Stephen Fry
Author of Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold
About the Author
Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter, and director. He is also the bestselling author of four novels - The Stars' Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus, and The Liar-as well as two previous memoirs- Moab Is My Washpot and The Fry Chronicles, the latter of which is show more available from The Overlook Press. show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Note: Both Mrs Stephen Fry and Edna Fry are pseudonyms of Stephen Fry used on: Mrs. Fry's Diary and How to Have an Almost Perfect Marriage.
Series
Works by Stephen Fry
Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined (2018) — Author; Narrator, some editions — 2,562 copies, 46 reviews
Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined (2020) — Author; Narrator, some editions — 1,826 copies, 29 reviews
The Tales of Max Carrados 9 copies
Odisea (Spanish Edition) 3 copies
Paddington Here and Now 2 copies
QI: The H Series - 3-DVD Set ( QI: The H Series (Series 9) ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ] (2010) 2 copies
7 Deadly Sins 2 copies
Pocoyo: Pocoyo Circus 1 copy
Galaxy 1 copy
QI : A-F and part of G 1 copy
[Unknown Titles] 1 copy
The Tooth Fairy Movie! 1 copy
Odissea 1 copy
Fry and Laurie Read Daudet and Jerome: Letters from My Windmill & Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow 1 copy
Fry Stephen 1 copy
עושים היסטוריה 1 copy
Associated Works
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) (1997) — Narrator, some editions — 154,212 copies, 2,219 reviews
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998) — Narrator, some editions — 125,990 copies, 1,093 reviews
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) — Narrator, some editions — 122,459 copies, 1,084 reviews
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003) — Narrator, some editions — 114,092 copies, 935 reviews
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) — Narrator, some editions — 113,401 copies, 1,002 reviews
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) — Narrator, some editions — 108,746 copies, 1,642 reviews
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time (2002) — Foreword, some editions — 7,080 copies, 71 reviews
Letters of Note: Volume 1: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience (2013) — Narrator, some editions — 988 copies, 38 reviews
The Book of General Ignorance : The Noticeably Stouter Edition (2009) — Foreword, some editions — 391 copies, 9 reviews
The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution (2019) — Foreword — 352 copies, 5 reviews
Sherlock Holmes (unspecified) (2008) — Narrator, some editions; Narrator, some editions — 341 copies, 7 reviews
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection (2017) — Narrator; Introduction — 244 copies, 6 reviews
Writers on Writing, 2: More Collected Essays from the New York Times (2003) — Contributor — 200 copies, 3 reviews
Oscar Wilde's Stories for All Ages (2009) — Introduction; Narrator, some editions; Compiler; Editor — 72 copies
Fantastic Mr. Fox and Other Animal Stories: Includes Esio Trot, The Enormous Crocodile & The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (2004) — Narrator, some editions — 45 copies, 5 reviews
Piglet Meets a Heffalump and Other Stories [dramatized] (2006) — Narrator, some editions — 30 copies
Stephen Fry Presents a Selection of Anton Chekhov's Short Stories (2009) — Narrator — 28 copies, 3 reviews
Welcome to Biscuit Land: A Year in the Life of Touretteshero (2012) — Foreword — 21 copies, 1 review
Absolute Power: Series 1 — Actor — 14 copies
Kingdom: Series 3 9 copies
The Best of Paddington Bear (Unabridged Audiobook, 3-in-1) (1985) — Reader, some editions — 8 copies, 2 reviews
The Dropout [2022 TV miniseries] 2 copies
BBC Proms 2016 : Prom 43 : Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra [video recording] (2016) — Special guest — 1 copy
The Secret Policeman's Balls — Actor — 1 copy
BBC Proms 2020 : Prom 01 : First Night of the Proms : Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ [video recording] (2020) — Interviewed Guest — 1 copy
Absolute Power: Series 2 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Fry, Stephen
