The Abbott & Costello Story: Sixty Years of "Who's on First?" (Paperback)

by Stephen Cox (Author), John Lofflin (Author) "The fat little man has just seen Frankenstein's monster lift the lid on a packing crate in an empty warehouse at midnight..." (more)
Key Phrases: bond tour, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Costello Story (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 305 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing; 2nd edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188895261X
• ISBN-13: 978-1888952612
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #721,562 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BOOK to read and own on Abbott & Costello!!!, November 25, 2001

By	Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read a lot of (good, medium and bad) books on Abbottt and Costello -- and this is the BEST e-v-e-r.

If you're just discovering Abbott and Costello (and a major movie is reportedly in the works so you will hear more about them) you'll discover in these lively, profusely illustrated pages why the team greatly inspired Jerry Seinfeld and others. If you're into comedy and want to learn about their techniques and routines, you'll get plenty of helpful analysis plus some superb transcripts of some of their most famous, classic routines. If you're a Baby Boomer and want to read THE ULTIMATE book to take you down a nostalgic path to your beloved childhood stars, this is all you need. Why? A few reasons:

1. It's filled with tons of bio material about their careers, long lively quotes, a complete listing of their movies, tv and other appearances.

2. It is not a fanzine book. It looks at the two, warts and all, dispells a few of the myths that grew up due to bad reporting and, in one case, apparently, a highly inaccurate Hollywood movie about them done nearly 30 years ago.

3. It traces their whole careers, their triumphs, the sad loss of Costello's drowned son (how he went on the radio nonetheless with his show), their split up, Costello going solo, his tragic untimetly death, Abbott's attempt to stay in show biz, Abbott's tax problems and final years.

4. It has the BEST interviews from people who worked with them and knew them.

5. It has the BEST photos, illustrations - even a full color section that is not available in any other book on them. We don't usually think about this team in color, even though they made two color flicks.

6. Its the BEST COLLECTION of info and the most UP TO DATE. This is basically a comprehensive rewrite (LOTS of new stuff) and expansion of an earlier book on them under a different title. I have both books now and will not part with either.

The biggest compliment of a show biz bio book is that you read it and you immediately want to re-examine the artists' work. You truly won't want to put this book down if you're a comedy fan, just discovering this team, or remember them. Save your money on the other books -- get, read and/or gift this. I'm an entertainer and I collect show biz bios...NO OTHER BOOK ON THIS COMEDY TEAM COMES CLOSE.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who's on first?, October 26, 2006

By	Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

First published in 1990 as THE OFFICIAL ABBOTT & COSTELLO SCRAPBOOK, this 1997 release of THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO STORY by Stephen Cox and John Lofflin is an affectionate and nostalgic journey through the career of these two comedians. It's everything the Abbott and Costello fan would want to know, and then some.

A majority of the book's thirteen chapters comprise a narrative history of the team's progression through burlesque, radio, film, television, and animation. Additionally, there's one chapter summarizing each of their 36 films (production facts, cast members, plot, and sidelights), plus the one film that Costello did solo, from 1940 to 1959, and one chapter summarizing each of the 52 installments (cast and plot) of their TV show , which aired in 1952-53. Finally, and perhaps over the top for the reader satisfied with less rather than more, there's a chapter of one-paragraph program synopses for the 156 Abbott & Costello cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the late 60s, by which time Lou was dead, though Bud, by then in declining health, managed to provide the voice for his character.

THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO STORY includes lots of sidebar stories, the most significant of which is perhaps daughter Chris Costello's defense of her father as he was depicted in the 1978 NBC-TV docudrama "Bud and Lou", a production she loathes to this day.

Cox and Lofflin manage not to be too slavish in their admiration of the pair. The authors don't hesitate to remind the reader of A&C's addiction to gambling, in which they lost vast sums at cards, Bud's alcoholism and cavalier attention to U.S. tax law, and Lou's borderline sadistic sense of humor when it came to playing on-set pranks on an old pal, Bobby Barber, whom Costello apparently hired for just that purpose. The most amusing negative aside is one noted as coming from character actress Mary Wickes, who appeared in two A&C films ("Who Done It?" and "Dance with Me, Henry"), and who said:

"I didn't care for them. But that's alright. They just had no taste. They were coarse."

THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO STORY is loaded with photos, which might make it a coffee-table book except that, in its paperback format, it wouldn't likely serve as such in a Martha Stewart home. On the other hand, because of its awkward size - 10" x 8" x 3/4" - it doesn't fit easily on a bookshelf nor is it amenable for inclusion in carry-on luggage for reading on a plane. Perhaps the best way to approach it is to leave it at the bedside, enjoy it immensely at your leisure, then pass it on to a friend when finished.

22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Abbott and Costello story is a rerun, May 25, 2000

By A Customer

Abbott and Costello fans be warned: this book shamelessly recylces and abridges material from earlier books, including Jim Mulholland's "Abbott and Costello Book" (1975) and Furmanek and Palumbo's "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood" (1991) in an offhand attempt to cover all of Bud and Lou's work. As a result, it covers nothing well. Other detriments: no index; numerous errors; the corny "theme of baseball" approach; a gushy, juvenile writing style suitable for nine-year-olds. Pick up either of the other books, which are vastly superior.