Dean and Me: (A Love Story) (Hardcover)

"Hey Paul, how you doin'"
"How you doin', polly?"
You still don't remember my f****** name?"

The simple fact that these two men started their conversations with silly nicknames says it all about their love for each other.

On Tuesday, July 25, 1956, ten years to the day after their first appearance together at Skinny D'Amato's club in Atlantic City, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis played their last show together at the Copacabana in New York City. This day forever resounded in the mind of Jerry Lewis, who, along with James Kaplan wrote this book. This is a well written and entertaining read. No excuses are given by Jerry Lewis for the break-up or the mistakes that ensured that these two men would not be able to play together for long term. It is an honest portrayal of two men who, well, really loved each other. Remember the song, "When the moon hits your eye like a bigga' pizza pie, that's Amore?" Essentially, that is what these two men, who worked professionally for ten years, learned and loved about each other. There was the monkey, Jerry Lewis and the suave, romantic, handsome singer, Dean Martin. How these two men, who really had nothing in common came together and made the best comedy team of the century is a story in itself.

Jerry Lewis was a comic, and he met Dean Martin, a crooner on a street curb in New York City. Their managers knew each other and they were introduced. At the time they were playing at the same small club. Jerry Lewis played a trick on Dean as he started his singing act, and Dean gave him that slow take and was grinning, and that was the beginning of the team. They made it big, they made lots of money, and they spent a lot of it. They both had women, Dean many, and Jerry , his wife, Patti. Life was great, but then as time moved along, things began to falter. Professional jealousy from both of them, and like a marriage, it all came apart. Their mutual split, on that fateful night in 1956, led them their separate ways. Both of them successful in their private careers, but their relationship was gone. Jerry had problems with drugs and his marriage that he tried to overcome. It was not until 1976, while Jerry Lewis was hosting the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon that Frank Sinatra brought them back together. This made big news, I remember watching the telethon that night and seeing for myself the surprise and pleasure on each of their faces. However, their relationship didn't patch itself. They would meet every so often in a restaurant. Jerry would call Dean frequently and then intermittently. Jerry realized that Dean really wanted to remain alone. And, then, Dean died, and Jerry attended the funeral, and he spoke:

"You are so lucky that you knew my partner and my friend. I will not fall into that drone of pain about death, but I will ask you to all just yell `Yeah" that he lived...that he was with us for all that time. `Yeah!' `Yeah!' And that , my friends, is my celebration of his life. Long may he drink!"

A heartfelt book, from a man who loved his friend. I don't think Jerry Lewis ever got over the break-up with his friend, Dean Martin. A loving tribute. Recommended. prisrob