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Title: Raised on Radio: In Quest of the Lone Ranger, Jack Benny, Amos "N" Andy, the Shadow, Mary Noble, the Great Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee and Molly, Bill Stern, Our Miss b by Gerald Nachman ISBN: 0-520-22303-9 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 23 August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.57 (14 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great Radio Book
Comment: This highly entertaining book differs from others in the genre in that it is not a fawning fan book. It is lots of fun and very well written. Some OTR fans have slammed it for its numerous errors (and it's true; it could have used a fact checker), but Nachman is after more important game than radio trivia, and he succeeds,
But I do have to register one strong objection. It's his assesment of Eddie Cantor. Now, Cantor may indeed have been a lousy rat in his personal life, as Nachman's informants report --that I don't know about -- but the book is one hundred per cent wrong about Cantor's show (at least his show from the mid-forties on). Nachman dismisses Cantor as an essentially talentless hack, and his show as depressingly unfunny. A few years ago, back when I first read this book, I accepted Nachman's criticism as probably factual (though I did remember enjoying Cantor's movies on the late, late show many years ago). The fact is that at the time I had never heard any of Cantor's radio shows so I had nothing to compare his comments with. Then about a year ago I ran across a partial episode of one Cantor's shows. It was hilarious and made me hungry for more. A few months ago I was able to obtain six or seven dozen shows dating from WW II and later. Now, it's possible that Nachman was going by Cantor's shows from the thirtes, when radio was much different than the situation comedy oriented 1940s. Whatever the case all I can say is that going by the fifty or so shows I've heard so far, Nachman is wrong, wrong, wrong. Cantor's show is hilarious and every bit as good as Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, or any other top shows of the period. The writing is first rate. Second bananas Harry von Zell and Bert Gordon as the Mad Russian are standouts, and as good as any supporting players on the other shows. Better, really. Cantor's show has quickly become one of my very favorites. My 11 year old son loves it. Even my 15 year old daughter -- the one with the metal stud in her nose -- loves the show.
So read Nachman. He's good. More important, listen to the shows yourself.
Rating: 2
Summary: Condescendingly written, several errors
Comment: The author doesn't seem to love radio at all, for every page seems rife with condescension. He follows the current fad of seeing everything from a gay subtextual standpoint, which annoyed me. (Characters such as Batman and the Lone Ranger needed a Robin and a Tonto to talk to, both so that they could be 'telling the audience' what they are telling their sidekicks, and in Robin's case, to appeal to the youngsters (since Batman actually was an adult type comic book, much as comics are today). Anyway, Nachman gets in his little snide comments (for example - The Lone Ranger, sole survivor of an ambush, probably shot up pretty bad, is rescued by the Indian Tonto. As the two characters are talking, introducing themselves to each other, Nachman writes that the Lone Ranger is 'nestled' in the arms of Tonto. There are other comments like this. Gay subtext is fine, but I don't think it works for the radio programs of the 30s-50s. More a comment on the fact that women and girls weren't allowed to have any fun! In any event, Nachman's comments in this subtextual vein are more snidely than objectively written. So, I didn't like the author's style of writing, and then of course there are the errors. Quite a few. Don't know nuthin' bout Adlai Stevenson, but I do know about The Shadow and The Saint, The Green Hornet, Sherlock Holmes, etc. etc. For a full list of errors, or to contribute some that you found, see the Cave Canem which is located at The Dagger of the Mind ezine site.
Rating: 5
Summary: Relive the days when radio was king...
Comment: I really love this book... Its a great read... neither overly scholarly (as in Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...) nor overly wishy washy like some titles that might come to mind. Its just one of those books you can sit back, read and enjoy. In the process you'll get a great overview of the rise and fall of radio... you'll meet the stars and the personality in front of and behind the mic, from the actors and executives, right down to the writers and sound effects men. - - I'm not sure if one could call it definitive... but for sure whether its definitive or not, it tells the story well and is re-readable as many of those classic radio shows are still relistenable. - - All in all, if you're a die hard "OTR" buff and want to know who played so and so in episode 154 of a certain radio show, its original airdate, and when it re-aired... the book probably isn't for you... - - If, however, to hear the story of radio as a whole, relive this golden age, and experience it not only from the perspective of the people who made it, and the generation that grew up on it this is one must have piece of literature - - (...to boot, almost all of my favorite radio shows were covered... atleast in brief !)
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Title: Seriously Funny : The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s by Gerald Nachman ISBN: 0375410309 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age by Leonard Maltin ISBN: 0451200780 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: 07 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Encyclopedia of American Radio: An A-Z Guide to Radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern by Ron Lackmann, Ronald W. Lackmann, Norman Corwin ISBN: 081604077X Publisher: Checkmark Books Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Great Radio Heroes by Jim Harmon, Frank Bresee, Richard A. Lupoff ISBN: 0786408502 Publisher: McFarland & Company Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning ISBN: 0195076788 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $60.00 |
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