Raised on Radio

Rating:
Summary: Condescendingly written, several errors
Review: Although Gerald Nachmann presents a good overview of the golden age of radio, the book is riddled with errors, a clear indication of faulty research.

For instance, he indicates that Mary Jane Croft portrayed the Southern belle, Leila Ransom on the Great Gildersleeve show, when in fact the character was played by Shirley Mitchell. Nachmann also states that Harold Peary portrayed George Gildersleeve who owned a girdle factory on the Fibber McGee and Molly program. Harold Peary did portray a wide array of stooge characters on the show, many of whom shared the Gildersleeve name. However, it was Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve who owned the girdle works, not George.

For the beginner the book provides a good introduction to old time radio, but beware of quoting the the many errors as facts.

Rating:
Summary: I was transported back to those thrilling days of yesteryear
Review: I laughed out load during many passages of this exceedingly well written book about the "good old days of radio." It's a balanced mixture of behind the scenes info, warm rememberances and hilarious author comments on the glory days of radio. Chapters are divided by types of shows. There's even a chapter on sound effects. I wished it could have been twice as long.

Rating:
Summary: Relive the days when radio was king...
Review: I really love this book... Its a great read... neither overly scholarly (as in Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...) nor overly wishy washy like some titles that might come to mind. Its just one of those books you can sit back, read and enjoy. In the process you'll get a great overview of the rise and fall of radio... you'll meet the stars and the personality in front of and behind the mic, from the actors and executives, right down to the writers and sound effects men. - - I'm not sure if one could call it definitive... but for sure whether its definitive or not, it tells the story well and is re-readable as many of those classic radio shows are still relistenable. - - All in all, if you're a die hard "OTR" buff and want to know who played so and so in episode 154 of a certain radio show, its original airdate, and when it re-aired... the book probably isn't for you... - - If, however, to hear the story of radio as a whole, relive this golden age, and experience it not only from the perspective of the people who made it, and the generation that grew up on it this is one must have piece of literature - - (...to boot, almost all of my favorite radio shows were covered... atleast in brief !)

Rating:
Summary: Lovely valentine, but correct the errors for the paperback!
Review: Nachman's writing benefits from the punchiness of his journalistic training; this book is a pleasantly affectionate tribute to a marvelous era. It does suffer from his personal lack of interest in certain genres -- the adventure serials and soap operas meant as much to many as the sitcoms did to him as a showbiz reviewer, but he whizzes through them with a chuckle as if they were all undiffrentiable. But the main thing: Mr. Nachman, please correct the myriad errors for future editions! Too many people will be reading this book for so many dates and names to be so far off. Jack Benny's show premiered in 1932, not 1934; Harold Peary's second show was called HONEST HAROLD, not THE HAROLD PEARY SHOW; Joan Davis' TV sitcom was called I MARRIED JOAN, not THE JOAN DAVIS SHOW; the TV version of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND was not superseded by I LOVE LUCY but premiered two years after it; THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE's Leila Ransom was played by Shirley Mitchell; not only Ethel Waters but Louise Beavers played BEULAH on TV, and Dooley Wilson was only one of three of her Bills; etc., etc. It's almost impossible for little things like this not to pop up in a manuscript occasionally, but in some sections of this book there is something like this every few pages, and the correct information is widely available in other books of long standing. Without these gaffes this would be a fine piece of work deserving of many reprintings.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely valentine, but correct the errors for the paperback!
Review: Nachman's writing benefits from the punchiness of his journalistic training; this book is a pleasantly affectionate tribute to a marvelous era. It does suffer from his personal lack of interest in certain genres -- the adventure serials and soap operas meant as much to many as the sitcoms did to him as a showbiz reviewer, but he whizzes through them with a chuckle as if they were all undiffrentiable. But the main thing: Mr. Nachman, please correct the myriad errors for future editions! Too many people will be reading this book for so many dates and names to be so far off. Jack Benny's show premiered in 1932, not 1934; Harold Peary's second show was called HONEST HAROLD, not THE HAROLD PEARY SHOW; Joan Davis' TV sitcom was called I MARRIED JOAN, not THE JOAN DAVIS SHOW; the TV version of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND was not superseded by I LOVE LUCY but premiered two years after it; THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE's Leila Ransom was played by Shirley Mitchell; not only Ethel Waters but Louise Beavers played BEULAH on TV, and Dooley Wilson was only one of three of her Bills; etc., etc. It's almost impossible for little things like this not to pop up in a manuscript occasionally, but in some sections of this book there is something like this every few pages, and the correct information is widely available in other books of long standing. Without these gaffes this would be a fine piece of work deserving of many reprintings.

Rating:
Summary: Episodic and discontinuous
Review: There's disappointingly little narrative or historical continuity to tie together the anecdotes that make up "Raised on Radio". If you have a room in your house where you read for only five minutes a day, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a real history (or even a continuous memoire) of an important cultural phenomenon, look elsewhere. On a story-by-story basis, it's often a delight, but it's flawed by those errors cited by others and by an amazing editing gaff in which Adlai Stevenson is cited as a 1960 presidential candidate.

