Customer Reviews

Arthur Godfrey: The Adventures of an American Broadcaster

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This book has most of the important facts about Godfrey's unique career. What a fascinating, if sometimes difficult, man. We who remember his shows, or who knew him (like myself, at age 18-19), have been waiting for years for this book. Mr. Singer could have dwelled on the scandals and tantrums and what not, but he chose to describe the broadcasting era and the man intelligently and fairly. Perhaps he could have expanded a little on some of the good things Godfrey did for many. It would have been nice to read the eventual fates of the various Little Godfreys. But Singer cleared up the false and terrible "antisemitisim" charges with common sense. No doubt Mr. Singer has enough good stuff left over for another volume on this important radio/TV/aviation pioneer!

Arthur J. Singer has given us an interesting and complete biography of Arthur Godfrey,deftly weaving the history of broadcasting (both dradio and TV) with the life of Mr. Godfrey including his passions (flying, horses and at times, women), his need to control, his sincere patriotism and his slow demise. His charismatic personality enabled him to have a profound influence on his audiences. This book is highly readable, Mr. Godfrey is always interesting and the times are vividly recreated. I felt that I had a complete picture of the man, his successes and failures, but most of all, his monumental influence on the way the broadcasting industry evolved.

Arthur Singer's account of the life of Arthur Godfrey is truly a readable book. More importantly, the Singer book is one of the few fair and balanced looks at Godfrey's lengthy, yet ultimately forgotten career.
I can't say enough for Singer's style of writing. There's one passage in particular where he describes what it's like being in a radio studio, down to the smell of the equipment. As a broadcaster for nearly 20 years, he hit it on the head.
Also, Singer does a very good job of chronicling Godfrey's career through its ups and downs, but also, more importantly, through the transitional phases radio and television would make, in which Godfrey would wind up back again as primarily a radio personality in the 60s and early 70s, only to have him struggle to adapt into the later 70s and early 80s.
Even if you've never heard of Arthur Godfrey, if you're a student of broadcasting, this will be an important book to learn about the experiences of one of the world's first multi-media superstars. Long before Howard Stern, Arthur Godfrey was the king of all media.