- Legal name
- Fry, Stephen John
- Other names
- Fry, Mrs Stephen (pseudonym)
Fry, Edna (pseudonym) - Birthdate
- 1957-08-24
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Cambridge (MA | 1981 | Queens' College)
- Occupations
- actor
writer
comedian
television presenter
film director
administrator (show all 7)
atheist - Organizations
- Noël Coward Society (vice president)
Cambridge University Quiz Society
British Humanist Association (distinguished supporter)
Dundee University (rector|1992-1998)
Garrick Club (member) - Awards and honors
- Commander of the Order of the Phoenix (2021)
Pipe Smoker of the Year (2003)
Best Game Show Host (Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival | 2006)
Lifetime Achievement Award (British Comedy Awards | 2007)
Special Recognition Award (National Television Awards | 2010)
British LGBT award (Hero of the people | 2019) (show all 9)
AoC Gold Award (2004)
Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism (Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy | 2011)
Best Actor (Seattle International Film Festival | 1998) - Agent
- Anthony Goff (David Higham Associates)
- Relationships
- Spencer, Elliott (husband)
Laurie, Hugh (comedy partner) - Short biography
- Best known for his comedic work in the 1980s and 1990s with fellow UK actor Hugh Laurie as half of the comedy team Fry & Laurie, and as Jeeves in the UK television series adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster books. Has also portrayed Oscar Wilde in the UK film Wilde. Has also worked with Ade Edmonson and Rick Mayall, often guest-starring in their own television series', The Young Ones and Filthy, Rich & Catflap, with comedic partner Laurie.
Has battled bipolar disorder. Is a self-described technology fiend.
Currently spends a lot of time on his iPhone updating his Twitter microblog. - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Hampstead, London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Booton, Norfolk, England, UK
London, England, UK - Map Location
- England, UK
- Disambiguation notice
- Note: Both Mrs Stephen Fry and Edna Fry are pseudonyms of Stephen Fry used on: Mrs. Fry's Diary and How to Have an Almost Perfect Marriage.
Members
Discussions
British Author Challenge April 2026: Kit de Waal & Stephen Fry in 75 Books Challenge for 2026 (May 9)
August 2013: "Der Sterne Tennisbälle" von Stephen Fry in Online-Lesekreis (August 2013)
Reviews
Stories from mythology have a certain familiarity no matter who is telling the tale; what makes them interesting reading is the particular slant adopted in telling the familiar tale and the tone of language.
Writing for adults, Fry’s Mythos trilogy (Mythos in 2019, Heroes in 2020, and Troy in 2021) covers the range of classical Greek myths. Across the three books, his re-tellings incorporate some of the more obscure details of the stories but his prose has a wit and dry humor that matches show more 21st century sensibilities.
Fry’s version grasps the point made by Robert Graves about the purposes of mythology being (a) to answer awkward questions and (b) reinforce the existing social structure. Fry in his introduction writes “Greeks did not grovel before their gods. They were aware of their vain need to be supplicated and venerated, but they believed men were their equal. Their myths understand that whoever created this baffling world, with its cruelties, wonders, caprices, beauties, madness and injustice, must themselves have been cruel, wonderful, capricious, beautiful, mad and unjust. The Greeks created gods that were in their image: warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate but vengeful.”
Fry’s books do not sanitize the behaviors of either gods or heroes, so I stress that these are not intended for middle-school readers or younger. However, grown-ups will find the trilogy to be an enjoyable and thoroughly immersive reading experience. show less
Writing for adults, Fry’s Mythos trilogy (Mythos in 2019, Heroes in 2020, and Troy in 2021) covers the range of classical Greek myths. Across the three books, his re-tellings incorporate some of the more obscure details of the stories but his prose has a wit and dry humor that matches show more 21st century sensibilities.
