It′s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks - Hardcover

Parish, James Robert

3.73

232 ratings by Goodreads

9780471752677: It′s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471752673 ISBN 13: 9780471752677

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2007

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This book traces the extraordinary life and career of Mel Brooks, who has ridden a wave of show business success perhaps unsurpassed by anyone of his generation. Offering many insights into the wacky world of Brooks and his many collaborators, as well as an intimate look into his successful marriage to the brilliant and beautiful actress Anne Bancroft, It′s Good to Be the King might just be the most delightful, engaging, and entertaining biography you′ll ever read.

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Review:

Parish, author of many books including Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story and Fiasco: A History of Hollywood′s Iconic Flaps), here traces the life and career of mirthmaker Mel Brooks from the Borscht Belt to Broadway. Born Melvin Kaminsky, he grew up as a Brooklyn classroom clown, honing his stage skills in the Catskills before arriving in WWII France as an army combat engineer. The bombastic Brooks clawed his way into early television as a writer for Sid Caesar: "I was aggressive. I was a terrier, a pit bull terrier. I was unstoppable. I would keep going until my joke or my sketch was in the show." Caesar′s shows were a launchpad, catapulting Brooks into a multifaceted comedy career that embraced theater ( Shinbone Alley) and sitcoms ( Get Smart), recordings (the 2000 Year Old Man series) and acting ( Mad About You). He began directing in 1968 with The Producers, followed by the equally hilarious Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Along the way, he picked up Emmys, Tonys, a Grammy, an Oscar and Anne Bancroft, whom he married in 1964. Brooks′s probing self–insights and clever quotes abound. While his sense of timing, delivery and charming goofiness may not always translate to the written page, readers will be satisfied with the details unearthed by Parish′s exhaustive research. 16 b&w photos. (Mar.) ( Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2007)

"...readers will be satisfied with the details unearthed by Parish′s exhaustive research." ( Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2007)

From the Back Cover:

Praise for James Robert Parish′s Fiasco: A History of Hollywood′s Iconic Flops

"A gleefully readable, well–researched study of hubris in Hollywood."
Publishers Weekly

"Not only instructive but intensely pleasurable."
The Wall Street Journal

"I always learn something from every juicy, well–researched, and information–packed volume of Parish′s studies of Hollywood."
Rex Reed, columnist, The New York Observer

"A know–it–all backstory of infamous film flops wittily reminding us how often, and in so many ways, Hollywood can screw up the best laid plans."
Patrick McGilligan, author of Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light

"A how–not–to guide for ambitious filmmakers. No individual can shoulder all the responsibility for failure, though it′s fun to play the blame game while you′re reading."
The Washington Post

"Horrific flops have an arresting train–wreck quality: you can′t help but gawk, even though you know you probably shouldn′t. James Robert Parish quickly dispatches one misbegotten project after another in a heavily researched and compulsively readable tome."
Daily Variety

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