How to Have an Almost Perfect Marriage

by Mrs. Stephen Fry

Do you, Edna Constance Bathsheba, take Stephen John Elvis to be your lawfully wedded husband? I did.

After many, many years of marriage and many, many children, I've decided it's only fair to share my unparalleled expertise and deepest secrets with you in my new book, How To Have an Almost Perfect Marriage. Of course, the 'him' to whom I refer is my current husband, Stephen. You may be aware of his numerous books, his countless television shows and his enormous intellect. You probably know he spends his time travelling endlessly, attending operas, meeting famous stars of stage and screen and visiting tribespeople in the remotest corners of the globe. That's if you read all that rubbish he writes on Twitter, anyway – honestly, that man's imagination!

If you frequent the Dog & Duck, however, you'll know the truth. Or the Red Lion. Or Kev’s kebab van. Because that's where you'll almost certainly find him. Not dining at the Ritz or filming something about wizards in New Zealand and certainly not at home helping me take care of our five children. Or is it six? Actually, it might be seven now...

Of course, you can't realistically expect to have a marriage as perfect as ours, which is why I've called the book How To Have an Almost Perfect Marriage, but whether you're a husband-, wife- or divorcee-to-be or just simply Fry-curious, you'll learn everything you need to know, and quite a lot you don't, about the most wonderful years of your life as these nine chapters guide you through every aspect of marriage from proposal to divorce, enhanced by my own candid diary entries, incomparable poems and world famous mouth-and eye- watering recipes...

Genres: Humor

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Mrs Stephen Fry is a pseudonym of Stephen Fry.

Reviews

[Shuhada Ramli]

It’s a 2 star because it’s not up to what I have expected. Some of the tips maybe good but some are hmm... you know... not every person can be the same. She wrote based on what she has been through.


Well I can write mine too. LOL. Yeah.. the marriage thingy is still not there yet and.. no. No go. That “happily ever after” terms of today can go fly kites!

[Josef Komensky]

Quite funny book about love sex and marriage.

The jokes reminded me the style of Monty Python humor.

[Charlotte Jones]

I read Mrs Fry’s Diary last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so, although it wasn’t one of my favourite reads and there were definitely things that I didn’t particularly like about it, I thought I’d give this author’s other book a try.

Although I am not married, I am engaged and I know a few people who are getting married this year so this promised to be an entertaining and potentially relevant read for where I am in my life.

In much the same vain as Mrs Fry’s Diary, How to Have an Almost Perfect Marriage talks about how Edna’s husband Stephen Fry but not as we know him. His ‘real’ alcohol-drinking, gambling, window-cleaning life is shown by his wife throughout this book as she gives anecdotes and advice about experiencing a successful and happy marriage.

Overall I found this to be funny in places and a really quick read but it didn’t hold my attention in some parts. I think it would be a humourous gift for a married couple who have been together for a few years but I think that on the whole, Mrs Fry’s Diary was more enjoyable to be honest.

[Manrix]

Full of those 'so bad they're good' jokes, this book is best rationed, so it doesn't lose its effect.
Mrs Fry is quite the character, and her unusual mix of sympathetic and almost cruel (especially towards her children) is balanced expertly. Of course, probably its main selling point is the portrait it paints of her (current) husband, Stephen, who is portrayed as a booze-hound do-nothing. Quite the contrast to his 'feverish ramblings' on Twitter, suggesting he is in fact a well-read celebrity.
Its defacing of classics continues, as this books offers new version of, among others, "I Will Survive" and "Stairway to Heaven." Again, the balancing is amazing, as it mixes cringeworthy bad jokes with deft skill in writing.
The book's advices are perhaps best ignored, but for the rest...
Highly enjoyable.

[Liesje Leest]

Who could give better marriage advice than the lovely Edna Fry?

This book is really funny, I laughed so much while reading it. If you like the Mrs. Stephen Fry twitter account or enjoyed Mrs Fry's Diary you need to read this book too!

[Matt]

While not profound or life changing in any way, this book is a lot of fun and got quite a few laughs out of me. Stephen Fry fans will enjoy this.

[Wendalynn Donnan]

This is a great book. Thanks to Unbound for linking me up to this. I even have my name printed in the back of the book. Crazy!

[Veronica]

Hilariously entertaining, it actually had me laughing out loud :)

[Charlotte Gatto]

Fun!

Fun!

This was a wonderfully fun, amusing, silly and relaxing book to read. Well written and comical. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Ute]

Mrs. Fry is conveying a lot of truth about marriage there. In a very entertaining way.

[Danny Butler]

Some useful advice, I'm sure. A delightfully informative, strangely poignant and humorous book. Or something. It does have some saggy bits. It took me four days to read. Yes.

[Farahana Nabila]

Hillarious but I don't think the tips work for me :P

[Sanjay Ragupathy]

Funny book to entertain but alot of hidden meanings and in between lines that needs to be tought of.

[Annemarie van Eijsden]

Not my kind of book. I hoped it would be a fun read with a lot of British humor in it, but it was mostly just crude jokes.

[Kieran McAndrew]

A practical guide to how to have an almost perfect marriage to Stephen Fry.

Fry's delightful writing contains some fine snigger along moments, but generally a light and playfully humorous short book.

[Diana Willemsen]

3,5 ster. Vermakelijk genoeg, maar auteur kan beter.

[jaroiva]

funny, entertaining

[Joanne]

Not nearly as funny as I had hoped.

[Uma Desabhotla]

An absolute laugh-out-loud funny book. I may or may not use the tips, but the narration is hilarious.

[Aleksandra]

With all due respect to Mr Stephen Fry – Meh.