© Tomahawk Press 2010
Amazon reviews
"Wes Butters proved his pedigree as a biographer with the excellent Kenneth Williams Unseen, but he really steps into top gear with this brilliant book about the enigmatic Charles Hawtrey. Hawtrey has been surrounded by myth and half truths simply due to the failure of the man himself to provide any real information in the public domain into his life. Butters counters this by talking to Hawtrey's small inner circle of friends and relatives as well as those who worked with him. A picture emerges of a man who failed to realise his own worth, not content with any form of shared billing, Hawtrey set about alienating co-stars and more importantly producers and directors. His slow decline into a world of secluded alcoholism is not unique, but still sad. Butters however imbues the book with such respect and admiration for the subject that we don't end up disliking the man, which is quite a skill as a writer given a lot of the excesses that are detailed so starkly by those who witnessed them. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. BUY IT, you won't be disappointed and the cover price is worth the rare array of photographs alone. Truly a masterful piece of writing and research."
"The story isn't maudlin or exploitative. It does not ape the sensational style of the tabloids who seemed almost to delight in Hawtrey's downfall. Instead, it is told with real warmth by an author who senses the true quality of the man and wishes to set the facts in their proper context. The writing style is free and uncluttered, the book is packed with a wealth of photographs and other illustrations and, in the manner of all the best biographies, it leaves you genuinely wishing you had known the subject personally. You feel you would have liked to help him. That is a true testament to the book's achievement."
© HarperCollins 2008
Amazon reviews
"I know his diaries backwards and have watched/listened to the many tributes on TV/radio since his death in 1988. However this book, with its unprecedented access to the key people in Kenneth's life, introduces so many new facts, photos, anecdotes and revelations. It's a real joy for the Williams/Carry On fan, beautifully written and wonderfully researched. I initially approached with caution fearing a re-hash - it's actually the opposite. The book lets us look at an icon with new eyes. I cannot recommend it enough."
"I would highly recommend this book as being one of the best on Kenneth Williams for years, and with so many personal and private moments featured it is one that brings out the humanity and warmth of the man in many ways also."
"The groaningly familiar is avoided, and I like to believe that the embossed, faux-flock wallpaper that the book's cover resembles was used ironically, as the very last type of decoration you would have found, I believe, on Kenneth's walls; hopefully he'd have found being pictured on his Snide's character's likely choice of wallpaper, for all the world's remaining time, ironically funny."
© Endeavour 2010
