Customer Reviews

Desilu : The story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

All I have to say is: Run, don't walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy it! Personally, I bought it as a "vacation book" - you know what I mean-- one of those books you take on a trip with you for those times when there's nothing to do. Well, I could not put it down! It was insightful, hilarious, and unexpectedly touching and sensitive, even as it dealt with serious issues,such as Desi's well known womanizing and alcoholism, the marital disputes and subsequent divorce. Lucy turns out to be nothing like "Lucy", and it debunks the common perception that Desi was a no-talent riding to fame on his wife's coattails. Mr. Arnaz was never given the recognition he so richly deserved for revolutionizing television in its infancy to television as we know it today. For fans of the show- yes, it chronicles the most famous sitcom in history with utmost precision, but the show becomes almost secondary when one realizes what these wonderful people gave up in order to GIVE us this show. Lucy and Desi started this whole thing because they wanted to be together, and it's ironic that the same show threw them together so much that faults and misdeeds were magnified to the point that it tore them apart. This is the best book about this phenomenon I have ever read, and I have read them ALL- no kidding. It even gives follows Desi and Lucy after the divorce, and through their second marraiges to other people. Did you know that Desi and Lucy continued to speak by telephone every single night until his death? That Desi married another redhead who looked just like Lucy? That, even after the divorce, for the rest of his life, Desi still sent Lucy flowers on November 19, their wedding anniversary? Thanks to interviews with daughter Lucie Arnaz, Luc's brother, former co-stars, and, the most famous baby in history (whose name need not be mentioned), we have the most intimate facts about the lives of these two beautiful people. Also, there are alot of stories about Lucy's other shows, which, if they are to be believed, paint Lucy as a bitter woman who exercised the utmost control over everyone and everything in her employ. She was known as a tyrant on the set, and once, after working with her for a week, Jack Benny called her director saying, "Get her to a psychiatrist- she's going nuts!" She even made Joan Crawford CRY! But, I think the basic premise of the book is love. Lucy loved her audience, Desi loved to drink and gamble- they were two very self destructive people. But they also loved their children and each other, in a way that I couldn't understand before I read this book. Most illustrative of this point is a conversation that Lucie Arnaz recounted, which took place 2 days before Desi died. Lucie said she was holding the phone to her father's ear (he was bedridden) and that Lucy asked to speak to him. Lucie Arnaz said that Lucy kept saying "I love you, Desi. Desi, I LOVE you. I Love you..." while she cried into the phone. Lucie Arnaz said that Lucy was the last person Desi talked to, for he slipped into a coma hours later and died ther following day. As she was writing about it in her diary, after the funeral, Lucie Arnaz said that she never realized the importance of that conversation until she wrote the date it happened. "Nov. 19"- the day that would have been their forty sixth wedding anniversary. I cried when I read that because it proves that, to the end, "I Love Lucy" was more than just a show. It was true.

This ine of the best Lucy-Desi books ever written. The only book I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed this one was Lucy's own autobiography, although I have to admit this gives a lot more detail. This one of the few books written about the team that is actually accurate and correct. The only people who know what happened better are Lucy and Desi themselves. At the end of this book, I cried for hours. I cried my eyes out. It's so obvious that Lucy and Desi loved eachother to their dying days. This book will make you laugh and cry. Words cannot describe how wonderful this book is. It is so incredibly moving. It's a facinating book. I never wanted it to end. I just couldn't put it down. If you love Lucy and Desi, this is THE book to read. Desilu lets you take a peek into the minds of TV's favorite couple, the making of the world's most loved and successful TV show, and Lucy and Desi's life before and after the show and eachother. You may think you know Lucy and Desi, but you don't really know them until you read this book. Only Lucy herself gave a more accurate account of what happened, but this book gives more detail. All in all, this book is GREAT. You have to read it if you are a true Lucy and/or Desi fan.

Candid account of televisions best known duo during TV's begining. A must read for any Lucy and Desi fan. Television's most beloved red head and the love her and Desi had for each other to the very end. A lot of input from those that knew them best and how Lucy a dedicated perfectionist in whatever she did to her ski accident in which she never fully recoverd to Desi's bout with alchole & cancer that would claim his life. Her marriage to producer Gary Morton and Desi Jr's bout with drugs. This book is by far the best that's been written on this great team from accounts of Studio people at Desilu Productions to people that were closet to them. Loaded with never before seen photo's including tremendous input from daughter Lucie Arnaz. Thanks for memories, Lucy and Desi! Larry Dodson

I just bought this book yesterday and couldn't put it down. It was so interesting. You will be very happy you read this book. The photos were good, they weren't the same pictures we have seen in the past. almost like they came out of Lucie Arnaz's family album. I was crying when I read how a devoted daughter Lucie was to her dying father. I can relate. I too am a devoted daughter to my parents. how sad, to read that Lucy was never really a happy person. Could have fooled us on TV...Well, I guess that's why they are called actors.. please read if you love Lucy and Desi...you will learn alot. thanks Lena

This is the ultimate book for those who love not only Lucy but the fabled studio that did so much interesting TV. It's all here--I Love Lucy, the Specials, the Lucy Show, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Mannix... full and never dull rundowns on the lives of Lucy and Desi and how their lives impacted television and the hundreds that worked for them. Not a love letter to either of them but not a Desilu Dearest either. This is the one you must have--this and "The Lucy Book" are essential.

This is the story of Desilu and it is a great story. Husband wife team up to form the most successful show in history. The author dwells a little too much on the negative aspects of the Arnaz marriage/relationship, and I'm not sure he's a fan of weither, but the studio story is good. There are many other Lucy/Desi books that are more entertaining and will please their fans.

I was transfixed by reading the comprehensive and well documented non fiction book DESILU written by acclaimed entertainment journalist Tom Gilbert and Coyne Sanders. These authors did their extensive research and transposed their factual material into an engrossing, extremely well written and fascinating account of how one of the entertainment industry's most famous acting, creative and producing teams- Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz- created the most beloved sitcom in history I LOVE LUCY as well as a television mega-empire in the early days of the industry (long before AMERICAN IDOL and SURVIVOR became the current rage!). The book gives a detailed inside look into the dynamics of their personalities, joys and conflicts. I would recommend DESILU without hesitation to anyone interested in a) the life and career of Lucille Ball b)the life and career of Desi Arnaz c)the early days of television d)the company that created some of the most beloved televsion shows in its time and of all times. An engrossing read!

"Desilu" is probably the best book on Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz available on the market. The authors combine a perfect blend of biography with first-hand accounts from the people who were there during the reign of TV's most famous, and unarguable most powerful, couple. A fascinating back-stage look of "I Love Lucy" gives us a glimpse of what made that show the success it still is some 45 years later. Add this one to your shelves, you'll be glad you did.

I am a young die hard Lucy fan, and this was one of the first books I read about her, and to this day it is still one of the best. I started reading this book one day, and I finished it the next day. I just couldn't put it down. I recommend this to anyone that knows anything about Lucy or Desi, this tells everything you could want to know.

For anyone considering a career in television, this is a must read.
You will then understand the roots of modern television technique.
This is a great book to better view the television industry up close, and through the lives of two of the best known television personalities of all time. Plus I now know how and where modern television was born.
Highly recommended.