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Title: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx by Groucho Marx ISBN: 0-306-80607-X Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Not The Screwtape Letters
Comment: The biggest compliment I can give this collection is that reading it made me wish I wrote more letters and had more celebrities among my circle of potential letter-receivers. Of course, inherent laziness being what it is (and the fact that I have so far been frustrated in all such attempts to gain the favor of our nation's collection of celebrities), I'll have to be content reading Groucho's correspondence. And, as alternatives go, it's not bad at all.
The book is divided into ten sections: "Movie Business", "Private Life", "Touching On Television", "Groucho and Other Men of Letters", "Grouchy", "Broadway and Hollywood", "For Publication", "Friends Abroad", "The Faintly Political Scene", and "Short Shrift". Of course, there's quite a lot of overlap involved; Groucho had a tendency to ramble, so there isn't a simple way to categorize each individual letter.
There are many highlights and surprises. Groucho's communications with the Warner Brother's legal division over the title "A Night In Casablanca" is probably one of the better known exchanges in Hollywood, and deservedly so as it's utterly hilarious. (In short, Warner Brothers claimed that the title violated their copyrights; Marx replies with typical nonsense and wit, claiming, among other things, to have a prior claim on the word "Brothers".) In a letter that I found surprising, Groucho chides the President of the Chrysler Corporation, suggesting that the car company paying more attention to safety concerns would be in everyone's interests as well as saving thousands of lives a year. Groucho Marx as a precursor to Ralph Nader? Who would have guessed it?
Groucho's public persona was that of a sarcastic and wisecracking character. Naturally, that personality comes through in his letters. A few passages do put some balance on that. While about 90% of the mentions of his daughter are jokes about her annoying him and absorbing his money in vast quantities, there remains a slight 10% where an almost sweet nature comes through. In a similar vein, he writes a heartfelt letter to Jerry Lewis (of all people), imploring him to take a good hard look at whether he really wants to split with his comedy partner, Dean Martin. To Groucho's credit, he writes a follow-up letter a few years later apologizing for his earlier advice.
It's hard to describe the bulk of these letters without simply summarizing them, so I will stop doing so, and will confine myself to simply recommending the book. Groucho corresponded with a wild variety of people in his day, and some of the biggest laughs come for people you wouldn't expect to be quite so witty.
Rating: 5
Summary: A must-have for Groucho fans!
Comment: Groucho's letters (to him and from him) are many in number, and the correspondents he had...wow! Famous authors, politicians, his family, and his numerous friends...it's a huge list, believe me, and the result is a book full of the many moods of Groucho Marx, and his correspondence with some of the most famous people in the world. Don't miss it!
Rating: 5
Summary: This book will cure what ails you!
Comment: I received this book after major surgery some years back and Groucho's wit really helped pick up my spirits and take my mind off of my body. This was one of the best gifts that I've ever received and I'm pleased to see that it's back in print. If you could have a dinner party and invite any historical figures that you wanted, wouldn't Groucho be on the list? This collection of his intimate correspondence is the next best thing.
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Title: Groucho and Me by Groucho Marx ISBN: 0306806665 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx, Rowland Barber, Susan Marx, Bill Marx ISBN: 0879100362 Publisher: Limelight Editions Pub. Date: March, 1988 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Love, Groucho: Letters from Groucho Marx to His Daughter Miriam by Miriam Marx Allen, Miriam M. Allen, Dick Cavett ISBN: 0306811030 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 05 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
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Title: Memoirs of a Mangy Lover by Groucho Marx, Leo Hershfield, Leo Hershfeld ISBN: 0306811049 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 05 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Groucho Marx: and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales : Selected Writings of Groucho Marx by Groucho Marx, Robert Bader ISBN: 0571198988 Publisher: Faber & Faber Pub. Date: 26 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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