Ghost Light : A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: BUTCHER OF BROADWAY BUTCHERS MEMOIR
Review: I didn't read the jacket liner, so I was unaware that GHOST LIGHT is termed a 'boyhood memoir.' By page seventyfive, my disbelief that any writer with such a plodding, factual style could earn a living, was being displaced by anger and disgust at the juvenile subject matter. Vivid accounts of how Gwen Verdon's bare shoulders as Lola helped Rich remedy his insomnia after his parents' then uncommon divorce are mixed with boorish tales of his step-father who swears, farts, and beats his children. Does the Butcher of Broadway honestly believe anyone is interested in reading a copy of a letter a nine-year-old wrote to mommy while she was on a two-week vacation? Does he think we care he used a new fountain pen with blue/black ink? That he had a runny nose? THIS MAN HAD POWER. THIS IS NOT THE STORY I WANTED TO HEAR. That Rich cares deeply about the theater is apparent. Because Arthur Laurents, in his new autobiography ORIGINAL STORY BY....(a truly fabulous, pertinent, inside-Broadway story) liked the guy when Rich interviewed him, I read GHOST LIGHT to the end. It got no better and remained a pastiche of childish memories and 'firsts.' The first time Rich saw FIDDLER. The first time he attended the theater alone. The first breast fondled. Such a book should remain a private account of youth long past and not touted out for public consumption. It crosses my mind that Frank Rich might just be a nice guy and not the supreme egoist I imagine, but that doesn't make his first memoir any more relevant, interesting or palatable.

Rating:
Summary: BUTCHER OF BROADWAY BUTCHERS MEMOIR
Review: I didn't read the jacket liner, so I was unaware that GHOST LIGHT is termed a 'boyhood memoir.' By page seventyfive, my disbelief that any writer with such a plodding, factual style could earn a living, was being displaced by anger and disgust at the juvenile subject matter. Vivid accounts of how Gwen Verdon's bare shoulders as Lola helped Rich remedy his insomnia after his parents' then uncommon divorce are mixed with boorish tales of his step-father who swears, farts, and beats his children. Does the Butcher of Broadway honestly believe anyone is interested in reading a copy of a letter a nine-year-old wrote to mommy while she was on a two-week vacation? Does he think we care he used a new fountain pen with blue/black ink? That he had a runny nose? THIS MAN HAD POWER. THIS IS NOT THE STORY I WANTED TO HEAR. That Rich cares deeply about the theater is apparent. Because Arthur Laurents, in his new autobiography ORIGINAL STORY BY....(a truly fabulous, pertinent, inside-Broadway story) liked the guy when Rich interviewed him, I read GHOST LIGHT to the end. It got no better and remained a pastiche of childish memories and 'firsts.' The first time Rich saw FIDDLER. The first time he attended the theater alone. The first breast fondled. Such a book should remain a private account of youth long past and not touted out for public consumption. It crosses my mind that Frank Rich might just be a nice guy and not the supreme egoist I imagine, but that doesn't make his first memoir any more relevant, interesting or palatable.

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly engrossing memoir
Review: I heard this book on audio tape in my car and found myself longing to go to work or do an errand so that I could get to the next chapter of Frank Rich's fabulous memoir.He remembered so many details of his life and presented them in such a candid way, that he endeared himelf to me. We listen to his feelings intenetly because he doesn't hide a thing. His joys and fears are all there and we experience them with him. I felt like I really got to watch him grow up, and I could feel his passion for the theatre grow along the way. I greatly identified with Mr. Rich because I also came from a divorced family with a very difficult stepfather. My only regret with this book is that it ended! I can't wait for the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: yawn.
Review: I used to live in Washington, DC so this book held some intrigue for me. But because I did not grow up in the 1950s, but rather in a time when divorced parents could be found anywhere, I was not that into this memoir about a boy from a broken home who loved the theater. Perhaps that's because I just finished a really great memoir (The War At Home by Nora Eisenberg) about something similar where the girl and boy have to help each other survive because the parents were so violent .... this seemed like the watered-down version of that. I know it's a memoir, so I don't like critiquing it, but I found it to be just boring and could not get through it.

Rating:
Summary: That's Entertainment
Review: Perhaps being a fan of the author's insightful op-ed pieces add lustre to this straightforward memoir, but as someone who does not normally read autobiographies I was amazed at how engrossed I was in "Ghost Light." It certainly helps to share the context of generational cues, a love of 50's musicals, and having read "Act One" as breathlessly as Rich did, way back when. Okay, almost as breathlessly.

Rating:
Summary: Frank Rich graces the theatre world once again.
Review: This is a must read for any ACTOR. The normal audience member will not enjoy the many humourous and quirky things that only an actor can understand. Actors of all backgrounds and levels will enjoy the insight that Frank afforded the theatre community. Yes, it can ramble, but like any review in the NY Times, read what you want to. Buy it, read it, and become a better actor.

Rating:
Summary: A theater memoir for theater lovers
Review: This marvelous childhood memoir paints a loving and lush picture of the role that theater played in the childhood and adolescence of America's pre-eminent theater critic. The story is deeply personal and, simultaneously accessible. A wonderful book for those who love the theater.