Groucho : The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx (Vintage)by Stefan Kanfer
Review by: ilaxi
Honestly speaking, I have not read Groucho Marx nor I will! mj picked up this one at an airport and he speaks of the book - On Your Marx
He quips, Groucho Marx is not yet forgotten. He can be found in the back shelves of the modern generation’s favourite intellectual haunt, the DVD library. Julius, using the screen-stage name of Groucho (picked up from a cartoon-spoof on Sherlock Holmes called Sherlocko, the Monk), along with three brothers Chico, Harpo and Gummo, lifted popular comedy from vaudeville and placed it among the classics without losing the ravenous insanity of slapstick. The knockabout was not physical. It was intelligent gymnastics that never made the mistake of becoming intellectual.
As far as I know, Groucho Marx was a depressive clown who mastered the worlds of vaudeville, theater, movies, radio, and television, yet he remained a moody, morose, unfulfilled man. Plagued by nagging financial insecurities, partly realized literary ambitions, and difficult, unsatisfying relations with his wives, lovers, and daughters. He never really had a childhood. This book has been recommended for large public and academic libraries.
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