Me and Orson Welles: A Novel - Hardcover

Kaplow, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1931561494 ISBN 13: 9781931561495

Publisher: MacAdam/Cage, 2003

Synopsis

"This is the story of one week in my life. I was seventeen. It was the week I slept in Orson Welles’s pajamas. It was the week I fell in love. And it was the week I changed my middle name—twice." With this beginning, Robert Kaplow sweeps readers into a break-neck romantic farce that reads like a Who’s-Who of the classic American theater. At center stage is the twenty-two-year-old Orson Welles, about to launch his debut production of Julius Caesar. Enter Richard Samuels, an achingly sincere teenager who literally walks into his first acting job. What he finds is a whirlwind of comedy and pathos, self-absorbed celebrities and their outsized egos, art and love. Me and Orson Welles is a joy.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Kaplow is a teacher and writer best known for the satirical songs and sketches he writes for NPR’s Morning Edition, where he created "Moe Moskowitz and the Punsters." His award-winning young adult novels include Alessandra in Love and Alex Icicle: A Romance in Ten Torrid Chapters.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School-In November, 1937, Richard Samuels, 17, a high school senior drifting relatively painlessly through school and relationships, feels there might be more to life. The New Jerseyite spends weekends wandering in Manhattan looking for a connection, preferably theatrical, that would excite him. He happens upon the yet to open Mercury Theatre and is noticed by its mercurial muse, Orson Welles. He is given a small part in Julius Caesar, which is ultimately a grand success, and spends a week in a fantastic whirl as part of the troupe. The following few days are exciting, frustrating, and, finally, both triumphant and devastating to the would-be thespian. Kaplow brings the New York of the late 1930s vividly to life, especially the theatrical world. The novel is fast paced and very funny, and the brilliant but unpredictable Welles is a perfect foil for the sardonic but inexperienced young man. Welles at 22 is close to Richard's age, but far from the center of his moral compass. Incidents of anti-Semitism and misogyny distress the teen, yet the actor/producer's brilliance and daring are like a magnet. Richard's dreams of a Broadway career soon fade, but he emerges from the experience with a desire to write, possibly a new romance, and certainly an important new friendship. This unusual coming-of-age story will intrigue teens; while the circumstances and time are very different from today, the feelings and ideas are universal.
Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
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About this edition

• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1931561494
• ISBN 13: 9781931561495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 269