Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx, Rowland Barber Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Harpo Speaks!
Book Review: Even better than I'd hoped
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd heard about this book for years, & finally broke down & ordered it. I'd always been a Marx Brothers fan, & Harpo was my favorite. It was great to know the details behend the scenes, and the background of all the brothers growing up poor on the streets of New York. Harpo was a kind, funny and intelligent man who had an amazing life, was adored by many famous friends, loved his wife and children, and left a legacy of incredible comedy classics. I'd highly recommend this book.Book Review: Excellent autobiography
Summary: 5 Stars
Harpo Speaks...A LOT. All about the Algonquin Round Table and his other relationships, his kids, his music and his travels, but not so much about the Marx Brothers.
Lots of interesting little stories.
I think "Woolley" had the hots for Harpo.
Book Review: Extraordinary events touching the life of an ordinary man.
Summary: 5 Stars
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but it was the cover that caught my eye in the library fifteen years ago. I was in high school and looking for light, entertaining reading. I was not a big Marx Brothers fan, yet I was compelled by this very recognizable picture on the dust jacket. I did not expect to be so moved, as I now see how others were, by his words. I, also, could not put it down and felt sad as I neared the end. During college as part of team training, the age old question was posed = "If you were on a deserted island, what three books would you want with you?" Without hesitating, I answered, "Harpo Speaks" and proceeded to explain why, listing all the reasons which are posted in these reviews. Everyone looked at me with puzzlement yet I was happy to share this bit of information. I have since read it four times and have enthusiastically loaned it out to several other people. I was thrilled to find thes! e reviews and discover that there are others who understand why I would read it over and over (and don't even have to be on a deserted island to do it!)Book Review: Fascinating look at social life of vaudville stars
Summary: 5 Stars
The book is an interesting window into what Harpo loved. Harpo went through much of his young life with no real close friends, and then he found them, among the fellow stars of Vaudeville, the members of the hollywood crowd. Much of the book is about the antics and parties that he attended, but you never really feel like he felt in, it was almost like he was on the outside looking in. A very heartfelt, good book, especially if you have an interest in the subject. Harpo doesn't play you like a crowd, he tells you how it is.Book Review: Five stars aren't enough! The book deserves a galaxy of them
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply the most heartwarming book you'll ever read. Before I read it, I thought Harpo Marx was the funniest man on film. I still think so, but now I know he was much more: he was one of the most gallant, courageous, unpretentious & delightful men who ever lived. This books tells how: he suffered childhood poverty & learned from it the joy of simple pleasures; he suffered anti-Semitism & learned from it generosity of spirit; he suffered a lack of commanding physical & vocal presence & learned from it the gift of bringing laughter to millions through the art of mime. This book shows you what it was like to be really poor - poor enough to quit school without finishing the second grade; poor enough to start work at the age of 11 for the pay of 1 dried prune an hour; poor enough to have the entire stock of sports accessories for the whole family consist of a solitary secondhand ice skate. But the one thing you WON'T learn from this book is how to be sorry for yourself. Harpo never managed that in his life. He has only love & admiration for the parents who battled to raise him & his brothers in such adversity. The one great thing he learned from his father, he says, was 'the futility of anger'. It's a lesson he put to good use in his life. Certainly there isn't an angry word in this book. Harpo's friends in adult life were brilliant but often eccentric, even bizarre, yet his large tolerance looks past their sometimes demanding exterior & finds the warmth & humanity beneath. His tales of Hollywood celebrities are hilarious but never malicious. The only person Harpo has a truly bad word for is Hitler: in everyone else, he manages to find some hidden virtue that renders them forgivable. Harpo is the best friend we always wanted but could never quite find. If I could only take three books with me to a desert island, HARPO SPEAKS! would be two of them.