It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (Paperback)

by James Robert Parish (Author)
Key Phrases: gourmet club, writing squad, home viewers, Mel Brooks, The Producers, Anne Bancroft (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Parish, author of many books including Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story and Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flaps), here traces the life and career of mirthmaker Mel Brooks from the Borscht Belt to Broadway. Born Melvin Kaminsky, he grew up as a Brooklyn classroom clown, honing his stage skills in the Catskills before arriving in WWII France as an army combat engineer. The bombastic Brooks clawed his way into early television as a writer for Sid Caesar: "I was aggressive. I was a terrier, a pit bull terrier. I was unstoppable. I would keep going until my joke or my sketch was in the show." Caesar's shows were a launchpad, catapulting Brooks into a multifaceted comedy career that embraced theater (Shinbone Alley) and sitcoms (Get Smart), recordings (the 2000 Year Old Man series) and acting (Mad About You). He began directing in 1968 with The Producers, followed by the equally hilarious Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Along the way, he picked up Emmys, Tonys, a Grammy, an Oscar and Anne Bancroft, whom he married in 1964. Brooks's probing self-insights and clever quotes abound. While his sense of timing, delivery and charming goofiness may not always translate to the written page, readers will be satisfied with the details unearthed by Parish's exhaustive research. 16 b&w photos. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
Parish, author of many books including "Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story" and "Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flaps"), here traces the life and career of mirthmaker Mel Brooks from the Borscht Belt to Broadway. Born Melvin Kaminsky, he grew up as a Brooklyn classroom clown, honing his stage skills in the Catskills before arriving in WWII France as an army combat engineer. The bombastic Brooks clawed his way into early television as a writer for Sid Caesar: "I was aggressive. I was a terrier, a pit bull terrier. I was unstoppable. I would keep going until my joke or my sketch was in the show." Caesar's shows were a launchpad, catapulting Brooks into a multifaceted comedy career that embraced theater ("Shinbone Alley") and sitcoms ("Get Smart"), recordings (the 2000 Year Old Man series) and acting ("Mad About You"). He began directing in 1968 with "The Producers," followed by the equally hilarious "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," Along the way, he picked up Emmys, Tonys, a Grammy, an Oscar and Anne Bancroft, whom he married in 1964. Brooks's probing self-insights and clever quotes abound. While his sense of timing, delivery and charming goofiness may not always translate to the written page, readers will be satisfied with the details unearthed by Parish's exhaustive research. 16 b& w photos. "(Mar.)" ("Publishers Weekly," January 1, 2007)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; illustrated edition edition (February 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470225262
• ISBN-13: 978-0470225264
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #352,537 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #74 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Movie Directors

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book on Mel Brooks' life falls short of being authoritative, still, author Parish has made a noble effort, June 24, 2007

By	B. A Varkentine (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (Hardcover)

He is properly appreciative of Brooks' most wonderful work, but not indifferent to his creative slumps (also known as the eighties). I agree with most of his assertions, but wish he'd credited them more specifically.

Especially since, having no original interviews with his subject, he relies on previously published works. To such an extent I couldn't help but feel a collection of interviews with the hardly press-shy humorist might have served just as well or better for his fans.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The King is Crowned, June 3, 2007

By	Mart Martin "Mart Martin" (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (Hardcover)

Admittedly, Mel Brooks is an acquired taste, because so much of his humor is of the "hit or miss" variety. (Confessed: I'm a Brooks fan - but he can occasionally "miss" even me.) Parish has turned out another one of his excellent books with this biography of funmeister Brooks. Mel's path to fame is an interesting one, and Parish tracks it well. He's one of the rare Hollywood writers - and more experienced ones, too - who doesn't delve into sensationalism in his books. Parish writes "biography" and relates stories, all in an informative, easy to read manner. This is an enoyable read from beginning to end. I was particularly intrigued with the "love story" aspect to Mel's life: namely, the romance and marriage of Brooks and Bancroft. Over the years, aside from their marriage being mentioned in the press, very little has been written about it. Parish does an encellent job of detailing it. Brooks didn't participate in the writing the book, but he should be very pleased with how it turned out. Parish does a superb job with this book on Mel's life. A most enjoyable book about one of the funniest men in the latter half of the twentieth-century.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously Good Reading, March 27, 2007

By	Lee Alan Mattson "movie fan and reader" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (Hardcover)

The life of Mel Brooks reads like a history of comedy of the last 60 years - from his humble beginnings in Brooklyn, through summers at the Jewish resorts in the Catskills Borscht Belt, through recordings, T.V. theater and movies Mel Brooks did it all and worked with many of the comedy greats of the past half century (sometimes for better or worse). Brooks worked with Sid Ceaser, Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner and countless others and married one of the great Hollywood actresses. This is a colorful look at his many triumphs and low points in between. And just when many would have written him off - he has roared back with the huge success of the musical Producers on Broadway. As with all his books, Mr. Parish has done extensive research and wonderfully describes the life of Mel Brooks.