Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography [Hardcover]

Edward Jablonski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

One of the great lyricists and screenwriters of Broadway's and Hollywood's golden age, Alan Jay Lerner was one half of the successful collaboration (with Frederick Loewe) that created such memorable ventures as My Fair Lady and Camelot. Noted musical theater scholar Jablonski tells the story of Lerner's career and of his personal life--filling in the cracks purposefully left open in Lerner's own autobiography. Photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this bloodless biography, Jablonski chronicles the life and career of the noted lyricist and screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) from his earliest project, the 1938 Harvard Hasty Pudding Club production of So Proudly We Hail, to his last show, Dance A Little Closer, a dismal failure that closed after opening night in 1983. In between, there were numerous successes, including Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady and the movie Gigi, and many disappointments on Broadway as well as in life. Lerner, the son of the founder of the Lerner stores, was difficult to work with, partly because he was addicted to amphetamines and an incorrigible procrastinator, and also because he was constantly involved in divorce proceedings (he married eight times). Eventually, his most important collaborator, the composer Frederick Loewe, got fed up and retired. Lerner was then allied with a number of other composers, including Burton Lane, Andre Previn and Leonard Bernstein. Jablonski (George Gershwin) dutifully recounts the progress of each of Lerner's theatrical ventures but fails to shed much light on the talent behind some of America's greatest lyrics and screenplays. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

As lyricist and bookwriter, Alan Jay Lerner was responsible for some of the most enduring stage and screen musicals--Brigadoon, An American in Paris, Gigi, Camelot. Moreover, his lyrics are among the most playfully literate and romantic in the genre. Yet, as Jablonski points out in this affectionate yet uneven biography, Lerner's personal life was a shambles. A workaholic and "speed" freak, he married only slightly more frequently than he divorced, and nothing he wrote during his last 29 years equaled the power and beauty of the magnificent My Fair Lady (1956). Once, with his partner Frederick Loewe, the rival of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner died virtually penniless and owing the IRS thousands. Jablonski charts Lerner's slow rise in the theater world, from college shows to early flops to first glimmers of success, with the passion of a true lover of the American musical. Alas, he spends too much time thereafter recounting in tedious detail the plots of Lerner's shows and not enough time unraveling the mystery of Lerner's wonderful songs or the mystery of his melancholy life. Jack Helbig

Product Details

• Hardcover: 345 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805040765
• ISBN-13: 978-0805040760
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,563,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, entertaining biography, November 17, 2005

By 

Charles - Music Lover (Phoenix, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography (Hardcover)

Chock full of interesting material, well presented and documented. If you're looking for a concise portrait of a musical theater legend, look no further than this book. It's terrific.