink in a dark corner, the tone ofthis book is more like a breezy meeting at a teahouse.

Of Cher, hewrites, "She is tall and rangy and so lean that you fear that hercollarbone will saw its way through her hazardously thin shoulderstraps." Since "the French appear to think that they inventedflirtation ... Their films on this subject are almost always pervaded by acloying quality of self-congratulation."Of "My Dinner WithAndre," he says, "I could not bring myself to make a report on itbecause it was as boring as being alive."Mr. Depardieu is "theEuropean equivalent of Mr. Nolte, though he lacks the golden skin tone, asof a basted chicken, which adds so greatly to the allure of the Americanstar."

Most of the pieces in this collection were written for acolumn in Christopher Street magazine, and the audience for thatpublication must be kept in mind with regard to some of his film choices --and as Crisp, well into his 70s and 80s at the time, makes remarks such as"sex is a mistake" and "homosexual men are pathologicallyincapable of making love with their friends or making friends of theirlovers...."

Call this a lightweight junket.You won't remember muchof it when you are finished, but it sure is a fun ride along the way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Always good.
You cannot help being interested in Mr Crisp. Very eccentric and funny and I agree with wanting to be as far away from the UK as possible.! Viva NY!

A treasure
If you have read the book with Mr. Crisps droll, flat voice in your head....you can begin to imagine how much fun the audio version of this book is.His dry wit is very much in evidence here as he shares his unique perspective on life in the "smile and nod racket".

I think this recording belongs in the Smithsonian Archives.

There is a God, his name is Crisp, Quentin Crisp.
Crisp has done it again!Justwhen you think you're a maven on things-BOOM- he publishes hisdiaries!What a scandal, although Iamsure some blue nosed puritanproofreader somewhere omitted someof themore "Corrupting evidence",Mr. Crisps personality and always charming style and wit still manageto rise above the parchment at every turn.This is an ideal "Holiday"gift for a freind to takealong whenon a long flight or travel to makethe time seem to "Flyby", as it didfor me when I enjoyed it the firsttime...MyWord!,...I think I shallgo and read it again now.Mr. Crispis timelessand indefatigable... andlike "Miss Jean Brodie", still inhis"Prime"time!Kudo's once againand, Bravo, Mr. Crisp, You are"LaDivine'" indeed! ... Read more

Product Description
A new edition of the "Tour-de force" (Time Out) based on the life of Quentin Crisp. "The great majority of this absorbing monologue consists of Crisp's own words...wisely Fountain doesn't attempt any trudge through the life story...Instead, Crisp treats us to his views on television, oral sex, the nature of style and the secret of happiness"-Daily Telegraph ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mr. Crisp at his finest!
A wonderful 'how-to' from the master himself.Full of Quentin's classic wit.I loved every page of it. ... Read more

Product Description
Ramsey Blake's first job as a teacher takes him back to the secluded village where he grew up. There he begins to remember the strange world of childhood and comes to realise that the adult world is equally as strange. At the centre of everyday life he discovers a nightmarish game of power and manipulation and is forced to choose sides. But whatever his decision, he is about to receive the ultimate object lesson in human cruelty.

Prepare yourself for an experience darker than The Wasp Factory and more grotesque than The League of Gentlemen. A novel others would not dare to publish is now available for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Remember-member-member...
Ramsey Blake, the narrator of Quentin S. Crisp's "Remember You're a One-Ball!", graduates from University and returns to his home town in order to take a teaching job at his childhood school. While Blake is in his late twenties, he admits to having had a "late start" on adulthood and is in many respects still a child. Timid by nature, he is deferential, emotionally vulnerable, and incapable of relating to others -- especially women -- in any meaningful way. As a teacher, he fails to exercise any control over his own classroom and is as easily intimidated by the school administration as he is by the children in his class.

However, Blake's mild demeanor masks the telltale characteristics of frustrated masculinity: namely, impotent hatred and repressed anger. Like Frank Dominio in Thomas Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done, Blake holds himself slightly apart from the men and women around him, including his live-in girlfriend, refusing to participate in the violence and "brutal slavery" that he sees as somehow fundamental to the social practices of children and adults alike. Tragically, Blake's non-participation -- while noble -- serves only to deepen his own feelings of alienation, which in turn stoke his suppressed rage. Matters come to a head when he uncovers a bizarre conspiracy within the school and is forced to examine his own complicity in the long-ago victimization of a childhood classmate.

What does it mean to live in the world as an adult? Can any action (apart from non-action) be truly free of cruelty? Finally: to what extent is "saying 'yes' to life" (as New Age thinkers would have us do) equivalent to embracing the principles of domination and victimhood that jointly dictate all aspects of human relationships?

RYAOB finds answers to these questions in prose as lyrical and elegant as any you are likely to encounter this year. Angry, shocking, strange -- and penned with an occasionally wicked sense of humor -- RYAOB is a truly singular work by a remarkable writer and a landmark of philosophical horror.

How Childhood Affects Us

Crisp, Quentin. "Remember You're A One-Ball!"
Chomu Press, 2010.

