Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Vagabond:
He’ll always be Nigel St. Nigel to me.
Quick synopsis:
The life of Tim Curry in his own words.
Fact for Non-History People:
Curry grew up a military BRAT (which stands for British Regiment Attached Traveler, apparently).
Fact for History Nerds:
Curry actually knew Clue director Jonathan Lynn from his teenage years in theater.
My Take on Vagabond:
The initial adjectives which popped in my head when I finished Tim Curry’s Vagabond are going to sound like I am damning it with faint praise but hear me out. The book is just plain pleasant and delightful. Yes, that simple.
First, you will probably not see this memoir in many headlines when it comes out. Curry does not dish on his romantic life. He doesn’t go out of its way to be some treatise on acting, and he doesn’t throw anyone under the bus (well, mostly, he does get slightly catty at times, and yes that is the word he used). Instead, what you get is a (professionally) candid recap of the major portions of Curry’s life and career. He is delightfully self-effacing, and while he doesn’t dish on his romantic life, he does open up about his family in a way that left me feeling like I do know Curry better than when I started. I have read celebrity memoirs that feel like the celebrity in question is not being especially open. Curry doesn’t lay it all out on the table, but he gives us some honest glimpses.
What you expect to be here is in here. Rocky Horror, Congo (oh, don’t bring that up if you ever meet him), Clue, his voice acting, and of course his stage shows. These are all handled rather quickly and are not comprehensive of all his work, but that isn’t to say they aren’t enlightening. You get the feeling that Curry barely accepts the fact that he deserves a memoir, but he also is plugged in enough to know what you want to hear about. The book zooms by, but I was left satisfied. Well, except for one thing.
My sole criticism is that he didn’t talk about his guest starring role in the second season of Psych as Nigel St. Nigel. If you get the reference, then we should be best friends.
(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing.)
Verdict:
Exactly what you hope it is. Buy it here!
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