In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with silver title on the spine.

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Rupert Everett’s first memoir – Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins – was an international bestseller and an instant classic on publication in 2006. Reviewers compared him to Evelyn Waugh, David Niven, Noel Coward and Lord Byron. But Rupert Everett is – of course – one of a kind. Mischievous, touching and nothing less than brilliant, this new memoir is filled with stories, from childhood to the present. Astonishing encounters; tragedy and comedy; vivid portraits of friends and rivals; razor-sharp observations of the celebrity circus from LA to London and beyond… There is something extraordinary on every page. A pilgrimage to Lourdes with his father is both hilarious and moving. A misguided step into reality TV goes horribly wrong. From New York to Moscow to Berlin to Phnom Penh, Vanished Years takes the reader on a wild and wonderful new journey with a charming (and rather disreputable) companion.

Review: I first heard Rupert Everett reading excerpts from Vanished Years on Radio 4’s book at bedtime and bought it straight away – it’s great when an author reads his own work and he does it so well in this case, with the full array of American accents! Most of what I heard was the episode of the American sitcom which was hilarious – I imagined this was what the whole book was going to be. In fact it’s so much more. It’s not a linear actor’s biography of all the funny or glamourous experiences he has had, as perhaps one might expect. It is funny and does recount glamourous parties like the party given by Tina Brown for Talk magazine on Statue of Liberty island in the twilight of the last century, to which Rupert accompanies Madonna. An author can focus his attention on the superficial or something more profound. In this book Rupert manages to mix the two with a mastery of hand jumping back and forth in time and weaving these elements together with his stunning prose that makes it so much more than a ‘romp.’ It’s about death and illusion. At one stage, after Natasha Richardson’s funeral he walks back across a frozen Central Park “The lake is frozen. The city towers over the treetops, a galaxy of windows sparkling with life, while the dead whistle round the naked branches in the park below.” It’s about the contrast of what we think we are going to be or do and what we actually achieve. Speaking of Natasha, “Perhaps we were more alike than we cared to admit. Both of us dreamt, after all, of entirely different careers for ourselves than the ones we ultimately achieved. (She wanted to be Vivien Leigh and I wanted to be Montgomery Clift.)” It’s about the passing of time and coming to terms with who you are, in relation to your parents, your dreams, your friends, your lovers and yourself. Brilliant! Bravo Mr Everett! Encore!

Everett at a speed dating event with When The Music Stops, for Channel 4’s The Friday Night Project in July 2007

Rupert James Hector Everett (born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell’s play and subsequent film Another Country (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public school in the 1930s; the role earned him his first BAFTA Award nomination. He received a second BAFTA nomination and his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), followed by a second Golden Globe nomination for An Ideal Husband (1999).