For National Book Lovers Day: The Better Books About the Marx Brothers

Whew! I got this very good idea somewhat late in the day, but better late then never! It happens to be National Book Lovers Day, and rather than doing my usual thing of flogging my own previous works, I’ll talk about the many excellent books that have influenced my NEXT one. I should mention that my promised TV variety book, though quite far along, has been bumped in the queue. (It’s coming out great though, by the way). So the next one is going to be a book of essays about the Marx Brothers, drawn and adapted from the pages of Travalanche. It won’t be out for a few months though, so meantime, I’ll celebrate some of the great books on the topic that have inspired me, with a little road map to orient your own exploration. I don’t own all the ones I’ll be talking about, so they’re not all depicted in the photo above. Conversely, I won’t be discussing all of the ones pictured above (because, frankly, some of them just don’t rate). In many cases I’ve written full on posts about them already, so just follow the links:

Four of the Three Musketeers, by Rob Bader: Easily the most thoroughly researched and complete book about the Marx Brothers, not likely to be surpassed…ever, as far as I can imagine. That said? This would not be the book for a newbie; it’s too granular and detailed. It’s much more for the seasoned fan who has pretty much read all of the other books. Get some of these other ones first.

Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Sometimes Zeppo by Joe Adamson remains the gold standard introduction, and I would imagine is the favorite of most fans. Adamson arrived on the scene early, and established what became, for better or worse, the dominant critical party-line on the team’s movies. Over time, I’ve gotten bold enough to quibble with one or two assessments but for the most part, his observations are just so RIGHT. Furthermore, he himself is funny, so it’s a terrific read. That said, the book is over 50 years old now. There are probably some minor inaccuracies, and I’d be shocked if he hasn’t changed his mind on some things as people do. Whereas Simon Louvish’s Monkey Business, while irritating in spots, is a pretty good all-around chronicle of the team, and has more recent research.

Harpo Speaksis the best autobiography by a Marx brother and it is sheer joy because, since Harpo never spoke in public, it’s the only window we have into the real guy, and he proves to be just as delightful as Groucho. Harpo’s biographical footprint was amplified last year with the publishing of his wife Susan Fleming’s memoir called Speaking of Harpo, edited by the aforementioned Bader.

By contrast with Harpo Speaks,Groucho and Me, and Groucho’s other books and public utterances, while frequently hilarious, are extremely suspect when it comes to facts. He’s a great raconteur, but also a weaver of his own myth. His son Arthur also penned a portrait called My Life with Groucho that’s more illuminating about his own troubled relationship with his father than the man himself. In the ’70s, Hector Arce wrote an authorized Groucho bio and some other Marx related books that were very popular, and were certainly among the first I ever read about Julius and his brothers. Since then, Stefan Kanfer penned a pretty solid read called Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx, that has some really good research (some of the best pre-Bader).

There are several books about the elderly Groucho of varying degrees of wonderfulness. Richard Anobile’s became kind of notorious for some of the awful things he quoted the doddering octogenarian as saying. Steve Stoliar’s Raised Eyebrows is a loving, thorough and intimate snapshot of the late years, as captured by Groucho’s personal assistant. There’s been talk of a movie adaptation for years, and dammit that’s a movie I want to see! It provides a front row seat at the relationship between Grouch and his very young, manipulative, and controversial paramour Erin Fleming. Only recently did I discover the treasure trove that is Charlotte Chandler’s Hello, I Must Be Going,which I reviewed here.

Growing Up with Chico, by his daughter Maxine Marxis the only one there’s likely to ever be of everyone’s third favorite Marx, but ya never know. Chico was an old reprobate, and Maxine def had her rose colored glasses on when she penned this. (BTW, our late friend Mari Lyn Henry was Maxine’s personal assistant. We were hoping to get her on the Marx Brothers Council Podcast for a snapshot of her old boss, but alas the clock ran out before she could be booked).

Is there a Zeppo biography, you ask? There have been whispers about something along those lines of late. When the news officially breaks, I’ll be sure to relate it.

Our favorite Marx Brothers book AUTHOR is of course Noah Diamond, who wrote the definitive story of the Marx Brothers first Broadway show I’ll Say She Ispast, present and future. It’s called Gimme a Thrill, after one of the songs from the show.

There’s more! As you see from the picture, you can easily fill a book shelf with tomes strictly about the Marx Brothers, but when ya do, there’ll be a good amount of chaff in there. Here’s what I got for that:

I’ll inevitably add to this post though as I remember some of the others. And of course, you’ll be wanting to keep some shelf space free for MY book:The Marx Brothers Miscellany: A Subjective Appreciation of the World’s Greatest Comedy Team— and come see us atMarxfest, May 17-26, 2024!