The Moon's a Balloon: The Guardian’s Number One Hollywood Autobiography

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One of the bestselling memoirs of all time, David Niven’s The Moon’s a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen.

The lighthearted style of the writer/narrator made this a very good listen. There were some very sad passages and the emotions were alluded to, but it never became mawkish. Discover the heartfelt, laugh-out-loud account of one of Hollywood's greatest actors and, above all, greatest men

In this bestselling autobiography, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life, regaling us with tales of school expulsion and wartime hi-jinks. However, it is his accounts of working and partying with the legends of the silver screen - from Lawrence Oliver and Vivien Leigh to Elizabeth Taylor, Noel Coward and dozens of others - that turn this memoir into an outright masterpiece. Debonair English wit and humourist extraordinaire, star of The Pink Panther, Casino Royal and Around the World in 80 Days, few Hollywood actors are remembered as fondly as David Niven.

David Niven is remembered as one of Britain's best-loved actors. The archetypal English gentleman, he starred in over ninety films. He is equally remembered as the author of this classic autobiography.

Comments from the archive

An intimate, gossipy, warm and above all charming account of life inside Hollywood's dream factory, The Moon is a Balloon is a classic to be read and enjoyed time and again. Beginning with the tragic early loss of his aristocratic father, then regaling us with tales of school, army and wartime hi-jinx, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life.

That said, he does freely admit that there were a few times in his life when he behaved unforgiveably and I was pleased to see these displays of self-awareness, especially given that I suspect other more difficult aspects of his life (particularly his relationship with his second wife) were heavily glossed over. And he certainly doesn’t try to disguise his drinking. I honesly don’t know how he lived to 73. His poor liver. THE MOON'S A BALLOON is a wonderful record of a truly remarkable and warm-hearted man, told in his inimitable style. Overall: top stuff. I’ve already put the second volume of his autobiography on my TBR list to enjoy the next time I need to be swept up in some serious Hollywood glamour. The overall sense I got from the book was that Niven managed to cram more into his first 20 years than most of us manage in a lifetime. And unlike many autobiographies, he has a real talent for telling a ripping yarn. There is not a dull moment in this book and I was utterly gripped from start to finish. But it is his astonishing stories of life in Hollywood and his accounts of working and partying with the legends of the silver screen – Lawrence Oliver, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, Noel Coward and dozens of others, while making some of the most acclaimed films of the last century – which turn David Niven’s memoir into an outright masterpiece.Forthright, bawdy, and often hilarious, zany and zestful, his anecdotes should keep you entertained for hours' Sunday Express Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. This is David