How to Go to the Movies

by Quentin Crisp

Since moving to New York City over a decade ago, Quentin Crisp has brought his love of the cinema and his notorious wit together in a series of essays on films and film stars. A veteran film-goer of seventy years who has kept a vigilant eye on changing Hollywood styles and the public tastes that follow, Mr. Crisp discusses both films and stars with his typical panache and dexterity and leads his readers with polite madness to a clear, straightforward moral, proving himself to be an unexpected champion of good sense. Along the way Mr. Crisp shares his personal encounters with the likes of Lillian Gish, John Hurt, David Hockney, Divine, Sting, and Geraldine Page. Prefaced by longer essays on the essence of stardom, the nature of Hollywood, and the deplorable state of that town today, Mr. Crisp's book is a delight to read.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Gay

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Quentin Crisp, born Denis Charles Pratt, was an English writer, artist's model, actor and raconteur known for his memorable and insightful witticisms. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, brought to the attention of the general public his defiant exhibitionism and longstanding refusal to remain in the closet.

Reviews

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really terrific absorbing reading.

It's heavily focused on 80s films since it's a collection of reviews but there are also hilarious and insightful essays about, well, going to the movies.

This really needs a reissue. Wonderfully witty.

[manatee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Even though I actually disagreed with many of his reviews, I still loved Crisp's breezy, witty, old-fashioned style. What a wit! Thoroughly delightful stuff.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolute gift too have a little slice of Crisp's life at any occasion.

[Bob Ritner · Rating 5 out of 5]

very funny, starts off with a kind of a history of movies from a movie-goers point of view, from silent movies to the eighties.