Get Your Copy of The Richard Burton Diaries, As Seen on TODAY

by Yale University Press
October 15, 2012
in Humanities
0

“I have to say that, even in this culture when we seem to get too much information on celebrities, there’s something about the words on these pages that’s really fascinating.”
—Matt Lauer, NBC TODAY

If you missed this morning’s segment on NBC’s TODAY show, Yale University Press is publishing The Richard Burton Diaries in their entirety, as edited by Chris Williams, director of the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities, deputy director of the College of Arts and Humanities, Swansea University, and formerly director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales. Written between 1939 and 1983, the Diaries cover the years of his legendary career and his celebrated marriages to Elizabeth Taylor. In addition, the manuscript includes numerous hand-written contributions from Elizabeth Taylor herself, who contributes her own comments on Richard’s entries in the margins.

From his personal diaries, a very different Richard Burton is revealed from the one we familiarly “know” as acclaimed actor, international film star, and jet‑set celebrity. In his role as actor, Burton touched shoulders with creative powerhouses—among them Olivia de Havilland, John Gielgud, Claire Bloom, Laurence Olivier, John Huston, Dylan Thomas, and Edward Albee. But his private, handwritten diary pages portray a different person—a family man, a father, a husband, a man often troubled and always keenly observing. Understood through his own words, Burton becomes a fully rounded human being who, with a wealth of talent and a surprising burden of insecurity, confronts the peculiar challenges of life lived in the spotlight.

Now available as an eBook, The Richard Burton Diaries will be officially published in the U.S. on October 23, and YUP is sponsoring a Goodreads Giveaway from now until the actor’s November 10 birthday. Check back on the Yale Press Log for more with editor Chris Williams, and enter now with your Goodreads account for your chance to win a copy of this irresistibly and deeply revealing book!