This collection of diary entries follows Richard E. Grant`s career from the cult movie " Withnail and I" to his experiences in Hollywood on such films as " The Player" and " Dracula" .

With Nails: the Film Diaries of Richard E Grant

Richard E. Grant

Humor & Entertainment

Pan/Macmillan

A Hollywood novel about Vyvian, interior designer to the stars; his “ sister” Marga, a supposedly deaf-mute masseuse; and “ Zeitgeist” , the biggest blockbuster ever made.

By Design

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Picador

Ten years after the publication of With Nails, Richard E Grant's brilliant memoir of his years in Hollywood, Macmillan Audio Books are proud to be publishing Wah-Wah, the very personal diaries of his debut behind the camera, as writer and director of his autobiographical movie of the same name. It is both a fascinating insight into the intrigues and agonies he encounters along the way, and also a deeply moving portrait of his childhood and his love affair with Swaziland, where he was born and brought up during the last throes of the British Empire. Through the mayhem never-ending financial pressures; hostilities and finally breakdown of communication with his Producer; the nerve-racking quest to persuade the King of Swaziland to grant permission to film in his country; the assembly of a stellar cast including Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, and Julie Walters Richard E Grant has written and reads, with characteristic humour and charm, an extraordinarily honest and revealing account of a labour of love and the realisation of a dream.

Wah-wah Diaries, The: The Making of a Film

Biographies & Memoirs

First comes Grant's first big break, the starring role in Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I, the cult film that set Grant's career on a path bound for stardom—"I had no notion that, almost without exception, every film offered since would be the result of playing an alcoholic-out-of-work actor." Like Dante's Virgil he guides the reader through the hell of the making of Hudson Hawk. He knows he's an insider when Carrie Fisher reminds him, "You're no longer a tourist, you’re one of the attractions." This heady mixture of eating spaghetti with the Coppolas, window-shopping with Sharon Stone, and working with and learning from the best actors and directors in Tinseltown will be irresistible to anyone who loves movies or aspires to be a Hollywood player.

With Nails

Macmillan Audio Books

With Nails (paperback)

Pan Macmillan, London

A Pocketful of Happiness

Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career, and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife Joan died in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day.\nThe result is this book.\nSet between the present day and flashbacks to delightfully indiscreet diary entries recalling landmarks from his remarkable life and glittering career, this is an immensely personal and profound memoir that celebrates and cherishes life’s unexpected joys. 
Funny, moving and perceptive, A Pocketful of Happiness is an insight into the life of a much loved British actor.

Memoirs

Simon Schuster Ltd

To Be Confirmed Simon & Schuster UK

Gallery UK

'A gorgeously candid account of acting and show business. And an intimate and heartfelt story of love, loss and a life spent together. It is an honour to be invited in on these diaries. I cannot remember being so moved by a book' Dolly Alderton\n'Fascinating, funny and heart wrenching' Dame Julie Walters\n'An emotional rollercoaster - profoundly moving and wonderfully entertaining. A brilliant memoir about living, loving and losing' Bernardine Evaristo\nRichard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor, when he unexpectedly met and fell in love with renowned dialect coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood and loss, lasted almost forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was to find ‘a pocketful of happiness in every day’.\nThis honest and frequently hilarious memoir is written in honour of that challenge – Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these entries he shares in raw detail everything he has experienced : both the pain of losing his beloved wife, and the excitement of their life together, from the role that transformed his life overnight in Withnail & I to his thrilling Oscar nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me?\nTold with candour in Richard’s utterly unique style, A Pocketful of Happiness is a powerful, funny and moving celebration of life’s unexpected joys.

Gallery

'A gorgeously candid account of acting and show business. And an intimate and heartfelt story of love, loss and a life spent together. It is an honour to be invited in on these diaries. I cannot remember being so moved by a book' Dolly Alderton'Fascinating, funny and heart wrenching' Dame Julie Walters'An emotional rollercoaster - profoundly moving and wonderfully entertaining. A brilliant memoir about living, loving and losing' Bernardine Evaristo'One of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I've ever read' Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry An intimate and uplifting memoir by Richard E. Grant. Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career, and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife Joan died in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. The result is this book. Set between the present day and flashbacks to delightfully indiscreet diary entries recalling landmarks from his remarkable life and glittering career, this is an immensely personal and profound memoir that celebrates and cherishes life's unexpected joys. Funny, moving and perceptive, A Pocketful of Happiness is an insight into the life of a much loved British actor.

When Richard E Grant (b.1957) was cast in Withnail and I (1987), his whole world changed. In this amusing and eloquent memoir, he charts his self-doubt on the road to stardom, nights spent drinking, touring Paris's red-light district with a world-famous couple, and working with Hollywood's biggest actors and directors. First published in 1996; this Picador Classic edition includes a new postscript and an introduction by Steve Martin.

Arts & Photography

Performing Arts

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Richard E. Grant. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Richard E. Grant

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Richard E. Grant. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

With Nails: the Film Diaries of Richard E Grant

By Design

Wah-wah Diaries, The: The Making of a Film

With Nails

With Nails (paperback)

A Pocketful of Happiness

A Pocketful of Happiness

A Pocketful of Happiness

A Pocketful of Happiness

With Nails