Customer Reviews

Gracie: A Love Story

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3 star:		(1)
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George Burns published this wonderful tribute to his wife when he was ninety-two years old, still head over heels in love with his dear Gracie, who died thirty years earlier. This book is a memoir of their personal and professional life together starting as the toast of vaudeville, continuing with their radio show for seventeen years, and later, situation comedy stars on television. Both George and Gracie started appearing on stage as children, and they teamed up in 1923, earning five dollars a week, doing four shows a day. At first, Gracie was the straight man and George said the punch lines, but they soon learned it was better the other way around. Gracie played the ditzy girlfriend and wife for thirty-five years and, as George said, he just stood next to her. He never stopped being amazed at her talent, beauty, and intelligence, and he loved her more with each passing day. The book ends with her death, from heart disease in 1958, and one is left with a lovely and intimate picture of their marriage.

Burns wrote the book as if he were talking with a dear friend, and there is a vaudeville joke in nearly every paragraph. The jokes are still funny today, and the book is a quick and very entertaining read. There is a lot of behind the scenes chatter about their famous Hollywood friends, especially Jack Benny, but it is first and foremost a tribute to Gracie and the love they shared for so many years. I heartily recommend this book, especially to those who enjoyed the Burns and Allen TV show in the fifties. It will bring back a lot of happy memories.

This book singlehandedly turned a 13 hour plane flight into a pleasant 5 minute jaunt. For that, I will always be greatful.
The books is the story of their life told through a massive collection of jokes that just never stop coming. You don't get an intimate portrait of Gracie and sometimes it is hard to tell when he is "puffing on the cigar" or not. But you do get a VERY funny and interesting look at the life of two celebrities and most importantly you get a candid and touching glimpse into George's love of Gracie. I can't believe he carried such a flame over 20 years after her death. We all should be so lucky to be so much in love.

Rarely do I ever laugh out loud while reading - Geogrge made me.
Rarely do I ever get teary eyed while reading - George made me.

I've always enjoyed the work of Burns & Allen and always planned on reading this book - when I finally did I was gald that I did. I don't need to get into the historical account of thier carrer or what a wonderful, natural talent Gracie was - I'll leave that to George. But George's "comic valentine" to/about Gracie is a wonderful, heartwarming read. You can hear George reading the words to you (actually you really can if you have the audiocasette version - I'm puffing on my cigar) with his dry wit and great delivery.

If you admire Gracie or George you'll enjoy this read.
Next up.... ALL MY BEST FREINDS by George.

I first read this book immediately after it was published, and its content has remained vivid in my memory ever since then. George Burns had written a valentine to his much-loved late wife, Gracie Allen. Because their medium was humor, and because they targeted an audience that was mainstream, it always was easy to miss that the basis of their act really was a classic love story. This touching book makes that point clearly.

Last night, I attended the Broadway play in which Frank Gorshin recreates a retrospective of George Burns' career. On the way to the theatre, I told my companion all about this memoir. Well, the playwright must have relied heavily on this same memoir in crafting his script, because many of the anecdotes I recounted also turned up as part of the performance. What a tribute to George's storytelling skills that my memory of this book had remained so fresh after all of these years.

In addition to being a memoir, GRACIE: A LOVE STORY also proves to be an excellent social history of the evolution of the entertainment industry during the 20th Century. From vaudeville to "talkies," talkies to radio and on to television and feature films, in the course of reporting his own journey, George provides an eyewitness account. In the process, George makes his readers laugh, and he makes them weep.

Ultimately, however, this book about GRACIE truly is...a love story!

The audio version of "Gracie" is unlike most audiobooks in that it isn't a literal recording of the text. Rather than simply reading his book, George Burns relates the same material as anecdotes. The result is funny and charming, and Burns's spontaneity lends the book unusual intimacy: George is talking privately to YOU. There are occasional time-outs for Burns & Allen performing their radio routines. Two mild drawbacks: Burns-on-tape doesn't tell the same stories with as much depth as Burns-in-print, and the tape editor has seen fit to interrupt Burns with occasional musical effects. But the subject overcomes the presentation, and if you've read "Gracie," you'll still want Burns's "alternate take" of the story.

