A Ship Without A Sail: The Life of Lorenz Hart [Hardcover]

Gary Marmorstein (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 3, 2012

“Blue Moon,” “Where or When,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Isn’t It Romantic?,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”—these are just some of the unforgettable songs that lyricist Lorenz “Larry” Hart wrote together with composer Richard Rodgers. A Ship Without a Sail is the story of the exuberant yet troubled Hart, who wrote so knowingly about the love that eluded him in his own short life.

Despite their highly successful collaborations for Broadway and Hollywood, Rodgers and Hart were an odd couple. Rodgers was precise, handsome, heterosexual, and eager to be accepted by Society. Hart was barely five feet tall, alcoholic, homosexual, most at home in a bar or restaurant, and prone to unexplained disappearances. His lyrics spin with wit, brilliance, and sophistication, yet at their core is an unmistakable wistfulness and yearning; they are all the more remarkable considering that he never sustained a romantic relationship, living virtually his entire life with his mother until his death at age forty-eight.

Gary Marmorstein’s revelatory biography brings Hart and his colorful world vividly to life, and includes many of the lyrics that define Hart’s indelible legacy.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The whole story, joyful and unflinching, of an astounding talent. This biography really has Hart.”

—Laurence Bergreen, author of As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin and Columbus: The Four Voyages

“Sophisticated, engaging, elegant, and packed with absorbing detail, A Ship Without A Sail is the definitive biography of Larry Hart for which all of us who love his work have been waiting. That Gary Marmorstein has captured the soaring highs and the crushing lows of that short, unhappy life so completely and so sympathetically is a truly remarkable—even enviable—achievement. And I speak of what I know.”

—Frederick Nolan, author of The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway

"Marmorstein brings to the task just the right precision instruments for dissecting Larry Hart -- panache, sympathy and smarts. The very title of his book goes to the heart of the tortured story he tells so well. . . . He knows the period and its players inside out and along the way offers wonderful cameos of many minor figures in the story..."

—J. D. McClatchy, The Wall Street Journal

“Readers will be grateful that Gary Marmorstein, who writes about film, theater and popular music, has resuscitated Hart, also known as Larry, in riveting detail in his A Ship Without a Sail: The Life of Lorenz Hart." (Sam Roberts The New York Times)

"A fine new biography of Lorenz Hart by Gary Marmorstein, A Ship Without a Sail, makes clear that Hart, over the years since his early death at age 48 in 1943, has been taken up the very society he set out, in his lyrics, to unsettle."

—David Hadju, The New Republic

"Hart has his shining hour in a new biography. . . . It's the absorbing story of a sparkling but tormented artist and a rich slice of show business history. . . . A Ship Without a Sail quotes liberally from Hart's lyrics, and Marmorstein's analysis is always interesting and often revelatory."

—John Fleming, Tampa Bay Tribune

"Marmorstein bolsters the story of Hart's rocketlike career with a wealth of factual detail. . . . [Marmorstein's] biographer's sense, his dogged researches, and his fair-mindedness constantly lead him in good directions. His account of Rodgers's controversial involvement in Hart's business affairs at his death is the best-balanced I've encountered."

—Michael Feingold, the Village Voice

"Smart and sympathetic. . . . Marmorstein brings to life the Manhattan of Hart's youth." (Brad Leithauser New York Times Book Review) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Gary Marmorstein has written about film, theater, and popular music for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Stagebill, among other publications, and is the author of two previous books. He lives in New Jersey.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416594256
• ISBN-13: 978-1416594253
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Broadway & Musicals

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A GENTLE BUT HONEST REVIEW August 13, 2012

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you're interested in the memorable songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart, forget the squeaky clean film movie starring Mickey Rooney as Lorenz Hart and pick up a copy of Gary Marmorstein's gentle but honest, carefully researched story of Hart's all too short life.

Short might well be an operative word here as the adult Hart barely reached five feet. He was an immensely talented but deeply troubled soul. Together Rodgers and Hart had an enormous impact on the musical world in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. They gave us such hit Broadway shows as On Your Toes, Babes In Arms, Pal Joey and countless songs - My Funny Valentine, Blue Moon, I Wish I Were In Love Again, Where or When, and more that are loved, played and sung today.

Marmorstein has accomplished a yeoman's task in detailing the days of Hart's life from his iconic pairing with Rodgers to his disturbed personality to his sexuality to his alcoholism. Hart was not an easy working partner, later given to tardiness and sometimes total disappearance. Yet he seemed able to dash off his best in 30 minutes and was without peer as a lyricist - eloquent, witty, urbane, romantic, wistful. He felt the bars had not been pushed far enough in American musicals, and he did it with gusto and to great acclaim.

