John Barrowman: Anything Goes...

I read Anything Goes by John Barrowman today.

What fun. What a delightful book. What great footnotes. What a vivid sense of life.

I love theatrical autobiographies.

Though I have read every Barrowman article I could find, and have seen every interview possible, the book overlaps surprisingly little. And though Barrowman's sister Carole did the actual typing of the book - and, clearly, the spelling - his voice comes through on every page.

Actually, most of his family sounds as if they are just like him. Which is a scary thought.

( Barrowman's story is not... )

Do I have any quibbles or regrets about the book? Not really, but I can think of three things I wish were different: I wish it was longer - clearly he could full more 250-page books with anecdotes and memories and musings; I wish it had more specifics about the casts and filming of Doctor Who and Torchwood; and I wish he had delved a little more deeply into some of his thoughts and feelings about his philosophy of life, the roles he's played, his significant relationships - granted that he has a right to privacy, he could still delve deeper without compromising that. He talks about his first kiss, but his first serious love? Not at all. I'd like to hear more about his consideration of gay rights and animal rights, religion, sex and more. What he thinks is clear. Why he thinks it? I'd have liked to hear more.

Maybe in his next book.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Out of Mind, Out of Sight (1x11)

The theme here was great; the anger of the outcast, and the procedure by which a person treated as invisible became invisible.

( 1. Loved Cordelia's assessment... )

Terrific for its use of Angel and Giles, though.