Customer Reviews

Groucho and Me: The Autobiography of Groucho Marx

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GROUCHO AND ME is the autobiography of Groucho Marx -- sort of. The book is certainly written by Groucho, contains his inimitable style and sense of humor, and does tell a few stories about his life. But anyone looking for any sort of detail surrounding Groucho's life would be well advised to try someplace else.

But instead of criticizing the book for what it isn't, I'd rather spend this review talking about what it does well. Groucho is an engaging and hilarious writer. He admits right at the very beginning that most of the stories and anecdotes may not be entirely accurate. To publish a truthful and precise account is something that he says he would not be comfortable doing unless he was dead. Since a live Groucho writes infinitely better than a dead Groucho, we are left with this "pure ersatz Groucho", as he calls it. And to be honest, the lack of detail doesn't particularly hurt the book. Without having to deal with all the messiness that reality brings, Groucho is able to jump into all sorts of hilarious stories and asides. Marx is much more interested in telling a funny story than he is about historical accuracy, and I certainly can't complain, given how amused I was by his hilarious lunacy.

Groucho tells a lot of stories and he tells them well. Telling a linear autobiography is not one of his priorities, as he bounces between decades with as much enthusiasm as Harpo chasing after a particularly beautiful blonde. His stories range from the time that he wrote the book (1959) back to his childhood in New York. The stories are occasionally tender, but most of the time they are just very funny. Groucho tells an anecdote in such a way that not only is the punch line funny, but so are most of the lines leading up to it. His family appears in many of his more memorable stories, not just his famous brothers, but also his young daughter, Melinda. Much of his career is made mention of, from his later success at radio and television to his earlier triumphs in vaudeville.

If you're looking for a fun autobiography, then you could do much worse than reading GROUCHO AND ME. Even if you go into the book expecting a frank and intimate life-story, you'll more than likely be won over by Groucho's hilarious writing style. It's a fun and random journey through a life not totally dissimilar to Groucho's own, and one that more than makes up for in entertainment what it may lack in authenticity.

Groucho and Me finally gave us a little insight into the thoughts of a true and unique comic talent. Today he is becoming forgotten, but for those of us who remeber or happen upon his work we discover a World of 1st rate comedy. In this book Groucho never seems to be giving much away, but we can read into this his great dependance on comedy as a way of life. For all he ever did was be funny, on the stage, radio, film, TV and in print. He was compleatly clued into humanity and it's absurdity, and it's on clear display here. Rather than bore us with dates and names, he knows the real pleasure in a read comes from the stories, and all his stories have many a good punchline! The dialogue crackles and you hear his voice in every line.

Although I have seen only two of Groucho's films, I consider myself to be a Marx Brothers fan (and will most definitely purchase more movies). I bought this book hoping for an autobiography full of wit and charm. Well, it had plenty of wit and charm and made me laugh out loud many times, but it is not a typical autobiography. As Groucho's editor pointed out when reading the manuscript, "Look, you've written 80,000 words and your readers still don't know a damned thing about you!" If you are planning on buying this book because you want an account of Groucho's life (i.e. accounts of all his films, information about his personal life) then I don't recommend this book. However, if you want to hear Groucho's recollections of his early days with his brothers and various other funny stories about his life then I recommend this book. Its more just a series of sketches, but though they are all humorous, they do give the reader an insight into how Groucho might have been in real life. You won't be disappointed by his satire and jokes. And so even though I thought it was more a standard autobiography, I was not the least bit disappointed. Its a must for Groucho Marx fans.

This is one of the few books I've ever read more than once. Groucho's recollections are witty, charming and unforgettable. I love his stories about the various cars he owned in the early days of automobiles! "Groucho and Me" never fails to make me laugh out loud. In truth, it's funnier than many of the Marx Brothers' movies, but the exploits of their youth contained in this book give added meaning to the mayhem. For instance, the brothers' musical talents are explored in full, and now we know that Chico is a piano virtuoso. Groucho's childhood, vaudeville, film and television memories make for a riotous read!

