Snakes and Ladders

by Dirk Bogarde

Chatto & Windus, 1978, [First Edition], b/w photographic plates, illustrated end-papers, hardcover, dustjacket, ISBN 070112377X

Fine Condition, dustjacket has minor edge and shelf wear and minor age-toning

'In his outstanding first volume of autobiography, A Postillion Struck by Lightening, Dirk Bogarde described his childhood and his early experiences on the stage.  In Snakes and Ladders he continues the story, from the trials of an army training camp at Catterick to the greatest challenge of his film career, the role of von Aschenbach in Death in Venice.
This second volume is about the ups and downs he experienced on the way to becoming the actor and person he is.  It is also about people, the people who have helped him in this game of 'snakes and ladders' - family and friends, actors and actresses, directors and producers.  Deeply felt and engagingly told, it is the engrossing story of a man who has always been his own harshest critic.  A loving portrait of Kay Kendall, a moving account of his partnership with Judy Garland, the agonies of playing Liszt in Hollywood, the struggle that he and Losey had to make The Servant, the demands and rewards of working with Visconti - these are but highlights in a book that is rich in detail, incident and character, by a man whose many talents include a rare gift for writing.' 

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