Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman

The late actor Rickman left 27 volumes of diaries, which have now been edited and condensed by journalist and Scottish Review of Books editor Alan Taylor. Rickman began the diaries in 1993 and continued them until a few weeks before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2016. Most of the entries are snippets about his workday, the people he met, and the endless rounds of parties, dinners, and social events he attended; he also did an incredible amount of international travel. Although many entries seem to be merely an itinerary, there are delicious gems of insightful observation sprinkled throughout. Rickman’s musings are sharp, witty, and sardonic, and the name-dropping is intoxicating but not gossipy. Many of the entries are cryptic, and listeners may need to keep IMDb at their fingertips to know what projects they’re referring to (footnotes are supplied but more would have been welcome).