Fry’s version grasps the point made by Robert Graves about the purposes of mythology being (a) to answer awkward questions and (b) reinforce the existing social structure. Fry in his introduction writes “Greeks did not grovel before their gods. They were aware of their vain need to be supplicated and venerated, but they believed men were their equal. Their myths understand that whoever created this baffling world, with its cruelties, wonders, caprices, beauties, madness and injustice, must themselves have been cruel, wonderful, capricious, beautiful, mad and unjust. The Greeks created gods that were in their image: warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate but vengeful.”
Fry’s books do not sanitize the behaviors of either gods or heroes, so I stress that these are not intended for middle-school readers or younger. However, grown-ups will find the trilogy to be an enjoyable and thoroughly immersive reading experience. show less
This is a continuation of Fry's book Mythos. I loved both but with this one, I missed seeing all the rich paintings and details included in the gorgeous print version. Fry reads it himself, which is a complete delight. He tells these well-known tales of Oedipus, Medea, Hercules, Jason and the Argo, etc but he infuses them with such humor and cheek. It reminds me of Gaiman's Norse Mythology.
“You see?' said Prometheus. 'It is your fate to be Heracles the hero, burdened with labours, yet it show more is also your choice. You choose to submit to it. Such is the paradox of living. We willingly accept that we have no will." show less
“You see?' said Prometheus. 'It is your fate to be Heracles the hero, burdened with labours, yet it show more is also your choice. You choose to submit to it. Such is the paradox of living. We willingly accept that we have no will." show less
Perhaps Stephen Fry, who wrote this novel 'The Liar', has unknowingly added a new literary genre that could be called wishful autobiography. Knowing a little bit about the author's background creates a very different experience with this book than if taken just at face value. We have here a novel describing the exploits and dandy adventures of a young English Oscar Wilde-incarnated prep school boy. Adrian, a persuasive and very intelligent student can not tell the truth, not even under great show more duress or pressure. This talent or perhaps handicap creates an assortment of entertaining situations in the school he attends and gets him into of course a lot of trouble, although not as much as you might expect. Then again he is a skillful liar and we're told the entire book is a lie. The Liar takes place in an environment most of us can't quite relate to. The halls of the privileged public schools of England have their own jargon, history and common understanding. It takes quite a bit of that knowledge to understand certain passages of the novel even though Fry takes care to explain. Throughout the work this internal language generates a distance where as a reader you get the sensation that you're always just missing the point. For example, you have to be quite well read to get some of the finer points of the interaction between Adrian and his chums. Frequently names of characters in Roman literature are used as stereotypes, which, works well, if you've read works like the Satyricon for example.
We can clearly hear Wilde's language and ideas combined with the events Evelyn Waugh might have conjured. At the same time Stephen Fry takes the piss out of the entire genre as well. He clearly shows the self absorbed narrow world of English private academia. However, this isn't just a pastiche novel, it isn't a copy or weak derivative. Through the familiar Victorian and Edwardian language we can clearly here Fry's own voice and one as clever as you might expect. In some parts and phrases we can even hear Chuck Palahniuk's voice.
It is rather strange however to see the means by which Fry evangelizes the gay persuasion. I don't mean that he tries to persuade anyone in converting but there is a definite sense of trying to normalize queerness (his word not mine). The way in which this is done in my view anyway is rather counterproductive. Instead of showing the elegance, the refined nature of most gay men, Fry shows and describes all those things we think they're up to in great detail. After having read Portnoy's Complaint it did not bother me too much but then again I can see how the novel can turn people away.
