Laughter's Gentle Soul The Life of Robert Benchley (Paperback)
| Author: Billy Altman |
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Product Details:
Format: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN-10: 0393333353
ISBN-13: 9780393333350
Sku: 206554598
Publish Date: 11/26/2007
Dimensions:
(in Inches) 9H x 6L x 1T
Pages:
384
Age Range:
NA
See more in Entertainment & Performing Arts
| In this sympathetic and wittily written biography, Altman explores the man behind the mirth as he chronicles Robert Benchley's journey, from the glittering lights of Broadway and wit of the Algonquin Round Table to the glamorously decadent Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s. 25 photos. |
Author Bio
Billy Altman
Billy Altman's work has appeared in "The New York Times", "Rolling Stone", "Esquire", and "People", among other publications.
Praise
New Yorker
"I was a keen consumer of popular culture when Benchley was part of it....Popular culture was then more compact and less dumbed-down; it is hard to imagine any contemporary literary figure becoming such a media celebrity. Benchley represented something to the masses, and as a member of those masses, more than a half century ago, I fell betrayed in reading how careless a custodian he was of his health and his talents. He died at 56. Altman's biography, more vividly than the others, gives the details....[and] Altman is excellent on Hollywood. He has looked at most of the footage, most of it distinctly workaday. - John Updike 04/07/97 New York Times Book Review
"Though [Benchley's] work was anthologized during his lifetime in 12 different volumes--and posthumously in five or six more--almost all of them are out of print. So are the two Benchley biographies, the first published by his son Nathaniel in 1955, the second by Babette Rosmond in 1970. For this, if no other reason, Billy Altman's 'Laughter's Gentle Soul' is a welcome addition." - David Nasaw 04/20/1997
"I was a keen consumer of popular culture when Benchley was part of it....Popular culture was then more compact and less dumbed-down; it is hard to imagine any contemporary literary figure becoming such a media celebrity. Benchley represented something to the masses, and as a member of those masses, more than a half century ago, I fell betrayed in reading how careless a custodian he was of his health and his talents. He died at 56. Altman's biography, more vividly than the others, gives the details....[and] Altman is excellent on Hollywood. He has looked at most of the footage, most of it distinctly workaday. - John Updike 04/07/97 New York Times Book Review
"Though [Benchley's] work was anthologized during his lifetime in 12 different volumes--and posthumously in five or six more--almost all of them are out of print. So are the two Benchley biographies, the first published by his son Nathaniel in 1955, the second by Babette Rosmond in 1970. For this, if no other reason, Billy Altman's 'Laughter's Gentle Soul' is a welcome addition." - David Nasaw 04/20/1997
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