From: nobody@nowhere.com   
      
   On 12/28/2024 5:25 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:   
   > Recently, I finally got around to reading HARPO SPEAKS! (1961), the   
   > autobiography of Harpo Marx. It has been a while since I so thoroughly fell   
   > in love with a book that I was picking it up at odd hours of the day and   
   > night just to discover what new fascinating anecdote would be told next.   
   > Harpo and his brothers led remarkable lives that transported them far from   
   > their humble roots in New York’s upper east side, and I was delighted to go   
   > along for the ride.   
   >   
   > The book follows the Marx Brothers through their often dreary experiences   
   > in the dregs of the vaudeville circuits to triumphs on Broadway and in   
   > Hollywood. As this is an autobiography, obviously the focus of the book is   
   > Harpo, and I have to say he led such a rich, extraordinary life   
   that I   
   > never cared I wasn’t learning much about the other brothers. I came to   
   > like Harpo so much that I seriously regret that but for this book I could   
   > never have known him apart from the character he portrayed in film and on   
   > television.  I wish I could have hung out with him, lived next-door, had   
   > him for a friend. I think he must’ve been a truly decent human being and a   
   > terrific raconteur.    
   >   
   > The book did leave me puzzled about a few things though. I mean, I wasn’t   
   > expecting a tell-all confessional, but I did wonder at times why I   
   wasn’t   
   > getting just a little more of the story.  For a long stretch of his   
   adult   
   > life basically it seemed that when Harpo wasn’t working he was hanging out   
   > with friends at the Algonquin Hotel or on a small island in Vermont or on   
   > the Riviera or maybe a few other places. Was that it? He just hung out with   
   > friends playing croquet or cards? Little else?   
   >   
   > And these friends, some of the biggest names in the arts and   
   > intelligentsia, seemed to treat him like a puppy dog they liked to have   
   > around. He never indicated in the book just what it was he brought to the   
   > (round) table, other than the willingness to sit quietly and listen. I   
   > don’t believe that. I believe he must’ve contributed far more than he   
   > admits or otherwise people like George Bernard Shaw would have dismissed   
   > him. And as for Alexander Woolcott, who considered himself the shining star   
   > of the Algonquin round table, would very many people remember him today if   
   > not for his association with Harpo Marx?  Some of the cognoscenti,   
   sure;   
   > but people like me? Until I read this book, he was just a name I had heard   
   > somewhere. Clearly, there was lots more to Harpo than he let on in his   
   > autobiography.   
   >   
   > I also wonder why he and actress Susan Fleming began adopting children   
   > immediately after they were married. Was it a physical reason?   
   > Philosophical? As far as I could tell, the book gave no hint. And sure,   
   > whatever the reason, it had to be deeply personal and there was no   
   > requirement for Harpo to share it in the book. But that didn’t stop me from   
   > wondering. I will say one of the highlights of the book for me was learning   
   > about “the story” Harpo and Susan would tell their children at bedtime   
   > about how they searched high and low to find just the right babies to bring   
   > into their home. Now that was touching.    
   >   
   > I think I wish there had been more in the book about the Broadway shows and   
   > the making of the Marx Brothers movies. Well I think I wish that. Maybe   
   > Harpo knew best; maybe the stories he did tell were more interesting than   
   > any he might’ve been able to tell about the work that went into the act.   
   > Maybe. But I still think I wish that.   
   >   
   > Am I sounding critical of the book? I hope not. I thoroughly   
   > enjoyedreading it and I recommend it to all Marx brothers fans and anybody   
   > else looking for an amusing, informative, instructive story about a man who   
   > knew how to live.   
      
   You've convinced me to consider it.   
      
   (And I'm reminded to highly re-recommend to any who haven't seen it   
   TIM'S VERMEER, directed and co-written by Teller of 'Penn & Teller'.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)