Mario Lanza: Tenor in Exile

Rating:
Summary: A ripping good read.
Review: Authorative, well-written and nicely packaged, it is a book for Lanza and non-Lanza fans to enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Researched and Well Written
Review: Having been a Lanza fan since age 15, when I first heard his recording of Be My Love and that unbelievable high C, I found this book very well written and researched. I was fascinated by the details presented in every chapter. Lanza had one of the finest natural voices of the century, butlost his career and eventually his life due to his alcoholism. Even on the set of The Great Caruso he had alcohol on his breath. The book tells about his emotional outbursts, erratic behavior, always blaming others, long drunken binges, excessive eating and womanizing...all classic behavior of an out of control alcoholic.The sad fact is, if the studio or his loved ones had insisted on getting him into treatment and eventually AA, he would probably still be alive at78 and who knows what a fabulous career he would have had. Unfortunately making money, the studio, and his friends seemed confused about his behaviorwhich is obvious to anyone aware of the destruction caused by chemical dependency. His wive was of no help since she suffered from the same disease. The only fault I found with the bookwas that Roland Bessett, in the final chapter, stated that Mario's problem was bipolar disease causing him to self-medicate with alcohol. Inreality, it was the other way around with his alcoholism causing the depression and out of control behavior. Other that that, it was a most enjoyable book with great pictures.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly researched, incomplete and inaccurate
Review: Having just read this so called biography, I am amazed at some of the comments from readers and reviewers alike. "Well researched"?"Well documented"? "Balanced"? The book is full of errors!There are blatant mistakes and distortions on virtually every page! E.G.Page 15: Filignano is in the Molise region not Abruzzi. Page 37: The RCA contract was signed in February 1945 not October 1944. Page 47: The apartment was not rent free. Lanza paid $75 per month for it.Page 219: Lanza and Di Stefano never met. I know Di Stefano. They only spoke twice on the telephone.Need I go on? I have spent a lifetime researching the life and career of Lanza (the last 20 years working on a biography.)I cannot believe that Amadeus actually published this almost completely inaccurate book. As for Mr. Bessette, I don't know his motives for attempting this futile exercise, but the mere fact that he relied on Al Teitelbaum as his main source of information says it all.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly researched, incomplete and inaccurate
Review: Having just read this so called biography, I am amazed at some of the comments from readers and reviewers alike. "Well researched"?"Well documented"? "Balanced"? The book is full of errors!There are blatant mistakes and distortions on virtually every page! E.G.Page 15: Filignano is in the Molise region not Abruzzi. Page 37: The RCA contract was signed in February 1945 not October 1944. Page 47: The apartment was not rent free. Lanza paid $75 per month for it.Page 219: Lanza and Di Stefano never met. I know Di Stefano. They only spoke twice on the telephone.Need I go on? I have spent a lifetime researching the life and career of Lanza (the last 20 years working on a biography.)I cannot believe that Amadeus actually published this almost completely inaccurate book. As for Mr. Bessette, I don't know his motives for attempting this futile exercise, but the mere fact that he relied on Al Teitelbaum as his main source of information says it all.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting: a great read even if you do not like Lanza.
Review: I could not put this book down. It is smoothly written, well researched and brilliant in its perspective. A great telling of an interesting but uneven life.

Rating:
Summary: A load of rubbish
Review: I don't know why time was wasted in printing this book, the content is nothing that has not been addressed before and most of it is not what fans or those interested in this great mans artistry want to read about, instead of printing unsubstantiated innuendo I would rather read about his talent, this is nothing short of a slur on a great man. This book was touted to be the definitive biography of Mario Lanza, instead it turns out to be nothing but el cheapo magazine stuff.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Mario--Sympathetically Portrayed
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I thought it was well-researched and well-written. To me it seemed that Bessette was a big fan who loved Mario and his music, and wanted to find out the true story behind the myth and secrecy which has always surrounded this great tenor. Since I grew up listeneing to such beautiful songs as "Be My Love" and "The Loveliest Night of the Year" (my sister was a particularly devoted fan), I found it interesting to see what really went on behind the scenes. Yes, Mario was a man of huge appetites and outrageous behavior, often out of his control, but I appreciated Bessette's sympathetic view--that had he lived today, a much more enlightened era about mental illness and drug addition--he most likely would have received the help he needed.

