Customer Reviews

Ghost Light: A Memoir

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During his reviewing days at The New York Times, Frank Rich's love of the theatre was evident and contagious. Now we learn why: How could he not love an institution that had given him so much solace, excitement and escape when he was growing up? His remembrance of his 1950s childhood and the theatre (mainly musicals) that paralleled that troubled boyhood is special. It has much in common with Moss Hart's "Act One," another autobiography that traces redemption and lifelong devotion to the theatre. Rich's book will resonate most with people who recall musicals that thrilled and with grown-ups who began life in "broken homes" before divorce was as ordinary as an Andrew Lloyd Weber score.

GHOST LIGHT was so moving that my mother, who read my copy after me, became almost hysterical about the treatment that Frank Rich, his sister and step-siblings, received at the hands of their parents and step-parents. Since all of this happened a long time ago, in the dark ages before child abuse was frowned upon, it is a credit to author Rich's writing skills that he made his report so real that it could elicit such a reaction forty years after the events described. Of course, all of us who are New Yorkers, all of us who have spent the last twenty or so years reading Mr. Rich in the NEW YORK TIMES, hardly can be surprised by his exquisite prose.

Still, this book was fascinating in revealing the evolution of genius, a child who took refuge from the trauma of a broken home (both physically and emotionally) in an obsession with the legitimate theatre. The childish obsession ended with Rich's becoming the chief drama critic of the TIMES for the better part of two decades. Tolstoy is credited with saying that happy families are all alike, but each unhappy family is different. GHOST LIGHT proves that theory; it is a story unlike any other. Lovers of both theatre and fine writing will be well-served by this memoir.

Fifty years ago, legendary playwright and director Moss Hart published an authobiography entitled Act One that instantly became a classic and held its place among the greatest theatrical memoirs ever written. This month, former New York Times Chief Drama Critic Frank Rich published his own story, full of passion, literacy, and wonder, that at once pays homage to Act One and transcends it. Rich has crafted the definitive stagestruck story, and there is no more significant book on growing up in the theatre. Rich's boyhood becomes a spellbinding play, a story that is joyous, crushing, funny, moving, and indelible. Anyone who cares for the American theatre, who has ever been shaken by the pulse of an orchestra begining an overture, who can find in himself even a glimmer of the passion bursting from Rich on every page, must read this book.

Frank Rich's memoir "Ghost Light" is a painful reenactment of a lonely childhood. His parents divorced and he found solace in the wonderful world of the theatre. His stepfather shared his passion for this although he was abusive and difficult to live with. Personally, it was painful for me to read but I understood so much about my own childhood. Like Mr. Rich I found comfort in the wonderful world of cast albums, dreaming of seeing a Broadway show,keeping a vast collection of programs, etc. Mr. Rich proved to me that there were other kids like me and he had the guts to write about it. My one criticism of the book is that it tends to plod in places. Particularly in the beginning. He describes his bucolic childhood before his parents divorced with a little too much detail. Mr. Rich I salute you. Thanks for the memories

Perhaps being a fan of the author's insightful op-ed pieces add lustre to this straightforward memoir, but as someone who does not normally read autobiographies I was amazed at how engrossed I was in "Ghost Light." It certainly helps to share the context of generational cues, a love of 50's musicals, and having read "Act One" as breathlessly as Rich did, way back when. Okay, almost as breathlessly.

I heard this book on audio tape in my car and found myself longing to go to work or do an errand so that I could get to the next chapter of Frank Rich's fabulous memoir.He remembered so many details of his life and presented them in such a candid way, that he endeared himelf to me. We listen to his feelings intenetly because he doesn't hide a thing. His joys and fears are all there and we experience them with him. I felt like I really got to watch him grow up, and I could feel his passion for the theatre grow along the way. I greatly identified with Mr. Rich because I also came from a divorced family with a very difficult stepfather. My only regret with this book is that it ended! I can't wait for the sequel.

