Author Guide · Memoir & Diaries
Books Written by
Richard E. Grant was born Richard Grant Esterhuysen in Mbabane, in what was then the British protectorate of Swaziland, and most of his books come out of the diaries he has kept. His first, With Nails (1996), is built from the diaries he kept on film sets after Withnail and I made his name in 1987; his latest, A Pocketful of Happiness (2022), is about his wife, the voice coach Joan Washington, who died in 2021. In between came a Hollywood novel and the diary of directing his own film. This guide covers his 4 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 key books · 1996–2022 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Richard E. Grant has written four books: With Nails (1996), his film diaries; the novel By Design (1999); The Wah-Wah Diaries (2006); and the memoir A Pocketful of Happiness (2022). Start with With Nails for the film world, or A Pocketful of Happiness for his marriage and his grief.
Where to Start with Richard E. Grant
If you want behind the scenes of his films
→ With Nails (1996) — the diaries from Withnail and I onwards.
If you want his most personal book
→ A Pocketful of Happiness (2022) — his marriage, and his wife’s illness.
If you want to know how a film gets made
→ The Wah-Wah Diaries (2006) — directing Wah-Wah, day by day.
4 Richard E. Grant Books, in Order
With Nails
The diaries he kept from the making of Withnail and I through the following years in British and American film: smaller parts for directors such as Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, and the troubled production of Hudson Hawk, with its delays and cost overruns. A screenwriter who read his account of filming Withnail and I suggested he write a screenplay. Simon & Schuster later reissued it.
By Design
His only novel, published by Picador: as the subtitle says, a Hollywood novel, set in the film business he had been recording in his diaries.
The Wah-Wah Diaries
The diary of writing and directing Wah-Wah (2005), his film loosely based on his childhood in Swaziland, starring Nicholas Hoult with Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Julie Walters and Emily Watson. The project took him more than seven years, and filming in Swaziland required a meeting with the King to secure permission.
A Pocketful of Happiness
A memoir of his marriage to the voice coach Joan Washington, whom he married in 1986, and of her illness after she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. She died on 2 September 2021. It was published by Simon & Schuster.
In What Order to Read Richard E. Grant
The books do not depend on each other, but reading in publication order follows his life: the actor of the 1980s and 1990s in With Nails, the novelist, the first-time director of The Wah-Wah Diaries, and the widower of A Pocketful of Happiness.
If you want to see Wah-Wah (2005), read The Wah-Wah Diaries after watching it. A Pocketful of Happiness can be read on its own; it covers the whole of his marriage.
A reading path
1. With Nails (1996)
2. The Wah-Wah Diaries (2006)
3. A Pocketful of Happiness (2022)
4. By Design (1999)
The years · 1957–2022
Quick facts about Richard E. Grant
- Known for
- The role of Withnail in Withnail and I (1987), an Oscar nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and the diaries he has kept and published since
- 1957
- Born in Mbabane, Swaziland
- 1987
- Withnail and I
- 1996
- With Nails
- 2005
- Writes and directs Wah-Wah
- 2022
- A Pocketful of Happiness
- Born
- 5 May 1957, Mbabane, Swaziland (now Eswatini), as Richard Grant Esterhuysen
- Breakthrough
- Withnail and I (1987)
- Director
- Wah-Wah (2005), loosely based on his childhood
- Honours
- Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018); Independent Spirit Award
- Married
- The voice coach Joan Washington, 1986 until her death in 2021; one daughter
- Books
- Four: two volumes of diaries, a novel and a memoir
The red mark is 1996: With Nails, the film diaries that started his writing life.
How Richard E. Grant Writes: The Daily Diary
Almost everything Grant has published comes out of a diary. With Nails and The Wah-Wah Diaries are dated entries, written on the day, about the people on set, the waiting, the money and the egos, with the immediacy of something not yet tidied up.
The Wah-Wah Diaries turns the same habit on his own work as a director, on a film that took more than seven years and that he shot in the country where he grew up.
A Pocketful of Happiness is the one book that looks back over a whole life. It is about Joan Washington and their thirty-five years of marriage, up to her death in 2021.
Watch
Richard E. Grant on A Pocketful of Happiness
Richard E. Grant talks to ABC’s Good Morning America in 2023 about his memoir A Pocketful of Happiness.
Frequently asked questions about Richard E. Grant’s books
How many books has Richard E. Grant written?
Four: With Nails (1996), By Design (1999), The Wah-Wah Diaries (2006) and A Pocketful of Happiness (2022).
What are Richard E. Grant’s books in order?
With Nails (1996), By Design: A Hollywood Novel (1999), The Wah-Wah Diaries (2006) and A Pocketful of Happiness (2022).
Where should I start with Richard E. Grant?
With With Nails if you want the film world from Withnail and I onwards, or with A Pocketful of Happiness if you want his life and marriage.
What is Richard E. Grant’s most famous book?
With Nails (1996), his film diaries, and more recently A Pocketful of Happiness (2022), his memoir of his wife Joan Washington.
What is A Pocketful of Happiness about?
His marriage to the voice coach Joan Washington, from 1986 until her death from lung cancer on 2 September 2021.
Has Richard E. Grant written a novel?
Yes, one: By Design: A Hollywood Novel, published by Picador in 1999.
What is The Wah-Wah Diaries about?
The making of Wah-Wah (2005), the film he wrote and directed about a boyhood in Swaziland, loosely based on his own. It took him more than seven years.
Did Richard E. Grant fall out with the producer of Wah-Wah?
Yes. He has described a difficult working relationship with the producer Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar and has said he would never work with her again.
Did Richard E. Grant write his books himself?
Yes. All four are credited to him alone, and two of them are published diaries.
Footnotes
- Richard E. Grant — Wikipedia
- With Nails — Kirkus Reviews
- With Nails — Simon & Schuster
- Richard E. Grant on A Pocketful of Happiness — NPR, 2023
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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