Rating:
Summary: Portrait of a Legend
Review: I have admired the voice of the great tenor Mario Lanza for as long as I can remember. I can recall my mother playing his music growing up and the voice stuck with me.
Over the course of many years I became more and more intrigued about the man behind the voice and decided to purchase this book as my "official" introduction to the Lanza legend.

I'd already gathered some of the basic facts about Lanza's life such as his career highlights and his untimely demise by ways of the various liner notes accompanying the CD releases but I had no idea of the scope and complexity of the tenor's personal life.

This book has been heavily critizised as an attempt to discredit a legend but I didn't get that. If anything, this book shows Lanza's very personal and often times darker sides in very vivid and often graphic detail.
I admit that while very entertaining, the book often crosses the line from factual to sensationalistic, which is why I didn't give it a 5 star rating. A little too much "E! Entertainment News" type writting....almost like a TV report covering the latest scandal...slightly over the top at times.

In comparison to the latest release of Lanza biographies, I'd say that this book by and far offeres the reader the most comprehensive insight into Lanza's personality.
It is an honest, stark, moving and often compelling look at a very human side of a complex and troubled man.

Overall I would rate this book as by and far the best and most informative Lanza biography to date.

Rating:
Summary: A devilish man with an angelic voice
Review: I have been a Mario Lanza fan for a few years, since I married my husband, who's family grew up in South Philadelphia. Being a singer myself, I was stunned at his fabulous voice and bought every recording I could get my hands on. The only thing my in laws told me about him was that he ate himself to death at a young age. When I read this book, I was shocked to find out how horrible this man really was. I have not read any of the other biographies of his life. This one told me more than I wanted to know. The author tells his story honestly, not trying to hide the facts or condone them. He tells of his parents who spoiled him rotten, of his womanizing beginning from his teenage years, his blown-up ego, his defiance of any authority, his unwillingness to train his voice, and of course, his erratic violent behavior. It makes sense that he was a manic depressive person and had bi-polar problems. I know of people with this problem, but I still think he is responsible for his own actions. After reading his book, I think all Mario had was his voice. He was a bum who never worked a day in his life. Thanks to his parents' coddling, he didn't have any morals whatsoever. The author made me feel sorry for the wife, who seemed like a well balanced lady that had to deal with this man's crazy life. I'd drink and take drugs too if I had a husband like that. I enjoyed the photos a lot. I only saw one picture that he looked really fat in. The rest of them were very handsome photos. The book was a little longer than I thought it would be. His life seemed to keep following the same pattern over and over. After a while of reading it, I didn't think I could take it anymore. It was so tragic. I did finish the book, hopeing the author would have some happy ending(like he repented on his death bed, or something). I have concluded that if he had a disciplined upbringing, and knew the value of working hard for an honest day's wage, got some help for his drunken behavior and eating binges, he probably would have had a better, longer life. Working for MGM is no picnic either. Those people can make anyone nuts the way they treat their actors. As a result of reading this book, I am sorry to say that I am no longer a Mario Lanza fan. I was going to sing,"I'll walk with God" someday, but knowing the man behind that song, it is obvious he had no respect for God at all. I don't think I could ever sing any of his songs now. I have thrown out all his recordings I had bought. It kind of ruined it for me to find out that he learned songs only by listening to Caruso recordings. He was a great copycatter, but couldn't sightread a piece of music and sing with an orchestra. I have told my mother in law about this book, and now she is going out to get it. For whatever it's worth, I am glad this book showed the truth, but I wished it wasn't true.

Rating:
Summary: Appears he used information from other books!
Review: I have read every book out on Lanza. This book, although has different pictures in it, nonetheless is a carbon copy of all the others, with nothing new added, except some alleged isolated, unprovable stories. I suppose one could ask how and from whom after 40 years since Mario died, did he get this 'new' information, when other authors who were very close to Mario and would have had this information, never knew about it. My opinion is that this book has absolutely nothing new added to it. My concern is only that this book defames not only Mario Lanza, but his family as well, which is not appreciated by Mario's following and should be questioned in any interviews that he may have. After all, he never knew any of the family nor did he ever meet mario Lanza.