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{{short description|Autobiography of Stephen Fry}}
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = Moab Is My Washpot: <br>An Autobiography
| name = Moab Is My Washpot: <br>An Autobiography
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| followed_by = [[The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography]]
| followed_by = [[The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography]]
}}
}}
'''''Moab Is My Washpot''''' (published 1997) is [[Stephen Fry]]’s [[autobiography]], covering the first 20 years of his life. In the book, Fry is candid about his many weaknesses, including stealing, cheating and lying. The book covers some of the same ground as in Fry’s first [[novel]], ''[[The Liar (novel)|The Liar]]'', published in 1991. In that work, public schoolboy Adrian Healey falls in love with a boy called Hugo Cartwright; in the autobiography, 14-year-old Fry becomes besotted with 13-year-old "Matthew Osborne".
'''''Moab Is My Washpot''''' (published 1997) is [[Stephen Fry]]'s [[autobiography]], covering the first 20 years of his life. In the book, Fry is candid about his past indiscretions, including stealing, cheating, and lying. The book covers some of the same ground as Fry's first [[novel]], ''[[The Liar (novel)|The Liar]]'', published in 1991. In that work, public schoolboy Adrian Healey falls in love with a boy called Hugo Cartwright; in the autobiography, 14-year-old Fry becomes besotted with 13-year-old "Matthew Osborne".


Fry also writes about his older brother Roger, Bunce (the new boy at his [[Preparatory school (UK)|prep school]], [[Stouts Hill]]), Jo Wood (his best friend at [[Uppingham School|Uppingham]]), and Oliver Derwent (a prefect who "seduces" Fry).
Fry also writes about his older brother Roger, Bunce (the new boy at his [[Preparatory school (UK)|prep school]], [[Stouts Hill]]), Jo Wood (his best friend at [[Uppingham School|Uppingham]]), and Oliver Derwent (a prefect who "seduces" Fry).


==Title==
==Title==
The title, never explained in the text of the book, is a verse found in [[s:Bible (King James)/Psalms#Psalm 60|Psalm 60]] and [[s:Bible (King James)/Psalms#Psalm 108|Psalm 108]]. Through wearing sandals, people's feet would become filthy in the dusty desert environment and upon entering a home feet would be washed with water by pouring water over them into a washpot. [[Moab]], which had threatened Israel, was to be so completely subdued, and so became likened to a wash pot or basin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols16-18/chs983.pdf |title=Microsoft Word - #983 - Moab Is My Wash Pot.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2010-10-30}}</ref> This title was selected because Fry saw the book as "scrubbing at the grime of years".<ref>{{cite news |title=We'll have to take his word for it |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Humphrey |last=Carpenter |date=October 5, 1997 |page=10}}</ref>
The title, never explained in the text of the book, is a verse found in [[s:Bible (King James)/Psalms#Psalm 60|Psalm 60]] and [[s:Bible (King James)/Psalms#Psalm 108|Psalm 108]]. Through wearing sandals, people's feet would become filthy in the dusty desert environment and upon entering a house, they would wash their feet by pouring water over them into a washpot. [[Moab]], which had threatened Israel, was to be so completely subdued that it became likened to a washpot or basin.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols16-18/chs983.pdf |title=Moab Is My Wash Pot|year= 1872|author=Charles Spurgeon|work= Metropolitan Tabernacle|accessdate=17 February 2019}}</ref> Fry selected this title because he saw his book as "scrubbing at the grime of years".<ref>{{cite news |title=We'll have to take his word for it |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Humphrey |last=Carpenter |date=October 5, 1997 |page=10}}</ref>


Fry, being a fervent [[P. G. Wodehouse|P.G. Wodehouse]] fan (having written a foreword to a "Best of" compilation of his works, and having played Jeeves in the [[Jeeves and Wooster|British comedy series]] of his works), was probably inspired by a quote from [[Uncle Fred]] mentioning [[Pongo Twistleton]]'s exploits in the novel ''[[Uncle Dynamite]]'':
The Oxford English Dictionary gives "moab (n.): 2. Chiefly in English public schools: an outdoor conduit for washing; a tub, trough, or other container for water; a washroom."
{{Quote | "Pongo," said Lord Ickenham, "is in terrific form. He bestrides the world like a Colossus. It would not be too much to say that Moab is his washpot and over what's-its-name has he cast his shoe."<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ynEcRq0_VqEC&pg=PA9|title=Uncle Dynamite |first=P. G.|last= Wodehouse |date=July 15, 2009|publisher= Random House|isbn= 978-1-40906426-8 |via= Google Books}}</ref>}}


==Matthew Osborne==
==Matthew Osborne==
In a 2001 article for the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', Andrew Bellin wrote that Fry was reunited with "Osborne" after the publication of the book:
In a 2001 article for the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', Andrew Billen wrote that Fry was reunited with "Osborne" after the publication of the book:


