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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Have Book for any Andy Williams Fan, October 20, 2009
This review is from: Moon River and Me: A Memoir (Hardcover)
As a fan of Andy's for over 40 years (I started when I was all of 9 years old) I was thrilled to learn of his autobiography. Andy did not disappoint. He writes a detailed account of his early years (with his family) in Iowa and parts of the mid-west and how the Williams Brothers came to be.
Over the years I had read about Kay Thompson and how she helped develop Andy into becoming a class A entertainer but this book really goes into depths about the relationship.
The book is filled with interesting and funny anecdotes about fellow celebrities and entertainers. But more important than that he delves into his relationships with Robert and Ethel Kennedy and, of course, Claudine Longet - his first wife.
The chapter that includes his recounting of the assassination of Robert Kennedy will bring many to tears when reading it. He opens up, without going too deeply into detail, about his relationship with Claudine and why the marriage failed. He goes into detail however about the Claudine Longet / Spider Sabich shooting incident and his thoughts about it and how it effected him and his family. For fans of Andy, if you think you know all there is to know about him, his book will give you at least a couple of surprises. I know it did me.
After reading the book (1 ½ days) and "digesting it" I was given the sense that this book was a cathartic release for Andy in the writing of it. He reveals a lot about himself and his inner thinking. I was spelled bound by it and couldn't put the book down.
Now for the few things in the book that had me scratching my head in confusion. In the book Andy writes about the decade of the 60's as almost being something of a blur to him because of his skyrocketing career with all the tours, recordings and TV shows, his marriage / separation and 3 kids. I think this may show in his writing. On page 150 he writes about the Washington State Fair and the Osmonds joining him. He mentions doing "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" with the 4 brothers and then introducing Donny who was "still only five years old, for his first state fair appearance". The song however was written and released in 1969 when Donny was 11 years old. At the state fair he's writing about it was only 1963 or 64.
Another confusing page for me was on page 197. He's on a river trip with Robert and Ethel Kennedy and he's on top of a "luggage raft" singing "Happy Heart" after Ethel Kennedy asks him to sing a song. Andy doesn't give a definite year for the river trip but "Happy Heart" wasn't released by anyone (himself or Petulia Clark) until 1969 - a year or so after RFK's death.
But these are possible minor glitches in the totality of the book. This is a must book for anyone who has ever been a fan of the greatest pop tenor singer in history. I'm glad that he's starting to accept the fact that maybe he really is as good as the others. Even back in 1969 when I first heard him on the radio at age 9 I would have said, "well duh!!"
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite a good read..., November 25, 2009
This review is from: Moon River and Me: A Memoir (Hardcover)
I don't know if Mr. Williams employed "help" or not while writing this, but I was very impressed with his style and description. Unlike another reviewer, I actually found that he was more forthcoming than I expected from an entertainer with such a squeaky clean image: drinking, sex, language, etc. Even the fact that he did not enjoy performing live for so many years. I suspect that some fans in Branson may be shocked, in fact. But what a wonderful life story about an America long since past.
True, I found the chapter regarding Claudine Longet a bit hard to swallow because I find it hard to believe there was never any doubt in his mind that the shooting was an accident. Surely anyone in that situation would have had some questions. But I wasn't there and Mr. Williams was, and this is his account of his life so he is absolutely entitled to his belief and the writing of it. I commend him, actually, for his support of Ms. Longet as the mother of his children.
As with every celebrity memoir, there are several juicy tidbits about other celebrities. But the one I found most telling was his recount of Ethel Kennedy asking him to find a pretty girl to sit next to her husband at a dinner party in order to help him "relax." Hmmm, what to make of that in light of what we know about Bobby Kennedy? In any case, bravo Mr. Williams for a brave and delightful memoir, and for many years of entertainment.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Book But Not Enough About Andy, July 8, 2011
At 300 pages you'd think Andy Williams would have lots of fascinating stories to share about his life and loves, but what this nice guy does is mostly provide a travelogue through his life while diverting attention away from himself via side stories about others.
He tells his story the way you would expect. He acts as if he is decent and mellow, not bragging too much. The problem with that is that he skips so quickly through some of the major moments in his life that he doesn't provide any insight or emotions. It's as if another person has taken a few of Andy's memories and edited them together objectively, stripping them of much passion.
Evidence of this also lies in his constant inclusion of information on others that have nothing to do with his own story. He'll talk about the origins of Milton Berle on TV or a seven-page aside regarding a person named Billy Pearson (who?). He talks a lot about art, says nothing about his kids and provides almost no information on any of his recording sessions or why he chose to sing certain songs. If you're looking for stories about his time with his kids or insights into his recording career you won't find them here.
He drops all sorts of famous names but then fails to provide anything interesting to say about most of them. He spent a week on a yacht with Jackie Kennedy and Ari Onassis but then talked about the boat and said nothing Jackie! Elvis, Sinatra, Sammy Davis--they're all here but never in enough detail.
There are a few titillating bits that he tosses in to make you believe he slept around and did drugs (he admits to flying to Canada to experiment with LSD). He tosses in some R-rated four letter words as well, but then when it gets to stories of raw emotion (like his divorce, where he simply walked out on his family one night) he fails to open up. There is an interesting section on his being there the night Bobby Kennedy was murdered, but mostly what he gives are facts and never explains much beyond the headlines. (For instance, he says he's a Republican who went to the Democratic convention and voted for super liberal Eugene McCarthy--are we just supposed to accept that normal people do that?) After awhile you realize that even though he claims he's just an Iowa farm boy, he really was a professional entertainer from about age ten and grew to covet money and fame.
At times the facts about others are wrong (like about Doris Day's theme song and Fred MacMurray's filming methods) and some of the dates are mixed up. Andy even is incorrect in some of his own personal information (he grew up over 100 miles from Des Moines, not 50 miles as stated in the book and he gave the wrong name of the golf course he played at in Iowa). After awhile it becomes obvious that he relied heavily on his co-author to fill in details.
Andy provides few insights into his loves, admits he was a workaholic, defends his ex-wife against murder charges and seems to mostly have memories of the facilities where he sang (giving great details about rooms). While it's an easy read and there are plenty of facts, you come away wishing for more. The way he wrote the book made me appreciate him less and realize that what I've loved all these years is his voice and image, not the real man.
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