Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx - Hardcover
This definitive biography of one of the world’s greatest comedians unflinchingly yet affectionately uncovers the man behind the cigar.
Here is the amazing career of the man the world recognized as Groucho: the improbable disasters of the vaudeville years; the Marx Brothers, an act so funny W.C. Fields refused to follow it; the unprecedented Broadway success of The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers; the cinematic triumphs of Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera; and the marvelous come-back career as king of the game show hosts with You Bet Your Life. Here, too, is the man himself: a lonely middle child who aspired to be a doctor; a man who sabotaged three marriages; a father alternately indulgent and cruel. Intelligent and thorough, hilarious and sad, Groucho is a spectacular biography of the century’s most influential comedian.
Here is the amazing career of the man the world recognized as Groucho: the improbable disasters of the vaudeville years; the Marx Brothers, an act so funny W.C. Fields refused to follow it; the unprecedented Broadway success of The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers; the cinematic triumphs of Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera; and the marvelous come-back career as king of the game show hosts with You Bet Your Life. Here, too, is the man himself: a lonely middle child who aspired to be a doctor; a man who sabotaged three marriages; a father alternately indulgent and cruel. Intelligent and thorough, hilarious and sad, Groucho is a spectacular biography of the century’s most influential comedian.
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From the Publisher:
"Engrossing...exhilarating... Kanfer calls Groucho the father of modern comedy, whose influence extends from M*A*S*H to Jerry Seinfeld to Woody Allen to daily conversation.... [With] a truckload of gemlike anecdotes, incisive mini-biographies of all the Marx Brothers and invaluable film and stage criticism."
-- Publishers Weekly
About the Author:
-- Publishers Weekly
"Groucho has finally gotten a biographer worthy of him."
-- Wall Street Journal
"Delightful and definitive. Groucho is one of the great biographies."
-- Lance Morrow
"Not since Boswell has there been a more perfect matching of biographer and subject, and Boswell couldn't tell what was funny. Stefan Kanfer -- brilliant and hilarious himself, blessed with a critic's eye and a scholar's scruples -- presents Groucho's mind and world as no one else could. He looks into the comic genius and sees the man; then he brings both to life, not a moment too soon. This is a rich, full, glorious book."
-- Roger Rosenblatt
Stefan Kanfer's books include The Eighth Sin, A Summer World, The Last Empire, and Serious Business. He was the primary interviewer in the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Line King. A former writer and editor at Time and a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, he has been a writer-in-residence at the City University of New York, the State University of New York at Purchase, and Wesleyan University. He lives in New York and on Cape Cod.
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- PublisherAllen Lane, the Penguin Press
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 071399469X
- ISBN 13 9780713994698
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages496
- Rating
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Groucho: The Life And Times of Julius Henry Marx
Published by
Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, London
(2000)
ISBN 10: 071399469X
ISBN 13: 9780713994698
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This biography uncovers the man behind the character, looking at his complicated life dominated by personal and professional satisfaction. Why was he so scared of ending up in poverty, why were his relationships with women often so destructive, and what of his complex relations with his brothers? Groucho Marx, like Stefan Kanfer's biography, consists of much more than just throwaway jokes. Beneath the most famous Marx Brother's one-liners and carefree attitude was a life dominated by deep sadness, professional dissatisfaction and personal turmoil. Now, for the first time, one of the most influential and revered comedians of the 20th century is revealed in all his fascinating complexity. 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 Charles Chaplin, and W.C. Fields, as well as great names like George Gershwin and T.S. Eliot. Kanfer delves into Groucho's complicated relationships with the people around him - his failed marriages, his destructive behaviour with his children, and 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 as he comes back from the career-dead to host the television quiz show "You Bet Your Life" and cements his legendary status in popular culture. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002770084
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Groucho: The Life And Times of Julius Henry Marx
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