A Young Man's Passage

by JulianClary (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.47

  This is Julian Clary's story, in his own words - the tale of an awkward schoolboy who became a huge worldwide success on stage and screen. After a sheltered suburban upbringing, Julian was sent to St Benedict's, where beatings from 'holy' men gave him some brutal life lessons, and other 'unholy' boys his first awakenings of sexuality. He had just one true friend and ally, Nick - to his other school peers, Julian's aloof demeanour made him an enigma or simply a figure of ridicule. In school, he was just another pained adolescent, but inside, Julian was a new Jean Genet or Quentin Crisp bursting to get out. Leaving St Benedict's thankfully behind him, Julian went on to college, where he found his true vocation as an entertainer with a peculiar comic brand of smut and glamour. At the same time, he was finding as much sex as he could, sometimes with remarkably less-than-glamorous characters. Periods in community theatre and the singing telegram industry followed before Julian hit the big time with cabaret co-star Fanny, the Wonder Dog, as The Joan Collins Fan Club. Soon, the world was his oyster. But fame came at a price, as Julian struggled not only with the reality of being a high-profile gay man in the 1980s, but also the pain of losing his lover to terminal illness. Far more than just another celebrity autobiography or 'funny book', this is a touching, beautifully written, and wryly witty account of a unique progression from shy child to comedy icon.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $4.23

  A long way from the usual ghosted celebrity autobiography, this is Julian Clary's debut as a writer of huge talent - perhaps closer in style to Fay Weldon or Muriel Spark than Dale Winton. Julian has led a unique life. From boarding school, where unholy monks taught him the rudiments of glamour, alternative living and brutality, through to art school in London while the punk and alternative comedy revolution was in full swing, finding out by practical trial and error whether he was gay or straight, his huge success and fame as probably the most high profile gay man in the country and, during the same period, the pain of losing those close to him and the high price of his fame. This is the first time he has voiced his private life and he will bring to its telling all the elegance, economy and integrity that have always informed his comedy. And, possibly, the odd double entendre.

• New

  Paperback
  2006

  $15.41

  This is Julian Clary's story, in his own words - the tale of an awkward schoolboy who became a huge worldwide success on stage and screen. After a sheltered suburban upbringing, Julian was sent to St Benedict's, where beatings from 'holy' men gave him some brutal life lessons, and other 'unholy' boys his first awakenings of sexuality. He had just one true friend and ally, Nick - to his other school peers, Julian's aloof demeanour made him an enigma or simply a figure of ridicule. In school, he was just another pained adolescent, but inside, Julian was a new Jean Genet or Quentin Crisp bursting to get out. Leaving St Benedict's thankfully behind him, Julian went on to college, where he found his true vocation as an entertainer with a peculiar comic brand of smut and glamour. At the same time, he was finding as much sex as he could, sometimes with remarkably less-than-glamorous characters. Periods in community theatre and the singing telegram industry followed before Julian hit the big time with cabaret co-star Fanny, the Wonder Dog, as The Joan Collins Fan Club. Soon, the world was his oyster. But fame came at a price, as Julian struggled not only with the reality of being a high-profile gay man in the 1980s, but also the pain of losing his lover to terminal illness. Far more than just another celebrity autobiography or 'funny book', this is a touching, beautifully written, and wryly witty account of a unique progression from shy child to comedy icon.