Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart by Steven Bach ISBN: 0-306-81135-9 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 30 April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Moss Hart: The reality show
Comment: Most early readers of this new Hart biography are readers who love "Act One." That brilliant book is central to every stage-struck person's devotion to theater, Broadway and glamor. But along comes Mr. Bach, and his portrait only makes us love Hart's version more. Yes, I believe Mr. Bach has researched and read and compiled facts that delineate the real life of a Broadway legend. But by comparison it is also insight into what a creation is "Act One" and the creative process of a playwright and man of the theatre. Hart wrote his own version with the eye of an artist; facts didn't interest him. A great story was in the telling. Facts interest Mr. Bach, and they are very well presented. If any reader is worried that Mr. Bach has been indiscreet, that his palette has too many warts and all, I assure you that he has been careful and admiring. His role as a biographer may have kept him at too much of a distance from the artist, but his book in combination with Hart's is a full-blown, 3-D treatment of a worthy subject. It takes this new book to make you fully appreciate the original, and then grateful for the contrasting study.
Rating: 4
Summary: Stutter Steps
Comment: Hmmm...where to begin? I looked forward to reading Dazzler based on my love of history, the theatre, and New York in general. In those respects, the book doesn't disappoint. Steven Bach paints a terrific picture of early twentieth century Broadway that really brings it to life as he follows Moss Hart's life and career. It's very obvious that he's done his homework and he fills gaps in his narrative very nicely.
The problem lies in an area that can be very troublesome for biography and I'm afraid that Bach falls into the trap a bit much. First, the individual chapters, while well crafted, seem to lack a cohesiveness that would make the book flow well. It seemed difficult to read more than two or three chapters in a sitting. To give Bach the benefit of the doubt, I'll say that it's because there was so much information to digest.
Second, to echo some of the other reviews that have been posted, in the end Moss Hart is a big name that does not carry a corresponding talent. Yes, he was the co-author of some of the standards of twentieth century theater, but upon the closer scrutiny Mr. Bach provides he doesn't really seem to measure up to the level of greatness that Mr. Bach thinks he deserves (or wants him to deserve to merit this book). A quick sidebar, to label Moss Hart the Neil Simon of his day, as others have, is a disservice to Mr. Simon. Sitcoms may have made us more sensitive to fluff, but there is a distinct difference in the two men's careers.
Lastly, Mr. Bach goes to great lengths to bring Moss Hart's sexuality to light, providing anecdotes and evidence that, if not outright gay, he was at least bisexual. All well and good, except that in trying so hard to prove this particular thesis, Bach loses sight of one very important point, namely that an artist's sexuality (or for that matter their upbringing) does not automatically mean that every piece of work they do is colored by it. It may be true, but it isn't necessarily true. Bach interrupts too many interesting stories to go into this subject, which only applies toward making his point about one-third of the time.
Overall it helps to have some vague form of familiarity with the plays and, since some of them are such mainstays of high school and regional theaters across the country, it will provide some interesting insights. As Bach rightly points out, some of these plays have not held up well over the course of time but, taken for what they are, they are undeniable classics. To a lesser degree, so was Moss Hart.
Rating: 3
Summary: Thorough, but somewhat disappointing
Comment: I was greatly looking forward to reading this book, but, like another reviewer, found it rather slow going. Bach gives a very thorough chronicle of Hart's life, including details about every production, but somehow the essence of Hart didn't come through for me until the last few chapters. Despite Bach's repeated statements that Hart was charming, amusing, full of joie de vivre, etc., I didn't find much to illustrate that. I guess I was hoping for more examples from his work, more quotes from people who knew him personally, etc. I suspect that Kitty Carlisle Hart's refusal to cooperate meant that several of the people closest to the Harts also declined to be interviewed.
The book does pick up steam in the final quarter,when Bach discusses Hart's involvement with "My Fair Lady" and "Camelot." Even so, I thought that Alan Jay Lerner's 10-odd pages on Hart in his memoir ("The Street Where I Live")did more to really bring the man alive.
 |
Title: Act One : An Autobiography by by Moss Hart ISBN: 0375508600 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title: Kitty by KITTY CARLISLE HART ISBN: 0385244258 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 07 September, 1988 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies" by Ted Chapin ISBN: 0375413286 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
 |
Title: Colored Lights : Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz by John Kander, Fred Ebb, Greg Lawrence, Liza Minnelli ISBN: 057121133X Publisher: Faber & Faber Pub. Date: 05 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title:Broadway's Lost Treasures ASIN: B0000BZNDK Publisher: Acorn Media Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $18.71 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