There is another interesting link to Portnoy's Complaint. Philip Roth who wrote Portnoy has always denied his book was autobiographical. Unlike Fry who I believe clearly admitted in various interviews that the materials for The Liar were snatched from his own experiences in the English public school system and other parts of his early life. Comparing Portnoy to the Liar becomes even more interesting when we look at how the protagonists in either novel address us, the reader. Whereas in Portnoy the author essentially screams at the reader about his problems, Fry hides behind his protagonist. A protagonist who we are told from the very first sentence will lie to us. The protagonist is arrested for possession of cocaine, but as we find out later that was all a lie. In reality Fry was arrested for possession of cocaine and sent to prison. Bits of knowledge like these add a completely new layer to the novel and a rather interesting one because we now have a novel in which we can ask: what exactly is an unreliable narrator when the narrator speaks of both the protagonist and the author? show less
We can clearly hear Wilde's language and ideas combined with the events Evelyn Waugh might have conjured. At the same time Stephen Fry takes the piss out of the entire genre as well. He clearly shows the self absorbed narrow world of English private academia. However, this isn't just a pastiche novel, it isn't a copy or weak derivative. Through the familiar Victorian and Edwardian language we can clearly here Fry's own voice and one as clever as you might expect. In some parts and phrases we can even hear Chuck Palahniuk's voice.
It is rather strange however to see the means by which Fry evangelizes the gay persuasion. I don't mean that he tries to persuade anyone in converting but there is a definite sense of trying to normalize queerness (his word not mine). The way in which this is done in my view anyway is rather counterproductive. Instead of showing the elegance, the refined nature of most gay men, Fry shows and describes all those things we think they're up to in great detail. After having read Portnoy's Complaint it did not bother me too much but then again I can see how the novel can turn people away.
There is another interesting link to Portnoy's Complaint. Philip Roth who wrote Portnoy has always denied his book was autobiographical. Unlike Fry who I believe clearly admitted in various interviews that the materials for The Liar were snatched from his own experiences in the English public school system and other parts of his early life. Comparing Portnoy to the Liar becomes even more interesting when we look at how the protagonists in either novel address us, the reader. Whereas in Portnoy the author essentially screams at the reader about his problems, Fry hides behind his protagonist. A protagonist who we are told from the very first sentence will lie to us. The protagonist is arrested for possession of cocaine, but as we find out later that was all a lie. In reality Fry was arrested for possession of cocaine and sent to prison. Bits of knowledge like these add a completely new layer to the novel and a rather interesting one because we now have a novel in which we can ask: what exactly is an unreliable narrator when the narrator speaks of both the protagonist and the author? show less
I plucked Mythos from my shelf after references to Demeter and Persephone in a novel I’d just finished made it my logical next read.
Mythos is a book that you can dip in and out of but I read it from cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of the myths - some familiar, some completely new to me – in the author’s own inimitable style.
I hadn’t realised quite how debauched, incestuous, malicious and barbaric the Gods could be!
The etymology of words and commonly used phrases show more and expressions was fascinating – the Horn of Plenty being a personal favourite, and poor old Midas took me right back to primary school.
I got bogged down by the sheer volume of names resulting from the copious coupling (and struggled to pronounce them in my head) until I realised that it didn’t really matter. The same applied to the wealth of footnotes, at least one on most pages, in an ocularly challenging font size but I persevered and appreciated the additional information in most cases.
Stephen Fry’s choice of vocabulary and tone make Mythos engaging, entertaining and very easy to read.
I learnt a lot and will definitely give Troy a go.
4.5* show less
Mythos is a book that you can dip in and out of but I read it from cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of the myths - some familiar, some completely new to me – in the author’s own inimitable style.
I hadn’t realised quite how debauched, incestuous, malicious and barbaric the Gods could be!
The etymology of words and commonly used phrases show more and expressions was fascinating – the Horn of Plenty being a personal favourite, and poor old Midas took me right back to primary school.
I got bogged down by the sheer volume of names resulting from the copious coupling (and struggled to pronounce them in my head) until I realised that it didn’t really matter. The same applied to the wealth of footnotes, at least one on most pages, in an ocularly challenging font size but I persevered and appreciated the additional information in most cases.
Stephen Fry’s choice of vocabulary and tone make Mythos engaging, entertaining and very easy to read.
I learnt a lot and will definitely give Troy a go.
4.5* show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 109
- Also by
- 151
- Members
- 32,521
- Popularity
- #595
- Rating
- 4.3
- Reviews
- 652
- ISBNs
- 462
- Languages
- 22
- Favorited
- 156
