THE ORTON DIARIES

by Joe Orton ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1987

The last eight months of the brilliant British farceur's life are covered in this exceptionally frank diary. The candor begins with a relentlessly critical view of English theater in the mid 60's, to a look at the playwright's family. Even his own mother on her deathbed does not escape censure: ""She looked fat, old, and dead."" But Orton was equally unsparing with himself, particularly in recording his numerous homosexual encounters, both in London and abroad on holiday in Morocco. Incurably promiscuous, the writer records trysts, brief and unemotional, with willing compatriates in lavatories and cheaply-bought boys in Tangiers. A pederast in the ancient Greek tradition, Orton's ideal was a 15-year-old boy. His life and bizarre comedies were cut short when his live-in companion of 16 years went berserk and bludgeoned him to death, aged 34. The present book is as vivid an account of one playwright's life as any reader is likely to see. The edition of the diaries here presented is both awkward and unconsciously funny. Footnotes abound, and they are both obtrusive and bathetic. After Orton compares a 15-year-old's backside to a Renoir, a footnote informs us that Pierre August Renoir was born here, died there and was the father of a filmmaker. After a three-way orgy, described in sober detail, the participants watch Winnie-the-Pooh on TV: again Lahr leaps in with a mini-bio of A.A. Milne. The overdetail reaches its apotheosis when Orton mentions Aida in passing, and the editor decides it is vitally important to tell us that the libretto was written by ""A. Ghislanzoni. ""The fact that these last days of Orton's life seem preoccupied with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll should not efface the memory of a singular talent whose works are only now being evaluated at something like their true worth. This diary is an important document, far more serious than its sensational aspects might indicate.

Pub Date: May 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION