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    Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence
    Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence
    Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence
    Audiobook4 hours

    Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence

    Written by Lee Siegel

    Narrated by Joe Barrett

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Born Julius Marx in 1890, the brilliant comic actor who would later be known as Groucho was the most verbal of the famed comedy team, the Marx Brothers, his broad slapstick portrayals elevated by ingenious wordplay and double entendre. In his spirited biography of this beloved American iconoclast, Lee Siegel views the life of Groucho through the lens of his work on stage, screen, and television. The author uncovers the roots of the performer's outrageous intellectual acuity and hilarious insolence toward convention and authority in Groucho's early upbringing and Marx family dynamics.

    The first critical biography of Groucho Marx to approach his work analytically, this fascinating study draws unique connections between Groucho's comedy and his life, concentrating primarily on the brothers' classic films as a means of understanding and appreciating Julius the man. Unlike previous uncritical and mostly reverential biographies, Siegel's "bio-commentary" makes a distinctive contribution to the field of Groucho studies by attempting to tell the story of his life in terms of his work and vice versa.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 19, 2016
    ISBN9781515972488
    Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence
    Author

    Lee Siegel

    Lee Siegel writes about culture and politics for a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and is a recipient of the National Magazine Award. He is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and two children.

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    Reviews for Groucho Marx

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    • 2/5
      The author over analyzes everything. Sometimes a joke is just a joke and a cigar is just a cigar. I would not be surprised if the author has spent years in therapy as he appears to be a frustrated psychiatrist maybe Groucho just thought everything was fair game and was amply rewarded for his style or lack of style humor.
    • 4/5
      Although his films are rather outdated these days, Groucho Marx was genius when it came to writing comedy.This insightful biography tells of the life of a man who strove to be as good as he could in the world of comedy and films.He made it look easy, but the background work involved was phenomenal.He alsoknew when it was time to give up, which many comedians these days would do well to copy.