Customer Reviews

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam: An Illustrated Memoir

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had seen Ann Marie Fleming's documentary film about her great-grandfather, Long Tack Sam, and was thrilled to see that she had also written a book about him. I was expecting the usual sort of biography, text with a couple of photo inserts. Instead, the book is a mix of text, cartoons, and photos, much in the same style as the movie. It's absolutely beautiful, and the period images (ads and posters, photos, etc) convey the style and feel of the vaudeville era which was Sam's heyday. I love to read about vaudeville but it's the images that bring those times to life for me, and this book does it wonderfully.

I read this in one sitting! This was done in a journal/comic book format that was informative, fun, and made me feel that when I ended the book, I left with something special. Sam was a pioneer, and all the amazing people he met and worked with (Orson Wells, Laurel and Hardy to name a few), it's like the back of the book said, how come no one knows who this famous man is? His rufasal to compromise to the Chinese steriotype in order to enter Hollywood, and that his daughters were considered too pretty to be filmed as Asians for any Hollywood pictures , really reminds you that the 20th century really changed our views of the world and culture. This man went all over the world, married an Austrian lady, and go figure, had competition from white magicians dressing in Asian motifs and taking similar names to him! I can go on ad infinitium about how great this was, and how I came upon this by accident. I strongly recommend this book to not only magicians, but also to anyone looking for a fun and entertaining read.

An insightful, delightful book. A very personal story that is bigger than it first appears and reminds us all we have stories
worth researching and remembering. The confusing, conflicting details of family memories are presented in a creative way
and the multiple perspectives are woven together with history, bystanders, Fleming and family in a compelling and funny presentation that wins you over only a few pages in.

I'll start out by saying that I'm not mixed race (just white) nor descended from recent immigrants (all of my living family was born here in America), so I assume that I'm not really a part of this book's target audience. But I loved it! I've recently gotten into graphic novels, and this popped up as "recommended for me," and it was so cheap ($5.60 when I ordered it), that I thought, "What the heck?" and ordered it. I'm so glad I did!

The story was entirely compelling. I loved how the author uncovered all these different versions of her great-grandfather's narrative, showing how hard it is to discover the "truth" about anything). And the mix of photos, drawings, stick figures, and playbills added variety and depth to the story.

At the end of the book, Fleming writes, "I started out on this journey with the question, 'Who was Long Tack Sam?' ... And now that I know what a big life he had, I'm left with the question, 'Why was he forgotten?'" Fleming speculates that he was forgotten because maybe... vaudeville died, or he was Chinese, or he was an immigrant. But how much do any of us know about our great-grandparents? I know next to nothing about mine. It is very difficult to keep *someone else's* memories alive, which is all any of us have of people who died before we knew them. This book, however, has made me consider undertaking a similar project about my grandmother's life. Not for publication but for my daughter, who was named after her great-grandmother who died before she was born.

I read this book in one day, a rare occurrence in my life. I found the history and the telling of the story fascinating. The legends Ann Marie Fleming tells of her great grandfather's rise to fame are charming and mesmerizing. Her conclusions are heart felt and poignant. I would strongly recommend this book for a quick read on a part of forgotten history.

With its unique combination of cartoons, photos, newspaper clippings, this is everything a graphic novel should be. It's entertaining, informative and a page turner of sorts. As the memoir progresses, you get drawn into Long Tack Sam's life and you root for him. I felt myself wishing that I had been around to catch his act.

The story was a fascinating history of a famous magician. The author made the book less pleasant than it might have been by inserting her politically correct points of view at various times.

Ok, it's not like most books but it is a good read. My wife had to read it for a class in school. I wonder about teachers that assign books like this, but then education courses are taught by those who can't control a classroom.