Image Martin Amis, Vladimir Nabokov and William Burroughs breaking bread (or wind) together on the playing fields of Eton and you have some idea of where English polymath Stephen Fry - actor, playright, newspaper columnist, fledgling novelist - seems destined to stand, or squat, in the literary firmaments.
The English language has never tasted more delicious than in the mouth of Stephen Fry: his chokingly brilliant sesquipedalian prose is like a shaft of sunlight through the drizzle of quotidian language, some of which he explores in his magnificent BBC documentary "Fry's Planet Word".
Nearly five hours of spellbinding viewing and listening, of which just a few short segments are available on YouTube. I've added them here to whet your appetite; to fully satisfy your appetite, you may want to buy the two-disc set on ebay for no more than the price of a cup of coffee.
Series 1 Episode 1
Series 1 Episode 4
Series 1 Episode 5