How Childhood Affects Us

Amos Lassen

Ramsey Blake returns to the village of his youth when he takes his first teaching job.Once there he to remember the strange world of his childhood and soon realizes that the adult world is just as strange. While exploring everyday life, he discovers a game of power and manipulation and is forced to choose sides. It does not matter which side he chooses because he is about to receive the ultimate object lesson in human cruelty.
Not only is this a work of profound insight into childhood but it also looks at how childhood affects adult life. It is beautifully written and brutally honest. QUENTIN Crisp has written a fine horror novel which will make you think as he writes about the dark aspects of human fate. This is a very dark read which has been unpublished for quite a long time and now we have it.
I should explain that the Quentin Crisp who wrote this book is not the Quentin Crisp who died in 1999 and was known for his stage and film appearances and his unique philosophy of life.This Crisp is a young writer who has the ability to build an atmosphere of uncanniness.
This is a challenging story about child abuse and the majority of the book looks at how society abuses children and everyone plays a part in this and the child is corrupted by the world. The story shows that Blake discover secrets of his childhood some years later and how they come back to him after he had put them in the back of his mind.

Ramsey Blake was insecure on many levels, but especially unable to relate to women. He began to understand that he has begun a journey which will not be pleasant. Here is a novel that is written in the first person and Blake says what he says as if he is speaking for all of us. The novel gives reason and definition to those not named and reminds us all too well of the abuses we all suffered as children. We see that every act of childish cruelty is part of a larger manipulation, a conspiracy which offers a twisted sense of relief and sanctity when finally revealed. While this is not an easy book to read, it is a book that must be read we want the future generations of children to be free from abuse.

'Life is a kind of brutal slavery'
Quentin S. Crisp, born in England in 1972, is first of all NOT the Quentin Crisp(1908 - 1999) personality made famous by his outrageous writing, antics, and appearances on stage and in film.No, this Quentin S. Crisp is described as a young writer of supernatural fiction. He is an inordinately gifted writer who is able to not only weave a fine story, but also to write such vivid and eloquent prose that he ranks with the finest practitioners of his craft.Reading Crisp is satisfying on many levels, not the least of which is his uncanny ability to create atmosphere both on the stage where the story is being played and in the interiors of his characters.Writing of this quality is rare and deserves attention from literary scholars and the consuming readers of fine books.

'REMEMBER YOU'RE A ONE-BALL!'is a challenging story that deals with child abuse, a sensitive subject that is one of the most important issues of today.In Crisp's words ' a big part of this novel is simply an expression of the idea that society abuses children. Everyone is implicated, not just the one or two people getting lynched. Society abuses children. It's that simple, or that complicated. In fact, I think a lot of what I write is about that same idea - the way children's innocence is systematically corrupted by a vile, cynical world'.These may sound like tough words but read this mesmerizing story of one man's returning as a new teacher to the school of his childhood only to discover the submerged secrets of his own childhood and the etiologies of his adult dysfunction as a whole man and the points he makes in his discussion of the novel are crystalline.

Ramsey Blake is insecure on many levels, not the least of which is his ability to relate to women.At novel's beginning he almost serendipitously finds a job as a teacher in the school of his youth and passes his time writing a paper on playground behavior.Gradually he realizes that the subject of his notes relates to certain boys - both in the present and in the past - who were deemed 'outsiders' by the rest of the classmates and came to a level of humiliation that included unilateral orchiectomy. He tenuously bonds with Jacqueline who has offered succor to a wounded boy, but as his interaction with the headmaster and other members of the school progress, he takes off on his own to explore the secret data in the files of a child from the past who was humiliated as described.It is this journey into the interstices of the information in school files that uncovers a story of adult conniving and brutality that leads him to understand his own indelibly bruised childhood.

Again in Quentin S. Crisp's words "REMEMBER YOU'RE A ONE-BALL!" ' is a novel that actually possesses human interiority and an internal monologue that's not some kind of designer voiceover, in other words, that it actually has a first person, the way that we're all the first person of our own lives. I think maybe human three-dimensionality is shocking. Being unfashionable - and human - is shocking, because fashion is an attempt to reduce everything to the coolness of two dimensions.' This is a challenging and intellectually rewarding read and it is bathed in some of the most beautiful pages written in the English language.Quentin S. Crisp is a daring and enormously gifted author!Grady Harp, June 10

Life is a kind of brutal slavery.
This novel gives reason and definition to the nameless, and seemingly endless tortures many of us endured as children. Every act of childish cruelty is part of a larger manipulation, a conspiracy which offers a twisted sense of relief and sanctity when finally revealed.

The literary style of the novel is similar to a thick cheesecake; it is rich and creamy with a subtle, tangy back bite. It's a novel to be enjoyed slowly. However, once you're half way through, you pause to stretch and are shocked at how much was devoured in one sitting.
At times the style borders on the erotic, with each sentence leaning towards sensual in its description of misery.

This is also a very masculine novel - in some ways I felt like a Peeping Tom, spying on the forbidden and the heavily guarded secrets of boys. "Remember" acts as a field-guide, offering a chance to view the world through a male's eye perspective. Sometimes disturbing but also surprisingly familiar.

All in all, I'm actually looking forward to re-reading this novel. It's the type to reveal more with each passing. I just need time to digest first.

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Product Description
Baroquely eloquent and flamboyantly gay, Quentin Crisp was perhaps best known for his autobiographical comic masterpiece, The Naked Civil Servant. In The Stately Homo, friends, admirers, and fellow artists pay tribute to one of the 20th century’s true eccentrics. ... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1991 and now available in paperback, a second volume of autobiography in which Quentin Crisp, arguably England's best known homosexual, recalls his outrageous exploits and his encounters, both hostile and tender. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

How to become a virgin
This book made me laugh and cry! Now I have no problem keeping my pants on. Every reader will find a bit of wisdom to take with them on their journey to become pure. A definate must for drag queens, dykes, the queernext door, and anyone who frequents Wherenext.com. Read it now! ... Read more

Product Description
Book Club edition containing the three cpmplete works of Crisp's New York Diaries. ... Read more