There are so many memorable ancillary characters coming and going in the lives of Rodgers and Hart that A Ship Without A Sail is always fascinating reading, brimming with anecdotes and quotations. Yet, for this reader the story is clouded with sadness sadness as Hart follows his self-destructive path. His early death was an immeasurable loss. But we will always have his unforgettable words - he gave us so much we cannot help but wish that life had given him more.

- Gail Cooke

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificently told biography of Larry Hart August 2, 2012

By Dan Segal

Format:Hardcover

If you want to read a thoroughly researched biography about one of our greatest lyricists, then I strongly recommend this elegantly written book. Marmorstein manages to weave together the personal details of Hart's life with the history of musical theater and always provides historical context. He sheds light on how the political and cultural events of the day influenced Hart's work and demonstrates the ground breaking quality to Hart's lyrics.
That would be enough in itself, but the author's appreciation and insight into the songs of Rodgers and Hart is irresistible. Marmorstein connects threads in Hart's lyrics and does so through the decades. I am grateful not only for the insights, but also Marmorstein's elegant prose, always with a light touch and a stunning re-creation of New York City in Hart's times.
Finally, the book enables you to learn new things about Hart's personal history, which makes for a richer appreciation of his magnificent lyrics. (note to some of the other reviewers here - some of this information may be new to you and some of this information may make you uncomfortable, but that's how we learn.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hart to Hart October 29, 2012

By J. Hart

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a relative of Lorenz Hart's I highly recommend this fabulously detailed account of Larry Hart's life and times. His incredible contribution to the great American Songbook, Broadway, Musicals on film are among the greatest to date. His music continues to be popular-- in fact some say even more popular today then they were in his heyday!! Thanks to Gary Marmorstein for a meticulously detailed portrayal! Please check out the official facebook page for Lorenz Hart I created: [...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile reading, but not the definitive biography the blurbs promise January 18, 2013

By Angus T. Cat

Format:Hardcover

Last year, when I heard that a new biography of Lorenz Hart was going to be published, I was delighted. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's songs have fascinated me and inspired me as far back as I can remember; Hart is one of my lifelong heroes. When I read Dorothy Hart's tribute to him, "Thou Swell, Thou Witty" I first realised the sophistication, great range and achievement of his lyrics. Shortly afterwards "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bedeviled" by by Samuel Marx and Jan Clayton was released. I was still a young teenager but I sensed when I read "Bewitched" that a great deal of Hart's life could or would not be spoken about openly until the time of the book's publication, the 1970s. For a long time it was one of the few accounts that discussed Hart's torment about his sexuality. I felt there was still much about Hart's life that has never been fully examined or considered. I welcomed Frederick Nolan's 1995 biography of Hart. Unfortunately Nolan faced several difficulties in writing his biography: he was denied permission to cite any of Hart's lyrics and later found that the ban was due to opposition from Dorothy Hart, who angrily wrote over the manuscript's discussions of her beloved brother in law's homosexuality, "Lies, lies, lies."

Gary Marmorstein clearly reveres Hart's lyrics: the chapter titles are memorable phrases from them. His research is through: he meticulously details the shows, films, and scores Rodgers and Hart created together from their first meeting in 1919, when Rodgers was 16 and Hart 24, to their last collaboration in 1943. He succeeds in giving an awareness of the effects of the Second World War on New York and the American theatre world. Perhaps one of the reasons why Oklahoma!... and the new Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership overshadowed what Hart achieved with Rodgers was due to sensibilities changing while the country was fighting for its values. It's a pity that Hart didn't live to see peace restored and audiences' desire for urbane lyrics return.

The book's opening chapter is its strongest. Marmorstein confidently conveys the shock of Hart's brother and sister in law to learn, during the reading of Hart's will, that the will has been changed. Hart's financial advisor, William Kron, who also worked for Richard Rodgers, convinced Hart to leave his brother and his wife $100,000 and royalties from his songs during their lifetime: their children would earn nothing. Rodgers maintained control of the copyright for the songs. The Hart family's legal appeals against the will are revealed compellingly. However, after the first chapter, there is little in "A Ship Without a Sail" that isn't explored in other works about Rodgers and Hart. Indeed, throughout the book Marmorstein frequently refers to Nolan's biography. Another reviewer here on Amazon commented that the book reads like a college term paper. It reminded me of a dissertation by a student intent to include comments from firsthand accounts from memoirs and autobiographies of the stars, directors, and authors who worked with Rodgers and Hart's shows, and who has stalwartly tracked down legal documents, oral histories, contemporary newspaper articles, and medical files. Some of the material Marmorstein chooses to incorporate appears tenuously related to his main subject. At one point Marmorstein quotes at length from the screenplay of "The Lady Eve" and states that Hart sat up in his cinema seat while watching the film, recognising an allusion to the theme of deja vu as Hart described in "Where or When". The speech expresses a feeling of having known for a long time the woman the speaker has just met, there is no distinct echoing of the song's lyrics or topic, and there's no reference to where or how Marmorstein learned of Hart's seeing the film and his reaction to it.