<blockquote> Many pages of the deepest purple are devoted to this Matthew Osborne, "the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life". I ask if the pseudonymous Matthew, with whom he eventually achieved some form of [[Splendor in the Grass|splendour in the long grass]], had been in touch since the book came out in 1997. He had.
<blockquote> Many pages of the deepest purple are devoted to this Matthew Osborne, "the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life". I ask if the pseudonymous Matthew, with whom he eventually achieved some form of [[Splendor in the Grass|splendour in the long grass]], had been in touch since the book came out in 1997. He had.
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite news |title='I am destined to have some strange binge of trying to escape from myself' - Interview |newspaper=[[The Times]] |first=Grace |last=Bradberry |date=September 29, 1997 |page=21}}
*{{cite news |title='I am destined to have some strange binge of trying to escape from myself' - Interview |newspaper=[[The Times]] |first=Grace |last=Bradberry |date=29 September 1997 |page=21}}
*{{cite news |title=What makes Stephen run? - Interview |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Bryan |last=Appleyard |date=October 5, 1997 |page=10}}
*{{cite news |title=What makes Stephen run? - Interview |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Bryan |last=Appleyard |date=5 October 1997 |page=10}}
*{{cite news |title=Fry on the wall |newspaper=[[The Times]] |first=Philip Delves |last=Broughton |date=October 11, 1997 |page=18}}
*{{cite news |title=Fry on the wall |newspaper=[[The Times]] |first=Philip Delves |last=Broughton |date=11 October 1997 |page=18}}
*{{cite news |title=Critical List |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Harvey |last=Porlock |date=October 19, 1997 |page=18}}
*{{cite news |title=Critical List |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |first=Harvey |last=Porlock |date=19 October 1997 |page=18}}
*{{cite news |title=Stephen Fry Wittily Recreates His Early Rascal Days in Autobiography |newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |first=Michiko |last=Kakutani |date=June 19, 1999 |page=18}}
*{{cite news |title=Stephen Fry Wittily Recreates His Early Rascal Days in Autobiography |newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |first=Michiko |last=Kakutani |date=19 June 1999 |page=18}}

==External links==
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikiquote|Stephen Fry|Moab Is My Washpot}}

{{Stephen Fry}}
{{Stephen Fry}}


[[Category:British autobiographies]]
[[Category:British autobiographies]]
[[Category:1997 books]]
[[Category:1997 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books by Stephen Fry]]
[[Category:Books by Stephen Fry]]
[[Category:Show business memoirs]]
[[Category:Show business memoirs]]

Latest revision as of 03:54, 6 July 2023

Moab Is My Washpot:
An Autobiography
AuthorStephen Fry
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiography
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
1997
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Digital (eBook)
Pages448 pages
ISBN0-09-945704-0
Followed byThe Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography 

Moab Is My Washpot (published 1997) is Stephen Fry's autobiography, covering the first 20 years of his life. In the book, Fry is candid about his past indiscretions, including stealing, cheating, and lying. The book covers some of the same ground as Fry's first novel, The Liar, published in 1991. In that work, public schoolboy Adrian Healey falls in love with a boy called Hugo Cartwright; in the autobiography, 14-year-old Fry becomes besotted with 13-year-old "Matthew Osborne".

Fry also writes about his older brother Roger, Bunce (the new boy at his prep school, Stouts Hill), Jo Wood (his best friend at Uppingham), and Oliver Derwent (a prefect who "seduces" Fry).

Title

[edit]

The title, never explained in the text of the book, is a verse found in Psalm 60 and Psalm 108. Through wearing sandals, people's feet would become filthy in the dusty desert environment and upon entering a house, they would wash their feet by pouring water over them into a washpot. Moab, which had threatened Israel, was to be so completely subdued that it became likened to a washpot or basin.[1] Fry selected this title because he saw his book as "scrubbing at the grime of years".[2]

Fry, being a fervent P.G. Wodehouse fan (having written a foreword to a "Best of" compilation of his works, and having played Jeeves in the British comedy series of his works), was probably inspired by a quote from Uncle Fred mentioning Pongo Twistleton's exploits in the novel Uncle Dynamite:

"Pongo," said Lord Ickenham, "is in terrific form. He bestrides the world like a Colossus. It would not be too much to say that Moab is his washpot and over what's-its-name has he cast his shoe."[3]

Matthew Osborne

[edit]

In a 2001 article for the Evening Standard, Andrew Billen wrote that Fry was reunited with "Osborne" after the publication of the book:

Many pages of the deepest purple are devoted to this Matthew Osborne, "the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life". I ask if the pseudonymous Matthew, with whom he eventually achieved some form of splendour in the long grass, had been in touch since the book came out in 1997. He had.

How did he take it? "Very well. He is very happily married with children. A wonderful chap and hugely successful as it happens," Fry chuckles, incredulous. "I think his wife knows because she is extremely friendly to me in a way that suggests to me she knows all about it and is very happy with it. I see him a couple of times a year, I suppose."[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Charles Spurgeon (1872). "Moab Is My Wash Pot" (PDF). Metropolitan Tabernacle. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  2. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (October 5, 1997). "We'll have to take his word for it". The Sunday Times. p. 10.
  3. ^ Wodehouse, P. G. (July 15, 2009). Uncle Dynamite. Random House. ISBN 978-1-40906426-8 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Andrew Billen (21 February 2001). "Why Stephen is still Peter's friend". Evening Standard. p. 29.
  • Bradberry, Grace (29 September 1997). "'I am destined to have some strange binge of trying to escape from myself' - Interview". The Times. p. 21.
  • Appleyard, Bryan (5 October 1997). "What makes Stephen run? - Interview". The Sunday Times. p. 10.
  • Broughton, Philip Delves (11 October 1997). "Fry on the wall". The Times. p. 18.
  • Porlock, Harvey (19 October 1997). "Critical List". The Sunday Times. p. 18.
  • Kakutani, Michiko (19 June 1999). "Stephen Fry Wittily Recreates His Early Rascal Days in Autobiography". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. 18.
[edit]
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