Ghost Light is a compelling memoir about the life of Frank Rich, the acclaimed theater critic for the New York Times and long time theater lover. The memoir commences when Frank is ten years old; he is living in Somerset, a model neighborhood. Frank's parents get a divorce and in this 1950s setting, divorce was something that was simply not acceptable. Throughout Frank's entire life, his parent's divorce affected him in so many ways. Frank was forced to move away with his mother and sister, Polly, away from Somerset, the one thing in his life that seemed regular at that time. Frank, his mother, and sister are constantly moving until his mother gets remarried to a man named Joel. Frank, Polly, Frank's mother, and Joel all settle down together in Washington, D.C. In the end, Joel proves to be abusive both physically and mentally. He beats Frank constantly and makes his mother cry every night. Although Frank does not realize this at the time, Joel turns out to be a very important person of Frank's life. Joel was a lawyer with many connections, especially with airlines. These connections allowed Frank and his family to travel all around the world, something that they would not have been able to do if Joel had not come into his life: "Each time Gypsy reached Tulsa's song, I tried to fill in more details in the story it told. What did the dance look like? How old was Tulsa? What did Louise and June look like? Did he ever get his nightclub act?" (110). Frank's writing through out the entire book continues with this curious attitude. Frank is constantly questioning the shows and aspects of his life around him. From all of his `curiousness' he is able to find more meaning both in the shows and in his life. Ghost Light is an accurate account of how a young boy's life was saved by the theater.
Through all of the harsh changes in Frank's life, he always has a home at the theater. The theater became an obsession for Frank even before his parent's divorce. His father used to bring home records to Broadway shows, and Frank would sit and listen to them for hours, memorizing every lyric, imagining what the show would look like in real life. As Frank became older, the theater became a way for Frank to escape from the everyday traumas of growing up in a "broken home". As Frank's life gets more distressing, he relies further on the theater as his haven. Frank went into every little detail about countless shows, from Gypsy to The Music Man to Mr. President. Frank went into detail about many shows that I have not seen because they are no longer running and I thought that it was really interesting to compare the theater of today to the theater of the 1950s and 60s. As Frank grows as a person, his knowledge in theater also grows; he starts collecting Playbills to both shows that he has seen and others that he hasn't seen that were discarded in the trash. Frank starts reading Variety, a popular magazine filled with reviews of all of the current Broadway shows; he is able to get a lot of information about the shows from this magazine. Frank also reads the scripts of many of the shows. Following the theater so closely helps Frank have something concrete in his life since everything else seems to be changing so much.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At times, it was a bit slow to read, and some parts were more graphic than I would have liked, but every time I picked it up, I got lost in the story. This book is a very intriguing account of a young boy's life in the 1950s which was very interesting to see what it was like, since I am a child of the next generation. Ghost Light taught me many new things about the theater that I had not known before. As a lover of theater myself, it was really wonderful to follow the theater in such an intricate way. I felt myself growing as a person while Frank did just the same. I would recommend Ghost Light to anyone who enjoys the theater thoroughly and would like to see it from someone else's eyes.

Frank Rich's boyhood story was touching, and I found I couldn't put it down! He gave a very good account of how the theatre saved him from a very loney and confusing childhood. I was fascinated with the parallels he saw in his own life and the characters in the plays he enjoyed so much. The story is told through the eyes of a child. Mr. Rich does an excellent job of providing details of life in Washington during the late 60's and the people he met along the way, and the influence they had in his life, good or bad. I look forward to his next book.

Ghost Light by Frank Rich; Random House, 2001. New York.


Frank Rich's memoir, Ghost Light, embodies the feelings of hopelessness and struggle one undergoes in childhood; Rich writes about these feelings with a wisdom that could have been gained only by experience. The author begins the novel with his early childhood, which rivaled "Leave it to Beaver" in the perfection and blissful ignorance in which he and his younger sister came to perceive as "normal." Somerset, Maryland was a typical 1950's suburban neighborhood, where new parents came to raise their families with high hopes of a new life filled with prosperity and contentment. While given all the props and the perfect setting to carry out a happy family life, Frank's parents "dropped in and out of the role of parents at whim, like novice actors improvising from a script still in rough draft." His parents did share an intense love of music however, and often incorporated it into the lives of Frank and his sister, Polly. He grew up listening to the captivating and consuming music of shows like South Pacific and The Pajama Game. Thus began his love of the shows on Broadway, and the escape they brought him later in life.
All too soon, Frank's fairytale childhood comes crashing to an end when his parents introduce a new word into his vocabulary, one that had never been spoken about in a voice louder than a whisper in his sheltered neighborhood, and one that had been as shunned and feared as the plague all around the country: Divorce. In a new apartment, new neighborhood, and new school the young Frank realizes a new terror, insomnia. In the dark of his room, while all is quiet, Frank has no choice but to think about the gaping hole in his heart which family used to fill. These restless nights lead to an insatiable rage that fills him until he erupts in a fury of destruction and tantrums. Frank soon learns to internalize his feelings for the sake of his desolate and distant mother. Eventually Frank's mother finds a new man, Joel. His step-father is unlike any person Frank or Polly has ever met, he is loud, obnoxious, and demands the best of everyone. His own two children, John and Sue, are already familiar with the way Joel behaves when he doesn't get his way, but the first time Frank is hit for disobeying an order, he is shocked and dismayed that his mother married this monster. Along with the bad, Joel brings a great deal of good to Frank's life. He opens up a whole new world for Frank, taking spontaneous trips to town or overseas, demanding the best in restaurants, and most importantly, giving him the opportunity to go to the shows on Broadway and off, which later become Frank's life.
Rich documents his life and his growing passion for theater, his only distraction in a house where he is never certain of safety. He narrates his own story as his new family moves to Washington, as he meets his first girlfriend, and is accepted into college. All the while theater keeps him going, he collects Playbills, listens to every musical record he can get his hands on, and gets a job in the local theater as an usher.
This book personifies the feelings of anguish and hopelessness that everyone has felt at one point or another in their life and gives character to the universal joy of theater. I found this book to be unique in the blatant and honest portrayal of a child dealing with divorce and a violent stepfather in a time when things like that were not talked about publicly. Rich tells the story of an escape in theater that saved his sanity and preserved his faith in humankind.

This book covers D.C., New York, Chicago, and best of all - musicals in the 50's & 60's. It is addictive. I highly recommend it.