Rating:
Summary: Great Radio Book
Review: This book is an excellent overview of the world of radio. Unlike other books which tend to concentrate on only one genre (comedy, superheroes) or one type of show (Jack Benny, Fibber McGee, etc) this book covers them all. It also isn't written for the octogenarian that happens to remember when Ma Perkins was on the air. It is written as to compare it with contemporary times and people. It dares to compare Fred Allen with David Letterman and to say that the Lone Ranger was the first politically correct superhero. People who've never heard of Allen now understand his wit and talent because they know Letterman. Nachman is right on the mark with his observations and lines such as the one describing the Lone Ranger's silver bullet as the "bullet from Cartier's" are priceless.

The book doesn't quite get five stars in my opinion because of some of the (hopefully) unintentional slurs that are offered. The word "uppity" should be banished from the language, let alone be used to describe a Rochester or Beulah character. Some anti-Semitic slights can also be inferred when some negative comments about Groucho, Benny, and Burns are made, but guys like Bob Hope are OK because they are "good old americans." Again, I assume that these are unintentional, but if a WASP like me can pick up on them...

All in all, well worth the money and despite the slights, one that is difficult to put down. Hopefully one more in depth is on the way.

Regards,

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Overview of The World of Old Time Radio
Review: This book is an excellent overview of the world of radio. Unlike other books which tend to concentrate on only one genre (comedy, superheroes) or one type of show (Jack Benny, Fibber McGee, etc) this book covers them all. It also isn't written for the octogenarian that happens to remember when Ma Perkins was on the air. It is written as to compare it with contemporary times and people. It dares to compare Fred Allen with David Letterman and to say that the Lone Ranger was the first politically correct superhero. People who've never heard of Allen now understand his wit and talent because they know Letterman. Nachman is right on the mark with his observations and lines such as the one describing the Lone Ranger's silver bullet as the "bullet from Cartier's" are priceless.

The book doesn't quite get five stars in my opinion because of some of the (hopefully) unintentional slurs that are offered. The word "uppity" should be banished from the language, let alone be used to describe a Rochester or Beulah character. Some anti-Semitic slights can also be inferred when some negative comments about Groucho, Benny, and Burns are made, but guys like Bob Hope are OK because they are "good old americans." Again, I assume that these are unintentional, but if a WASP like me can pick up on them...

All in all, well worth the money and despite the slights, one that is difficult to put down. Hopefully one more in depth is on the way.

Regards,

Rating:
Summary: Good starting point for casual readers on "Old Time Radio"
Review: This review is based on the hardcover version.

This is neither a formal history of American radio's "Golden Age" (c.1928-1950), nor is it a book likely to please every "Old Time Radio" fanatic who wants elaborately detailed accounts of his favorite programs and performers. Gerald Nachman came of age in the waning days of bigtime network radio; he fondly remembers the medium; and he tries to convey some of his warm regard (dare one call it "nostalgia?") for the people and broadcasts that have most impressed him. For those who were not "raised on radio" (or, more likely, grew up in the later decades of disc jockeys and "talk"), the book provides an introduction to the basics of Old Time Radio.

Nachman affectionately hits the high points with chapters on Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Bob Hope, a paean to the ultimate radio soap opera, "One Man's Family," and insightful analyses of such cultural icons as Walter Winchell, the Quiz Kids, Burns and Allen, Arthur Godfrey, and others who made a medium that (along with the movies) dominated American popular culture in the 1930s and 1940s. His assessment of the "Amos 'n' Andy" controversy - should African-Americans be offended or flattered by two well-meaning white comedians in aural blackface? - is on the mark. On the other hand, Nachman doesn't put enough emphasis on Orson Welle's 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast, which demonstrated the power of radio to scare the hell out of casual listeners; but there are numerous other books on that phenomenon. One also can quibble that there's not a chapter about commercial radio's efforts to popularize "high culture" - e.g., Arturo Toscanini, Sigmund Spaeth, the Metropolitan Opera - although Nachman does mention them in passing. Most of the chapters are devoted to specific entertainment genres - soap operas, kids' shows, dramatic series and serials, quiz programs, musical/variety shows, westerns, etc. - and cover major performers and programs in each.

As one might expect, Nachman bemoans the demise of "live" network radio in the 1950s and 1960s, as Americans turned from prime-time listening to prime-time viewing. If the book has a major failing, it's a lack of information about and understanding of American radio audiences and why they largely abandoned network radio for television. A chapter on audiences and the radio ratings systems might have been appropriate - but, again, this is not a history so much as an "appreciation."

Nachman cites several interviews and includes a long list of books he apparently consulted for his own work; but since there are no footnotes, it's difficult for a non-specialist to judge if there are as many factual errors here as other reviewers claim. (By the way, Adlai Stevenson WAS a presidential contender in 1960, at least until John F. Kennedy locked up the Democratic nomination; but there was no primary "election night" prior to Winchell's departure from network radio that year, so he couldn't have made his on-air comment comparing Stevenson with Christine Jorgenson quite as Nachman relates it.)

Still, Nachman writes in a lively, easy-flowing style; his chapters are well-organized and self-contained, short enough for casual reading. All in all, "Raised on Radio" is a good introduction for younger readers (born after 1960, shall we say) to the basics of Old Time Radio, a good place to get one's bearings before tackling more specialized books and, of course, listening to the programs themselves.