Customer Reviews

Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway

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Lorenz Hart is one of the finest lyricists in the history of American musical theater. He is largely responsible for elevating the process of writing lyrics into an art form. Before Hart, lyrics were usually trite and predictable with simplistic rhymes such as "I am blue, and so are you."

Hart wrote lyrics that are cerebral and sophisticated. His compositions are infused with wit and wisdom. He used complex rhymes. An example from "My Funny Valentine": "Your looks are laughable, unphotographable. Yet you're my favorite work of art. Is your figure less than Greek? Is your mouth a little weak? When you open it to speak, are you smart?"

Another example from "Bewitched": "I'm wild again, beguiled again, a whimpering simpering child again...." And yet another example from "Lady is a Tramp": "She gets too hungry for dinner at eight. She likes the theater and never comes late. She never bothers with people she hates. That's why the lady is a tramp."

Hart could be wistful and romantic as in "My Romance": "My romance doesn't need to have a moon in the sky. My romance doesn't need a blue lagoon standing by. No month of May. No twinkling star. No hideaway. No soft guitar."

Hart's lyrics are consistently observant and very often ingenious. They are the perfect match for the variety and intricacy of Richard Rodgers' superb music.

This biography is quite detailed with a number of amusing anecdotes. It is a must read for those who want to know more about this endearing, erratic, and gifted artist Lorenz Hart. His contributions to musical theater are profound and timeless.

Nolan labored under a severe handicap. For some reason, the owners of the copyright on Hart's lyrics would not grant Nolan permission to quote them at length (for some probably very stupid reason). Therefore, Nolan concentrates necessarily on the life. He has done yeoman's work hunting down those Hart acquaintances still alive as well as letters previously unpublished. I think his portrait quite insightful. He manages to contain many of Hart's contradictions. He also keeps Hart's homosexuality in perspective, something rare in our time when writers seem to reduce an artist to his sexual preference. They focus so strongly on the juicy details that they forget the person. Put crudely, I doubt any two homosexuals are alike even in their homosexuality and there are more homosexuals than there are poets of the caliber of Hart. Furthermore, Hart's "natural" homosexuality was hardly yea or nay. He proposed to at least two women who knew of his sexual activities. They turned him down, not because he was homosexual, but because he was alcoholic.

Hart's sex life was undoubtedly a mess (although not necessarily because he was gay). His great fear of loneliness made the rest of his entire life even messier. He was physically unappealing - extremely short, with a head too large for his body and coarse features. With alcohol came oblivion - he drank enough to pass out. Gradually, the drinking caught up with him, and he died in his 40s. Nolan makes it quite clear that Hart had been pursuing passive suicide for several years.

Nevertheless, this is just one side of Hart, and not really the side that makes us, years later, care about him. He was, as Nolan points out, a poet on Broadway. His songs contain some of the finest lyric poetry of the century. His range wasn't particularly great and he wasn't quite the innovator some think him (P. G. Wodehouse and Ira Gershwin did precede him as writers of sophisticated lyrics), but within his emotional bailiwick, he was a master. Nolan shows us that aspect as well. Despite the obstacles thrown in his way, Nolan gives us a sense of Hart's genuine individuality - an attitude, really, of loneliness and realism. Offhand, I can't think of a straight "I love you/You love me" in any of Hart's songs. "I Wish I Were in Love Again," "Falling in Love with Love," "It Never Entered My Mind," "Isn't It Romantic," "Spring is Here," "Blue Moon," and "Glad to be Unhappy" concern love lost, love dreamed about, and love maybe. Undoubtedly, Hart had a viewpoint toward the subject skewed a certain way - worried about the fragility of human relations, despite all the surface dazzle of wit.

Nolan makes all of this clear. Indeed, his inability to spend much time with the lyrics themselves pushed him to dig all the deeper into the core of the songs. I really like this book.

If I wanted a book about the Broadway Stage during the period that Larry Hart and Dick Rodgers wrote together I would have highly recommended this book. If I wanted to know about all the goings on of all the actors in all the plays and musicals that occured at that time, again this would have been the book of choice. What I WANTED was to read about Mr. Hart. To read bits and pieces about his personal life throughout the book was to say the least, a dissapointment. Do I feel like I know the man any better? Sure. But I also know as much about Mr. Rodgers. Gene Lee's book on Johnny Mercer, now that was a book about the man and his lyrics! Nuff said.

I love this book and the man that you get to know. Very fascinating of the man himself and his unusual working habits. As far as cleverness goes, I don't think there's ever been a greater lyricist than Mr. Hart. And the incredible speed at which he wrote is reason enough for any serious lyricist or word lover to delve into and appreciate. Yes! buy this book. It's a fine testament to a true genius.

HIGHLY recommend this seller, who promptly answered every query & rushed my book to me - great communication, friendly, and great customer service! Would def order from this seller again - Thanks David!!

Book came in a timely manner. condition was perfect. Extremely well written biography
about Larry Hart, a supreme lyricist.
Very informative and interesting.

The book was an exhaustive research on his works, I would have preferred a bit more about what made him as a person and a little more on his hidden life.