- Hardcover: 465 pages
- Publisher: Alfred A Knopf; 1st ed edition (May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0375402187
- ISBN-13: 978-0375402180
- Product Dimensions: 25.9 x 18.8 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,167,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Without Groucho Marx, modern comedy would be unrecognisable. With his painted-on moustache, ever-present cigar, loping walk, and instant put-downs, he achieved an iconic status. His comic routines have enthralled audiences, impressed critics, and inspired a number of academic theses. But what of Julius, the man behind the greasepaint? In this, the first major biography since the comedian's death, Stefan Kanfer suggests that the distinction between Groucho and Julius was never a simple one.
The author traces Groucho's difficulties back to his childhood: as the third of five brothers to an ambitious mother, Groucho found himself neglected in favour of the others. It was only with success on the stage that he could win his mother Minnie's approval. In later years, his relationships with women were rarely successful--he married on three occasions, each time alienating his wife with his relentless criticism. By the end of his life, Groucho was a lonely man, living with a woman who, many of his relatives claimed, was interested only in his money.
To reinforce his theories about Groucho's character, Kanfer resorts to speculation rather too often, as when he asks "Was he so marked by Minnie's dominance ... that he felt compelled to tyrannize and humiliate any woman who ventured too close?" However, unlike many revisionary biographies of iconic figures, Kanfer's book does not dwell exclusively upon the murkier aspects of his subject's life. It is clear throughout that the author has a deep respect for Groucho, and he takes any excuse to quote choice lines, making for an account that is both appropriately funny and necessarily poignant. --John Oates --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The temptation is to start with a classic wisecrack: One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know.
But Groucho Marx, like Stefan Kanfer's superb biography, consists of much more than just jokes. Underneath the most famous Marx brother's oneliners and carefree attitude was a life dominated by deep sadness, professional dissatisfaction, and personal turmoil.
Beginning with the Marx Brothers' family heritage and their youth in turn-of-the-century New York, we see Julius and his brothers Adolph and Leonard become Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. We go backstage as they develop their routines in vaudeville, on Broadway, and, finally, in Hollywood. Groucho's story unfolds against the backdrop of the changing world around him and his star-studded milieu, which includes other classic comic figures such as Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields, as well as great names like Ben Hecht, George Gershwin, and even T. S. Eliot. Kanfer delves into Groucho's complicated relationships with the people around him — his failed marriages, his destructive behavior toward his children, his clashes with the self-indulgent Chico. The Brothers become the biggest movie stars in the world — a success bitterly followed by slow decline as age, years of profligacy, and ego all catch up with them. Finally, we witness Groucho's extraordinary resurrection — coming back from the career-dead to host the television quiz show You Bet Your Life, which cements his legendary status in American culture.
Groucho Marx proved that comedy could be raucous, sophisticated, and wildly unexpected — all at once. Groucho raises the curtain on this icon of twentieth-century cynicism and irreverence in an authoritative, affectionate, and unsparingly honest look behind the cigar.
But Groucho Marx, like Stefan Kanfer's superb biography, consists of much more than just jokes. Underneath the most famous Marx brother's oneliners and carefree attitude was a life dominated by deep sadness, professional dissatisfaction, and personal turmoil.
Beginning with the Marx Brothers' family heritage and their youth in turn-of-the-century New York, we see Julius and his brothers Adolph and Leonard become Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. We go backstage as they develop their routines in vaudeville, on Broadway, and, finally, in Hollywood. Groucho's story unfolds against the backdrop of the changing world around him and his star-studded milieu, which includes other classic comic figures such as Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields, as well as great names like Ben Hecht, George Gershwin, and even T. S. Eliot. Kanfer delves into Groucho's complicated relationships with the people around him — his failed marriages, his destructive behavior toward his children, his clashes with the self-indulgent Chico. The Brothers become the biggest movie stars in the world — a success bitterly followed by slow decline as age, years of profligacy, and ego all catch up with them. Finally, we witness Groucho's extraordinary resurrection — coming back from the career-dead to host the television quiz show You Bet Your Life, which cements his legendary status in American culture.
Groucho Marx proved that comedy could be raucous, sophisticated, and wildly unexpected — all at once. Groucho raises the curtain on this icon of twentieth-century cynicism and irreverence in an authoritative, affectionate, and unsparingly honest look behind the cigar.
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THE BIG MAGICIAN had only three assets: energy, audacity, and speed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE BIG MAGICIAN had only three assets: energy, audacity, and speed. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a Marx Brothers fan, I've purchased and read many of the biographies/critiques of Groucho and Bros. (and there are a *lot* of them!), and I found this to be one of the most entertaining. We've reached the point in history where first-hand biographies can no longer be written--most of Groucho's friends, collaborators, and family are dead, so Kanfer's is likely the first of books that will study Groucho from a more historical perspective, using newspaper articles, movie reviews, and the books that have gone before (Kanfer points out, a little defensively for my tastes, that Groucho told so many tall tales you couldn't take first-person testimony at face value anyway). "Groucho" makes for an effective (if somewhat detached) bio: overall quite entertaining, not skimping on Marx's low points and somewhat pessimistic worldview as well as his more familiar triumphs. By all accounts, including this one, Groucho was not a guy you'd want to pal around with unless you had the sharpest wit (and even then he'd dislike any attempt to outshine him), and Kanfer does a credible job of portraying Groucho's sourness as well as handling a controversial subject: just how badly Groucho was treated by women in his later years (and to be perfectly fair, his less-than-stellar treatment *of* women throughout his whole life). I have to praise an aspect of this book not many other reviewers have mentioned: it is immensely funny, not because Kanfer is a humorous writer, but because he has the good sense to occasionally step aside and recount some of Groucho's funniest lines or dialogue. Still, the occasional sloppiness in writing and editing (as mentioned by other Amazon reviewers) did make me scowl once in a while as I read it. I wouldn't call this the definite Groucho bio-- but it's an entertaining read and a decent synthesis of the many books I've read before with a slightly fresh spin. Still, given Groucho's disarming, misleading wit about anything personal, can there *ever be* a definitive bio? I'm eagerly awaiting Simon Louvish's "Monkey Business"--given his excellent *and* entertaining W.C. Fields bio, perhaps it's Louvish who can best do justice to the Marxes--but with this enigmatic cult icon whose greasepaint mustache and quick words hid a much more complex man, I wouldn't be surprised if Groucho's up there having a good old laugh on all of us who are trying to analyze his wit rather than just enjoy it.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
He was funny, he was an icon and yet, so nasty!
This biography pulls no punches in displaying Groucho for all he was- insecure, mean and cruel, but you'll probably love him all the same. This is a comprehensive, unbiased history with a liberal sprinkling of his best gags and lines, as well as anecdotes and pictures.
Makes for an excellent read for any Groucho- or non Groucho- fan.
This biography pulls no punches in displaying Groucho for all he was- insecure, mean and cruel, but you'll probably love him all the same. This is a comprehensive, unbiased history with a liberal sprinkling of his best gags and lines, as well as anecdotes and pictures.
Makes for an excellent read for any Groucho- or non Groucho- fan.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very entertaining book, a well-paced documentary of the struggles and eventual success of the Jewish Marx family, interspersed with the glorious skits and waspish lines that mark Groucho Marx as one of the most quick witted, erudite performers of the 20th century. He was a literary man, and had many funny lines relating to literary pursuits:
"From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it."
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
"I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book."
This is a very funny book, perhaps unusually so for a biography, and I thoroughly recommend it to all, but then, to quote Groucho one last time:
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
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