Memoirs of an Amnesiac by Oscar Levant Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Memoirs of an Amnesiac
Book Review: The memoirs of an amnesiac, the year 2000
Summary: 5 Stars
oscar levant is a tragic figure; however, he gives the world-----suffering from its own mental illness-----a "hell" of a lot of hope. he was the player of the :"time" in respect to gershwin's music. his recording of Rhapsody in Blue was a best seller for 10 years. levant was a true music genius; i ,feel, the same could be said for his writing of music, not just the playing of music. he, likewise, could write "words" via his own books, with as much power as his music creations. the greatest "thing" of all was his ability to conquer "depression." i know, myself, how tough it is, because i lost 10 years of my life to the same thing he suffered for most of his life on again and off again. depression, now today, can finally be treated with medicine to restore the "chemical" inbalance which causes the "major" or "severe" depression to give up its hold on a person. besides all of his "wit" in writing, on the t.v. with jack paar, acting in american in paris,etc.-----i think he should be remembered, also, post-humously, for his gallant, personal "fight" to destroy the evils of mental illness, specifically: "depression." a movie of his life should be a project for some director to show the horrors of "deep" depression to much of the world, who to this day do not really understand "it." maybe a movie has been made; i am currently unaware of "one." i would love to play the lead "role" because, of my personal experiences with depression. i would not have to "act" the part; also, my father-----who suffered from depression, was named, strangely enough, "oscar." now would not that be poetic justice; oscar's son playing "oscar." i have read this book(his best, i belive) over 10 times; i can always come back to it when i need to have a great laugh: total recoil-----best chapter in all of book to make you laugh. people you do not have to believe me-----just go buy the book and/or check it out of library, and "go" for it. read it. i hope to run into levant in the "here," after; and listen to his great stories in "person" for the first time, if you get my "drift." till then, i will just have to "wait." but, then, there are probably others, also "waiting," like me.....Book Review: What happened after Marilyn Monroe became Kosher?
Summary: 5 Stars
My son had to explain (to my wife) the joke behind the title. An amnesiac can't remember and a memoir is a written record of memories. Hence, a contradiction, but still a great title and an emblematic preview of what's to come when you read this book. And you do want to read this book because Oscar Levant is unique, funny, honest, interesting, and weird. He is the kind of person that you want to read about because he seemed to know everyone who was anyone in American music or in American film and of course he has the inside scoop on those people including Harpo Marx, Louis Mayer, Irving Berlin, Fanny Brice, Aaron Copland, Arnold Schoenberg, Dorothy Parker, Paul Whiteman, Judy Garland, Arturo Toscanini, and Harry Truman. Oscar Levant, as SN Behrman said, is the kind of person that if he had not existed, could not be imagined. Yes, he's that bad. Because he is brutally honest about his life, his loves, his obsessions and compulsions, his drug addictions and his music and friends, we have here a real-life true quill biography that takes no prisoners and lacks the usual apology or gloss or pastiche so common these days. Brutal honesty - that's the ticket. Oscar has to tap eight times to get water from the faucet. He has to tap eight times to shut the water off. He needs to name each street his limo passes and if he misses the name, his driver has to circle back to get the name. He will throw away a pack of cigarettes if someone talks while he is opening the pack. His wife, June, (her title should be Saint June) who picked up the pieces after each nervous breakdown, still must have a separate waste paper pail in each room so that she doesn't contaminate the waste paper in his pail. When Oscar had his heart attack, he had to go through all his night time rituals before he could get into bed for the doctor to check him. In short - a real nut case. And yet, and yet, a world-class pianist, composer, television and film personality who led a life well lived. You wouldn't want him in your home for dinner unless, of course, he kept his mouth shut and just played his marvelous interpretations of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which, incidentally, I am listening to right now. Ah, genius, - it has its problems and it has its pleasures.Book Review: a must re-read
Summary: 5 Stars
Luckily found this among my mother's books, the title caught my eye. When asked about it, my mother laughed softly. I thought, if it can make her laugh it must be funny; well it's the best humor, and I turned to a page and busted out laughing. It's more than that. I read the one I bought from time to time, and there is always a point of feeling I'm in the belly of a beast. Such integrity I'd never known, and never felt I could fit in this world 'til reading "Memoirs of an Amnesiac".
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