I glanced at the reviews here to see if my opinion of this book was just a fluke, but they pretty much bear me out. I didn't expect this book to be nearly as good as it is. On second thought, though, it's not that surprising. This pair was magic and it was seen in everything they touched, the prime and lasting example being the without parallel Burns and Allen Show.

Burns and Allen successfully weathered many storms, making the transition from Vaudeville and stand-up comedy to radio and later to television. The earliest TV shows are the only ones available on DVD, but in later seasons they really hit their stride. In this hilarious and ground- breaking show, George would turn on the TV in the den to see what Gracie was doing, and regularly chat with viewers about events in progress. Gracie would walk in the wrong side of the set and regale viewers (or listeners) with non-stop comedic patter, malapropisms and surrealistic humour (ala Ernie Kovaks) with George as the straightman and pinnacle of style puffing his ever-present cigar.

Even as an octagenarian he could still act (Oh God, You Devil) but as a nonogenarian (92) he could still write. This marvelous memoir is not only the most delightful reading I've had in a long time, but makes me all the more want the Burns and Allen show on DVD. This book was a bestseller in hardback, but is now unaccountably out of print. Yet many readers would love this book, and would enjoy making the acquaintance of the remarkable Gracie Allen.

The first and last pages of this book will hit you really hard. In between, you'll laugh harder than you've ever laughed. I was 2 when Gracie died. I have no recollection of her, and hadn't seen/heard much that she did. My aunt loaned me her copy, and I read it. When I finished, I felt I lost someone dear to me. The story is told that well. It could not have been written any better. I now own it, and have read it five times! I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Lamb Chops...What do lamb chops have to do with this story, well everything! Lamb Chops is the vaudeville routine that brought fame to this comedic duo in the late 1920's. I have the link to a You Tube movie short that was filmed in 1929 for this popular routine here. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFcsdgkg54 ) In this clip and others that I've seen with Burns and Allen, I think Gracie is the reason that they had so much success. She was so natural in her role as the "ditzy dame". She was good if not one of the best funnymen to a straightman role. This book takes the reader back to the waning days of vaudeville and the beginnings of film, radio and television as the new media for bringing entertainment to its audiances. George Burns takes us back down memory lane with a personnal love story that lasted nearly 40 years. His memories include many places and friends that I as a reader enjoyed visiting. I don't read love stories usually, but this love story is one that I enjoyed and won't soon forget.

This is a wonderful book. Many autobiographies can lean toward the dull side, but I zipped through this one... and had a good hardy laugh on almost every page. George Burns tells the story of Gracie (his wife and side-kick) with humor and sincerity, with his devotion beaming from the pages. The book is also an intriguing history of vaudeville and Hollywood life as seen from his eyes. All sorts of characters make an appearance in this telling of his experiences -- such as Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, the Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Cary Grant and many others. Also, if you are a lover of entertainment trivia, this is full of information that you can amaze your friends with. :)

George Burns writes an easy, fun book about the Burns and Allen comedy team. It's apparent from his writing that he never would have made it in vaudeville--and perhaps as an actor--without Gracie. I finished the book feeling that Burns's love for his wife was because she made them a success and kept him employed. He wrote mostly about the "professional" Gracie, not the personal Gracie. But he also wrote that she was a private person, so that may have been his intent.

With that in mind, it was a delightful book full of opportunities to chuckle. I enjoyed reading about vaudeville, the introduction of radio and then of TV, and how they had to move with the times and change their act. I learned about different actors with whom they were close. And I can't help but be impressed with Burns. Though his wife was the one who received the lion's share of acclaim, it never bothered him. He enjoyed giving her all the credit for their success. He was doing the work he loved--comedy--and he loved her.

His devotion to and admiration for his wife's talent is evident. What is his advice for having a long, happy, satisfying marriage? Marry Gracie.