| |||||||||||||||
Détails sur le produit
Souhaitez-vous compléter ou améliorer les informations sur ce produit ? Ou faire modifier les images?
|
In some ways, Levant's life proves to be even more interesting biography material than that of his good friend, the legendary George Gershwin. Perhaps this is because he lived for so much longer. Probably it is because of Levant's numerous talents other than music.
Because Levant was so social and knew so many of the luminaries of the arts of his time, this book pulls in a nice glimpse of the New York arts scene, MGM's Hollywood in the 40's & 50's, the U.S. classical music scene, and growing up Jewish in New York in the 20's.
Last but not least, Levant was a notorious wit; he was so funny that he could afford to be obnoxious and insulting and still count on being a welcome guest in the homes of his many friends. This biography captures such wit, and is entertainingly written (with tongue firmly in cheek) in its own right.
I am among those who prefer to not focus on Levant's later addiction to prescription drugs; such a living hell would seem to be too much a sad and undeserving fate for one of America's great entertainers and quirky geniuses. Here too, the subject matter is handled sensitively but unflinchingly.
The authors of this book have done a womderful job in fully depicting a very deserving and overdue subject: the life of Oscar Levant.
This book is one of the best biographies I have ever read. It reveals the good, bad, and the ugly of Levant's character. The authors spend a little too much ink playing the role of psychoanalyst, but most of what they offer seems to make sense regarding Levant's wild behaviors.
Overall, this is a fascinating book. Levant was a true original, and this book does an excellent job of filling in the empty spaces of Levant's autobiographies.
