Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers

by Simon Louvish

Book Overview

This is the first full and properly researched biography of all five Marx Brothers--Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo. First and foremost, this is the saga of a family whose theatrical roots... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312283822
• ISBN13: 9780312283827
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 471 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Well, "Monkey Business" IS my all time fave Marx movie......

And I must say that this book of the same title is right up there too. I thought Simon Louvish did an excellent job of digging up the truth on the Marxian tales that have swirled around for many, many years. His research of the ancestral roots of Minnie and Sam "Frenchy" Marx are impeccable.....and Louvish's way of putting the "ages" of the brothers in their proper timeframe is first rate. I think he captured each brother perfectly. I was impressed at his case for giving Chico a hell of lot more credit in steering the brothers to superstardom. Chico was a go-getter, just like his mother Minnie, and I was happy to see Chico portrayed as something more than just the gambling, womanizing, loose cannon type of a guy we all know about (or thought we knew about). That's not to say Chico wasn't like that, it's just good to hear something else about him for a change (I'd kill to have the mathematical mind that guy had!). Harpo is always just the Harpo we all know (just like in "HARPO SPEAKS!") and love. He definitely marched to a beat of a different drummer (Louvish captures that perfectly), Harpo was his own man to say the least. That's a good thing. Groucho, is displayed (like usual) as cantankerous, moody and insulting (well, this IS Groucho we're talking about!). But Louvish gets into the reasons WHY Groucho was that way (let's just say insecurities MIGHT have played a small part in Groucho's disposition). For me, reading of Zeppo's burden of being so much younger and feeling he was always an afterthought is sad. To be bearing the middle name of his deceased eldest brother, you have to feel some sympathy towards the poor guy. Zep's talents lie elsewhere, as subsequent chapters explain. Louvish's use of prime Marxist dialogue is superb, and he really outdid himself in research at the Libary of Congress, finding several vintage manuscripts just lying there waiting to have their moment in print.......speaking of moments, I was really intrigued by the true story of Margaret Dumont. This woman managed to pull off the ultimate lifelong-practical joke on GROUCHO of all people. Read the book to see what I'm talking about. Everything you'd want to know about the Marxes is here, and there's so much irony in the stories, it's mind boggling. What really got me was the sad way each of their lives ended. None of them (except maybe Gummo) just went along peacefully. Chico died of arteriosclerosis, with practically nothing to show for all the glory years in the movies, Harpo had a heart attack during open-heart surgery (on his 28th wedding anniversary no less), Zeppo died of lung cancer. Groucho's surviving relatives' feud with Erin Fleming (even after Grouch was gone) was a sad closing to an amazing, but sometimes painful life. But it's the laughter that kept the brothers (and brought all of us) together. That's what this book celebrates more than anything. The genius of their comedy, their anarchistic style, they brought THEMSELVES to us, the movie goe

Terrific addition to my Marx collection!

Simon Louvish's new book has earned an honored place in my collection of Marx Brothers books and memorabilia. I have been a fan of the Marx Brothers for 25 years and have read nearly every book written by or about them. I thought I knew all there was to know and was expecting this to be nothing but a rehash of things I had read before. Instead I find that Mr. Louvish has carefully researched his subject and shares many new insights based on his research while also debunking (or at least challenging) many of the old Marxian legends. In my opinion, this book is not for the beginner in the world of the Marx Brothers. Mr. Louvish assumes that the reader already has knowledge of their films and of the many myths he works to debunk. If you are a new fan and want to learn more, start with "Groucho and Me" or "Harpo Speaks" and come back to this book later. If you are already well acquainted with the Marx Brothers, I think that you will be very pleased with Mr. Louvish's work.

The Best Book Yet on the Marx Brothers

Simon Louvish follows up his excellent biography of W. C. Fields with this ground-breaking study of the Marx Brothers. As with the Fields biography, Louvish demythologizes the story of the Marxes and gives us Marx fans a lot more information to digest and enjoy. Fans have tended to accept the early stories of Marx family life as carved in stone; Louvish shows how the real story differs and does it with loving respect rather than the harshness of a debunker. In addition to the Marxes, Louvish also takes a few sidebar trips into the lives of the not so well known supporting players, such as Margaret Dumont, whose life was draped in legend. Well researched and well written. As to the criticism of those who think his writing reflects too much of the Marx style of comedy, I can only reply that no one seemed to mind when Joe Adamson did the same thing in his landmark study on the Marx Brothers films, Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo. I think this style of writing goes with the turf, so to speak, and in any case its annoyance factor is negligible compared to the rewards of his research. Highly recommded for any serious as well as casual Marx fan.

Probably the last great book on the Marx brothers

Writing a new book about the Marx Brothers is a tough job simply because, unless someone can unearth a treasure chest full of Marx memorabilia, there is little left to be found. True, the Marx Brothers have been well documented by many past efforts, but many of these books rely heavily on folklore, old memories reminiscing, documents generated by the studio, or worse, from the mischievous minds of the Marxes themselves! Simon Louvich does a wonderful and thorough job of providing facts, rather than blindly supporting the legendary stories.For instance; The Marx Brothers always claimed that their father Frenchy was the worst tailor in New York City. The Marx history is riddled with tales of poorly-cut jackets, ill-fitting pants, angry customers and no repeat business. Louvish had the initiative to investigate this story by looking at turn-of-the-century census records of their neighbors to see their occupations. Surprize! Their neighbors were butchers, store owners, and other occupations well above the poverty line, suggesting that Frenchy could not have been so bad a tailor as to live in a decent neighborhood. Louvish's initiative has also led to the unearthing of previously lost scripts of vaudeville routines by checking with the Library of Congress for copies submitted at the beginning of the century for copyright protection. In the book there are many more examples of the very creative detective work performed by Mr Louvish.Most complaints of this book stem from the writing style Louvish chose to use for the book; He uses Marx quotes to pepper the book with a humorous, familiar tone, which seems to bother some readers. I appreciated the style, mainly because biographies can tend to be quite dry, and Marx Brother fans repeatedly use the same quotes in their shared conversations as well. This led me to take Mr Louvish for a full-scale Marx Brothers fan and the chatty tendency confirmed to me that he is a friend, interested in my favorite comedy team and speaking to me as other fans do. A very brave risk on his part, popularly misconstrued, but hit home with me.This book is the closest factual account of the Marxes that we'll probably ever see. It's well worth the journey.

A window into their madcap world

An excellent book not only for Louvish's analysis of their films but for showing how their homelife at turn of the century New York influenced their humor. The author highlights the personality differences in each brother: Groucho was penny-pinching, cynical, and yes grouchy; Unlike his cinematic woman-chasing (literally) image, Harpo was happily-married and monogamous; and Chico was an inveterate gambler and womanizer.The author does a good job of highlighting their hilarous off-screen antics; of particular value is his recounting of their cruel but always hilarious practical jokes on the stiff and dignified Margaret Dumont.