Customer Reviews

The Art of W.C. Fields

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I am giving this book the maximum rating not so much for its content which in light of recent tomes on Fields is rather anemic but for the sincere and heartfelt manner in which it was written. I have been a Fields enthusiast and historian for 45 years now and my passion for the subject has not diminished. This is less a scholarly text than a wonderful, loving tribute to Fields. It was my privilege back in the 1970s to have had the opportunity to speak with the author Dr. Everson on one or two occasions. His affection for Fields was as genuine in person as was evidenced on the printed page. I told him that while his was the second book I had acquired on Fields, I found THE ART OF W.C.FIELDS to have been written with a warmth and understanding for the subject matter which I had heretofore not seen. It was this book and my father's convulsive laughter while watching THE BANK DICK that initiated my lifelong love of the subject. If you are just getting to know Fields and want an overview of the man and his work in film without having to sift through minutiae relevant to the rest of his life and career then this volume is an excellent primer. I was so enamored of this book that it was clearly the impetus for my wanting to delve into the aforementioned minutiae.

An excellent and enjoyable book which still delights after all of these years.