I first read this book when I was ten years old and have reread it several times since. I have found that it only became more enjoyable as I grew older. Groucho was obviously an extremely intelligent individual who traveled a hard road to success, and the stories he shares are often downright hilarious. It is truly a pleasure to read this book, and I look forward to reading it again.

Even though, as others have mentioned, this isn't really a true autobiography per se, it's a very involving, fast, funny read. There are a lot of personal reflections, anecdotes, and the wonderful chapters about the Marx family when their boys were young and then their early vaudeville days, but there are a lot of seemingly important things left out; if you want to get a story told in a more linear format and with more concise personal information, you'd be better-served reading a more serious scholarly biography (though you probably won't laugh as much with that kind of book). The autobiographical accounts that do appear are priceless though; to most people, the people, events, and culture of New York in the late 19th century and early 20th century and on the vaudeville circuit in America is a foreign long-vanished world, a world where a dollar was still a lot of money and there were still neighborhood tailors and pants-pressers, where cars were positively dirt-cheap in comparison to how much they cost today. More celebrity autobiographies should be like this, fun and engaging and witty, not taking oneself too seriously or acting like this is a strictly factual account of one's life and like everything described happened exactly in the way it's described and with those exact words spoken. The picture section was also very nice. The only small complaint I have about it is that, being written in 1959, some of the references to people and things are a little dated and don't mean anything to or ring any bells for people who weren't around back then.

As I am a 1930's re-enactor, I have been trying to study the movie stars of the time period. Who better than the fabulous Marx Brothers! You can actually see Groucho wiggling his eyebrows as you read his words. I never knew he was an author and philosopher, as well as great comedian. Wonderful to read and then view his classic movie. Thanks, Groucho, for a great book!

As a number of other Amazon reviewers have pointed out this is not a real autobiography. Groucho is not interested in telling the reader about his inner life and self, or about the character of his relations with others. What he does do is be Groucho, and tell in his own inimitable tone a lot of stories and anecdotes which continually crack up the reader. I remember as a child watching Groucho on ' This is Your Life' and I could not understand why he was making the same joke over and over again and laughing at George Fenniman, his announcer, and stooge. That is Groucho like Don Rickles later and maybe like comedians in general did a lot of insulting of others, low, cheap humor, getting a laugh at the expense of the 'fall guy'. This was of course very much a game and part of the show but it is something which personally has always made me a bit reserved about not only Groucho but about that particular kind of humor. On all accounts Groucho was as a ' real person' quite a grouch, a pretty miserable fellow to a lot of people including his three wives, and at some point also to two of his children. But he was also filled with life and energy, tremendously quick- minded, funny as hell, zany and crazy , a tremendous joy to watch or hear, and at times here, even read. He left the English language a whole group of ' remarks 'or 'wisecracks ' which promise to be with us for a long time to come'Even his cruelty in word seemed to have a playfulness about it as if he were a naughty little kid knowing always just how much he could get away with. Reading his autobiography one laughs and at the same time feels a certain sadness and empty. Joke after joke, wisecrack after wisecrack leads eventually to a kind of exhaustion and wondering if there is not more than this. Groucho is funny, one of the funniest but one wonders if that is enough in life except for a great comedian.

This "autobiography" is largely anecdotal and is far from a scholarly study of the Marx bros. and their contribution to American cultural history. That said it is a rare opportunity to "hear" Groucho tell some hysterically funny stories and voice his opinions on a variety of subjects in the process. It is valuable as a document regarding the vaudeville years and the early days of Hollywood. So if spending a few evenings reading Groucho's musings isn't enough incentive there is something to be learned here as well. Groucho's writing style is very much like his public personna and he always goes for the laugh in every circumstance. After reading this I visited my local video store to rent some Marx Bros. films. The young lady behind the counter didn't know who the MArx Bros. were !! Either I'm getting really old or she should find a different line of work.

The funniest, most wildly entertaining thing I have ever read! Hefty, though very elegantly penned, it never "sounds" ghost-written one bit either. The pieces of folklore Groucho tells of will make 2001 America look like another planet altogether! But anyhow this book should be in every personal library (...or book case) and is indeed a pleasure to re-read as years go by.