Book of the year

Simply brilliant from start to finish. Beautifully written, witty and insightful, I was genuinely sad once it ended. A triumph.

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Exceptional

The rarest of things happened, both the writing and narration exceeded my already high expectations. Opinionated, tragic and funny it is more than a perfect biography - it’s a perfect book.

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superb reading and voice characterisations togethercwith a wpnderful story by Roger Lewis.

nothing to dislike. an excellent book and performance from all concerned. well done to all concerned in this production.

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Superb from start to finish

Absorbing, brilliant, clever, transgressive writing reflects a couple whose lives were surely indescribable. Brilliantly written..this author has a genius for writing and uses examples and metaphor and other references with flair ..sometimes I laughed out loud..other times I gasped. The reader here brought the whole thing to life..remarkable ear for voices and made the whole listen so engrossing I’m tempted to begin all over again. Whether you like Elizabeth and Richard or not (I do, I think..A lot..have just looked at the film the VIP’s ..they were ravishing…)this is superb writing and excellent listening.

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Superb. A masterpiece. Brilliantly narrated.

This ten-year-in-the-making comprehensive, compulsive, funny dual biography is mind-boggling - an incredible achievement.

I was unaware of so many of the facts: The cost of creating Cleopatra, Elizabeth's 'wear each dress once only' regime, her diamond collection, drug addiction, animal obsession, filthy habitats, excesses and outrages. Neither had I any idea about Burton's rags-to-riches background from his success kicked off by an extremely creepy schoolmaster's staggering intervention, to promiscuity, betrayal, alcoholism, hints at murder, a hidden-away child. I was fascinated by Taylor & Burton's need for one another, hatred of one another, jet-setting lifestyle, bigger-than-royalty celebrity status, the Pope's intervention...

If you love beauty, glamour, Hollywood, sex, A-lister film stars, Italian film sets, true stories of absolute decadence and movies from a bygone age, you'll relish this.

What makes this book a wholly enjoyable Audible experience though, is Justin Avoth's fantastic narration. His impressions of all the stars mentioned in this book (of which there are many) are both camp and spot on. Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, Dirk Bogarde, James Mason, Kenneth Williams, John Gielgud... etc etc. I've got the voice of Richard Burton floating around inside my head still. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon could not have done better.

Maybe this book could have been edited down to... what, a third of it's length? No. The weightiness of it is what makes it the masterpiece it is. Thank you Roger Lewis, for 22 hours and 58 minutes of incredible anecdotes fantastically told. I might just start listening to it all over again.

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Plaudits for Justin Avoth

This book is everything the reviews say - nuts. The narrator must get an award for this reading, where he gets to impersonate not only Burton but Gielgud, Barry Humphries and countless others - brilliantly.

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The scale of the narrative

I enjoyed the analysis of the Burton/Taylor relationship and the authors opinions. He freely expressed what HE thought and that was quite refreshing. It wasn’t hagiography and it wasn’t sneering or snarky about their many idiotic exaggerated trysts. A highly entertaining and thoughtful study of 2 super, superstars.

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Just superb

A really excellent, bitchy book, one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever listened to. Get it and let your jaw drop at the antics of these 2.

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Please re-record this audio

The story is stupendous, but the narration sounds like it was recorded through a damp flannel.

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excellent biography

Roger Lewis is superb again with this book. He has a unique style which covers the many films roles they were in and just like the Peter Sellers book, he delves into their innermost personalities and troubled lives. The rights have been sold for a film ,I just hope the actors can do it justice.

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