Marmorstein surprisingly doesn't include Rodgers' famous recollection that the afternoon he first met Hart "Neither of us mentioned it... but we evidently knew we would work together, and I left Hart's house having acquired in one afternoon a career, a best friend, and a source of permanent irritation." At several points Marmorstein's discussions of Hart's lyrics and achievements place significance on Hart's family being descended from Heine. However, his relation to Heine has never been verified. Other accounts of Hart's life have remarked that while Hart's father claimed the family was related to Heine, Hart took this story with a grain of salt; Hart's father was a con artist known to exaggerate.

Overall the biography is let down by recurrent long lists of national or worldwide events happening at a particular time and the author's tendency to discuss important developments flatly without changing tone. The reader gains no impression of how intensively Rodgers and Hart struggled to make the leap from amateur productions to becoming Broadway professionals; that Rodgers had already resigned himself to giving up the theatre entirely and was about to start work selling babies underwear. For all of Marmorstein's detailing of the songs and sketches Rodgers and Hart created for "The Garrick Gaieties", he gives little indication of the impact of their breakthrough with "Manhattan" or the show's revolutionary freshness.

The highlight of the book is Hart's 1941 essay on lyric writing which proclaims his frustrations with censorship. It is all the sadder that throughout his career he had to find inventive ways to get his intended meaning past bowdlerizers. Hart rages at the critics' discomfort with the amoral behaviour of the characters in his musical "Pal Joey": "Pal Joey, moreover, is a cad and a scoundrel and something else unprintable right here, and he has to sing out words that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow never would have used. In fact, Joey is so unsanctimonious that even the publisher would not print his songs.... I was forced to write "Nice Nelly" versions for the radio. How can the modern lyric writer approach the divinity of the Psalms? He hasn't a chance." The sanitised lyrics for "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" are still performed today: instead of Hart's original "Couldn't sleep and wouldn't sleep until I could sleep where I shouldn't sleep" many vocalists sing, "Couldn't sleep and wouldn't sleep, then love came and told me I shouldn't sleep".

Now in a less priggish and less prejudiced era Hart's lyrics are all the better appreciated. A few years ago I was gratified to hear Rufus Wainwright singing unabashedly Hart's unexpurgated lyrics in his recording of "Bewitched": "I'll sing to him, each spring to him, and worship the trousers that cling to him". Perhaps the ultimate tragedy of Hart's life is that he was born in a time in which he couldn't express himself freely, and couldn't escape the pressure of prudery in his lyrics and in his personal life. "A Ship without a Sail" is worthwhile reading but far from the definitive biography blurbs claim it is. The definitive biography of Hart is yet to be written. For the time being, the best appreciation of Hart's life and achievements is Brad Leithauser's poem "Lorenz" which the book quotes:

Now and then he would drop from sight,
days at a stretch. No doubt he found his way
to drink--some suitcase full of spirits--
and, likely, to some paid romance;
he knew the poignancy of that
from both sides of the street--the dwarfish man
who wrote "Ten Cents a Dance."

I think of him, his low head low,
trundling through some dim, ratty hotel lobby.
Under his breath, he curses when
one of the great ones ("Blue Moon," say,
or "I Could Write a Book," or "I Wish
I Were in Love Again") again comes piping
over the p.a.,

at his side some sweet-faced young man--
or sweet enough--or young enough--who hails
from those spellbound Great Plains (his story
a pretty once-upon-a-time)
where silos grow instead of skyscrapers,
horizons call, and nobody has ever
heard of a triple rhyme.

This young man isn't apt to know
the melody (the elevator door
clangs shut, the huffing car ascends),
and still less, thankfully, the neatly
turned tortuous lyric. . . . Soon now, a gorgeous
silence will bloom, and the unworthy, wordless at last,
disclose himself completely. Read more ›