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Product Description
From Library Journal
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
-- Publishers Weekly
"...these letters are good reading, for out of the book Groucho emerges, eyebrows bounding, eyes rolling, cigar jauntily clamped between his teeth, the wisecracks coming a mile a minute. Even Calvin Coolidge might have smiled."
-- Book Week
"Written...with the impudence, irreverence and general lunacy that made Groucho the immortal wise guy of the American screen."
-- Newsweek
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not The Screwtape Letters,
By Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letter From and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)
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.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Groucho's Wit Captured on Paper,
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This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)
How can anyone dislike Groucho Marx's wit, unique observations, and skillful use of the English language? This collection of letters to and from Groucho reminds us that there was once a time was letter-writing was an art and why people looked forward to the postman's visit. Groucho died in 1977, so some of his correspondents are obscure or long forgotten. Still the gems of humour keep this book interesting. Every few pages there is a laugh-out-loud moment. It's a good book to take somewhere where you can pick it up and read for a couple of minutes at a time.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have for Groucho fans!,
By meiringen "meiringen" (the Midwest) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letter From and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)
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!
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