The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx [Paperback]

Groucho Marx (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 1994

No personage is too big, no nuance too small, no subject too far out for Groucho’s spontaneous, hilarious, and ferocious typewriter. He writes to comics, corporations, children, presidents, and even his daughter’s boyfriend. Here is Groucho swapping photos with T. S. Eliot (”I had no idea you were so handsome!”); advising his son on courting a rich dame (”Don’t come out bluntly and say, ’How much dough have you got?’ That wouldn’t be the Marxian way”); crisply declining membership in a Hollywood club (”I don’t care to belong to any social organization that will accept me as a member”); reacting with utmost composure when informed that he has been made into a verb by James Joyce (”There’s no reason why I shouldn’t appear in Finnegans Wake. I’m certainly as bewildered about life as Joyce was”); responding to a scandal sheet (”Gentleman: If you continue to publish slanderous pieces about me, I shall feel compelled to cancel my subscription”); describing himself to the Lunts (”I eat like a vulture. Unfortunately the resemblance doesn’t end there”); and much, much more. That mobile visage, that look of wild amazement, and that weaving cigar are wholly captured, bound but untamed, in The Groucho Letters.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Letters are often a window to a person's true self, or, in this case, selves. This "book of letters in the old tradition of correspondence" (LJ 2/15/67) displays not only the great wit of the one, the only, Groucho but also the private, serious side of Julius Marx. Recipients include fellow show business figures and family members as well as T.S. Eliot, President Harry Truman, and Edward R. Murrow.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"It is hard to keep from reading bits of this aloud to friends and relations. Groucho in letters is just as devastatingly witty as he was in the movies, to say nothing of other media."

-- Publishers Weekly

"...these letters are good reading, for out of the book Groucho emerges, eyebrows bounding, eyes rolling, cigar jauntily clamped between his teeth, the wisecracks coming a mile a minute. Even Calvin Coolidge might have smiled."

-- Book Week

"Written...with the impudence, irreverence and general lunacy that made Groucho the immortal wise guy of the American screen."

-- Newsweek --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030680607X
• ISBN-13: 978-0306806070
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,281,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Absolute Best Book on Groucho, December 7, 2002

By 

D. Movahedpour "doeadear" (CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)

This classic collection of Groucho Marx's correspondence, which was donated to the Library of Congress, at their request, gives the best glimpse into who Groucho Marx was. Not only do we see his letters to his family and friends, who included some of the century's most famous people, but we get to see what people wrote in return. Groucho's personality and wit shine through, and these letters are a rare treasure.

With little formal education, Groucho could construct a letter better than most people with college degrees. He shows himself as witty, acerbic, sometimes sentimental and, yes, often grouchy. The book starts off with his infamous exchange with the legal department at Warner Brothers, who claim they own the rights to the movie title "Casablanca." Groucho responds that, perhaps, since the Marx Brothers were famous before the Warner Brothers, that perhaps they owned the rights to use "Brothers"?

We see Groucho's exchanges with many of his friends, but not much between the brothers themselves, since they were almost always together and there was no need of correspondence. We see Groucho's complaints and his praise. The most memorable part of the book is Groucho's legendary correspondence with the poet, T.S. Elliot. Groucho is clearly in awe of the poet, who seems equally in awe of the comic. It takes several years for this predecessor of the modern "Email friendship" to become a "real life friendship" when Groucho and his wife fly to London to meet "Tom" and his wife. We find out about the evening via a letter Groucho sent to another person. We also see a letter where Groucho mourns T.S. Elliot's passing.

This collection of letters is never out-dated, and never becomes boring. There is always something to read, somewhere in the book. It is not a book that you will read, then forget about. It's an amazing, historical collection of wit, sarcasm and genuine tenderness that is essential to any humor library.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It loses one star because I want more!, July 12, 2001

By 

Algernon D'Ammassa (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)

For some, a criterion of great art is: it makes you feel creative. Reading Groucho's letters makes one look around for pen and paper.

It is a pity Groucho Marx's prose isn't better known, because it was quite good. He found a voice all his own, with due influence or inspiration from Robert Benchley and, most certainly, S.J. Perelman.

This collection of letters ranges from warm and teasing, to wry and satirical, to scathing (a section entitled "Short Shrift" showcases letters designed to sting and fly away, like a wasp). Yet throughout, Marx's wit is belied by a language that is literate and witty but uses an ordinary vocabulary. They reflect the man himself, who had a third-grade education and hit the books in later years. His willingness to address himself to unknown corporate officers, well-known politicians, or to put on a major film studio work the way much of Groucho's humor worked: he comes from the level of the ordinary person, caring not a whit for ceremony or status; and he is willing to talk circles around just about anybody, to their vexation and our delight.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will cure what ails you!, December 17, 2002

By 

Diana S. Walsh "Diana" (Palm Springs, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (Paperback)

I received this book after major surgery some years back and Groucho's wit really helped pick up my spirits and take my mind off of my body. This was one of the best gifts that I've ever received and I'm pleased to see that it's back in print. If you could have a dinner party and invite any historical figures that you wanted, wouldn't Groucho be on the list? This collection of his intimate correspondence is the next best thing.