Gracie: A Love Story

Rating:
Summary: Say Goodnight, Gracie
Review: George Burns published this wonderful tribute to his wife when he was ninety-two years old, still head over heels in love with his dear Gracie, who died thirty years earlier. This book is a memoir of their personal and professional life together starting as the toast of vaudeville, continuing with their radio show for seventeen years, and later, situation comedy stars on television. Both George and Gracie started appearing on stage as children, and they teamed up in 1923, earning five dollars a week, doing four shows a day. At first, Gracie was the straight man and George said the punch lines, but they soon learned it was better the other way around. Gracie played the ditzy girlfriend and wife for thirty-five years and, as George said, he just stood next to her. He never stopped being amazed at her talent, beauty, and intelligence, and he loved her more with each passing day. The book ends with her death, from heart disease in 1958, and one is left with a lovely and intimate picture of their marriage.

Burns wrote the book as if he were talking with a dear friend, and there is a vaudeville joke in nearly every paragraph. The jokes are still funny today, and the book is a quick and very entertaining read. There is a lot of behind the scenes chatter about their famous Hollywood friends, especially Jack Benny, but it is first and foremost a tribute to Gracie and the love they shared for so many years. I heartily recommend this book, especially to those who enjoyed the Burns and Allen TV show in the fifties. It will bring back a lot of happy memories.

Rating:
Summary: Say Goodnight, Gracie
Review: George Burns published this wonderful tribute to his wife when he was ninety-two years old, still head over heels in love with his dear Gracie, who died thirty years earlier. This book is a memoir of their personal and professional life together starting as the toast of vaudeville, continuing with their radio show for seventeen years, and later, situation comedy stars on television. Both George and Gracie started appearing on stage as children, and they teamed up in 1923, earning five dollars a week, doing four shows a day. At first, Gracie was the straight man and George said the punch lines, but they soon learned it was better the other way around. Gracie played the ditzy girlfriend and wife for thirty-five years and, as George said, he just stood next to her. He never stopped being amazed at her talent, beauty, and intelligence, and he loved her more with each passing day. The book ends with her death, from heart disease in 1958, and one is left with a lovely and intimate picture of their marriage.

Burns wrote the book as if he were talking with a dear friend, and there is a vaudeville joke in nearly every paragraph. The jokes are still funny today, and the book is a quick and very entertaining read. There is a lot of behind the scenes chatter about their famous Hollywood friends, especially Jack Benny, but it is first and foremost a tribute to Gracie and the love they shared for so many years. I heartily recommend this book, especially to those who enjoyed the Burns and Allen TV show in the fifties. It will bring back a lot of happy memories.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read romp through history
Review: George Burns writes an easy, fun book about the Burns and Allen comedy team. It's apparent from his writing that he never would have made it in vaudeville--and perhaps as an actor--without Gracie. I finished the book feeling that Burns's love for his wife was because she made them a success and kept him employed. He wrote mostly about the "professional" Gracie, not the personal Gracie. But he also wrote that she was a private person, so that may have been his intent.

With that in mind, it was a delightful book full of opportunities to chuckle. I enjoyed reading about vaudeville, the introduction of radio and then of TV, and how they had to move with the times and change their act. I learned about different actors with whom they were close. And I can't help but be impressed with Burns. Though his wife was the one who received the lion's share of acclaim, it never bothered him. He enjoyed giving her all the credit for their success. He was doing the work he loved--comedy--and he loved her.

His devotion to and admiration for his wife's talent is evident. What is his advice for having a long, happy, satisfying marriage? Marry Gracie.

Rating:
Summary: His funny valentine
Review: I first read this book immediately after it was published, and its content has remained vivid in my memory ever since then. George Burns had written a valentine to his much-loved late wife, Gracie Allen. Because their medium was humor, and because they targeted an audience that was mainstream, it always was easy to miss that the basis of their act really was a classic love story. This touching book makes that point clearly.

Last night, I attended the Broadway play in which Frank Gorshin recreates a retrospective of George Burns' career. On the way to the theatre, I told my companion all about this memoir. Well, the playwright must have relied heavily on this same memoir in crafting his script, because many of the anecdotes I recounted also turned up as part of the performance. What a tribute to George's storytelling skills that my memory of this book had remained so fresh after all of these years.

