How do you review a memoir? I cannot give a rating to the person that is Stephen Fry, and besides, why would you want to read this book anyway if you don't like him or are at least interested in his life? See. No point in rating the content of this book.
There is, however, the not so small matter of the presentation. A chronological approach would certainly be the best idea, but how much should one reveal? Which experience should be described because it holds a deeper meaning, and which is really just of sentimental, but not of any storytelling value?
Stephen Fry's biography feels like a fictional biography when you read it, and I don't mean this in the sense of it being believable or not, I mean it in a sense of a chain of linking events being told as one, with a few anecdotes for the humour of it, but otherwise a straight story that keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next.
On an emotional level, the storytelling feels real and honest, but while you feel for young Stephen when something bad happens, or are happy for him when something good happens, there is never the fear of getting over-emotional, and thankfully the cringe factor is very low. There are enough incidents where that could have been an issue, yet it is not, and I will give the writing the credit for that.
One thing you almost expect from Stephen Fry is that he gets side-tracked with interesting anecdotes or bits of trivia. This happens here as well, plus the occasional rant on a subject close to his heart or some explanations and thoughts on British society, but it always leads back to the story, and the overall story is not lost on the reader.
All in all, this is a good book; despite or because of it being a memoir, I don't know. It's well written, and you certainly learn a lot about Stephen Fry. And despite there being some swearing and mentioning of adult things, it never gets disgusting or vulgar, so you can enjoy it for the story, or for the language, or for Stephen, or for all three of those :)