In addition to being a memoir, GRACIE: A LOVE STORY also proves to be an excellent social history of the evolution of the entertainment industry during the 20th Century. From vaudeville to "talkies," talkies to radio and on to television and feature films, in the course of reporting his own journey, George provides an eyewitness account. In the process, George makes his readers laugh, and he makes them weep.

Ultimately, however, this book about GRACIE truly is...a love story!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Love Story
Review: I just finished reading this for about the 3rd time or so, each time coming away with a different perspective. George's lifetime devotion to Gracie is very moving and you can't help but smile when you think of the 2 of them up there making everyone laugh. I recently picked the book up again at an infamous bargain book store, my original copy I'd lent out years ago & it was never returned. One of the best showbiz books in print, and one of the funniest books you'll ever read. There'll never be anyone like George & Gracie, not in this lifetime. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Love Story
Review: I just finished reading this for about the 3rd time or so, each time coming away with a different perspective. George's lifetime devotion to Gracie is very moving and you can't help but smile when you think of the 2 of them up there making everyone laugh. I recently picked the book up again at an infamous bargain book store, my original copy I'd lent out years ago & it was never returned. One of the best showbiz books in print, and one of the funniest books you'll ever read. There'll never be anyone like George & Gracie, not in this lifetime. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Say "Thanks to Gracie". Thanks to Gracie!
Review: Rarely do I ever laugh out loud while reading - Geogrge made me.
Rarely do I ever get teary eyed while reading - George made me.

I've always enjoyed the work of Burns & Allen and always planned on reading this book - when I finally did I was gald that I did. I don't need to get into the historical account of thier carrer or what a wonderful, natural talent Gracie was - I'll leave that to George. But George's "comic valentine" to/about Gracie is a wonderful, heartwarming read. You can hear George reading the words to you (actually you really can if you have the audiocasette version - I'm puffing on my cigar) with his dry wit and great delivery.

If you admire Gracie or George you'll enjoy this read.
Next up.... ALL MY BEST FREINDS by George.

Rating:
Summary: Say "Thanks to Gracie". Thanks to Gracie!
Review: Rarely do I ever laugh out loud while reading - Geogrge made me.
Rarely do I ever get teary eyed while reading - George made me.

I've always enjoyed the work of Burns & Allen and always planned on reading this book - when I finally did I was gald that I did. I don't need to get into the historical account of thier carrer or what a wonderful, natural talent Gracie was - I'll leave that to George. But George's "comic valentine" to/about Gracie is a wonderful, heartwarming read. You can hear George reading the words to you (actually you really can if you have the audiocasette version - I'm puffing on my cigar) with his dry wit and great delivery.

If you admire Gracie or George you'll enjoy this read.
Next up.... ALL MY BEST FREINDS by George.

Rating:
Summary: "Alternate take" of book: same topic but different delivery
Review: The audio version of "Gracie" is unlike most audiobooks in that it isn't a literal recording of the text. Rather than simply reading his book, George Burns relates the same material as anecdotes. The result is funny and charming, and Burns's spontaneity lends the book unusual intimacy: George is talking privately to YOU. There are occasional time-outs for Burns & Allen performing their radio routines. Two mild drawbacks: Burns-on-tape doesn't tell the same stories with as much depth as Burns-in-print, and the tape editor has seen fit to interrupt Burns with occasional musical effects. But the subject overcomes the presentation, and if you've read "Gracie," you'll still want Burns's "alternate take" of the story.

Rating:
Summary: "Alternate take" of book: same topic but different delivery
Review: The audio version of "Gracie" is unlike most audiobooks in that it isn't a literal recording of the text. Rather than simply reading his book, George Burns relates the same material as anecdotes. The result is funny and charming, and Burns's spontaneity lends the book unusual intimacy: George is talking privately to YOU. There are occasional time-outs for Burns & Allen performing their radio routines. Two mild drawbacks: Burns-on-tape doesn't tell the same stories with as much depth as Burns-in-print, and the tape editor has seen fit to interrupt Burns with occasional musical effects. But the subject overcomes the presentation, and if you've read "Gracie," you'll still want Burns's "alternate take" of the story.