Blog Archives
What This Country Needs
The following is an essay by Groucho Marx, as it appears in Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales, edited by Robert S. Bader (Applause Books).
I want to say at the outset that I am not a candidate for anything. The Marx for-Vice-President boom never had my support, nor did it ever get very far. It was launched by an obscure Californian who was politically inexperienced and, incidentally, very drunk.
The whole thing was nothing if not spontaneous. I was at an obnoxious little dinner party the other evening, talking about world affairs, when this fellow said suddenly, “Let’s run Groucho Marx for Vice-President.”
Naturally I was touched, but only for five dollars, and that came later. At the moment, I asked why I should be singled out for this honor; why should my friends want me to be Vice-President?
“Because,” snarled my sponsor, “the Vice-President generally keeps his mouth shut. It might be an interesting experience for you.”
Read the rest of this essay over on Art Threat.
Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales
Groucho Marx was a comic genius who starred on stage and in film, radio, and television. But he was also a gifted writer – the author of a play, two screenplays, seven books, and over 100 articles and essays. This newly expanded collection presents the best of Groucho’s short comic pieces, written over a period of more than fifty years between 1919 and 1973 for theNew York Times, the New Yorker, the Saturday Evening Post, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and other newspapers and magazines.
Available from Amazon, B&N, independent bookstores, and Applause Books.
Interview with Robert S. Bader, Editor of Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales
Read on for an interview with Robert S. Bader, editor of the book Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales. Bader reveals his wonderful insights on Marx’s Illustrious writing career. Be sure to check out the full interview, as well.
1) How did you become interested in Groucho Marx?
The Marx Brothers were going through a bit of a revival when I was growing up, so in the late 1960s and early 1970s I discovered them on television. I was an inquisitive kid and after seeing a couple of the films I checked out everything I could find on them in the local library and was surprised to learn that Groucho had written several books. So I became interested in him as a writer and a performer almost simultaneously. And his writing was as enjoyable to me as everything else he did from the beginning.
2) What would you like people to know about Groucho’s writing career?
Groucho was mostly self-educated and sought acceptance from writers more than film critics. Writing was very important to him. He wasn’t just a movie star who wrote some books and articles. He was a formidable enough writer to have succeeded at it without his other more successful endeavors…
Keep reading here on Out of the Past.
______________________________________________________________
Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales: Selected Writings of Groucho Marx An Updated and Expanded Edition
Groucho Marx was a comic genius who starred on stage and in film, radio, and television. But he was also a gifted writer – the author of a play, two screenplays, seven books, and over 100 articles and essays. This newly expanded collection presents the best of Groucho’s short comic pieces, written over a period of more than fifty years between 1919 and 1973 for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Saturday Evening Post, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and other newspapers and magazines.
Here is the one and only Groucho on his family, his days in vaudeville, his career, World War II, taxes, and other topics from his love of a good cigar to his chronic insomnia, from “Why Harpo Doesn’t Talk” to “The Truth About Captain Spalding.” The familiar irreverence, wordplay, and a dash of self-deprecation bring Groucho’s wisecracking voice to life in these pages, firmly establishing him as one of the world’s great humorists.
Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales (a title of Groucho’s own choosing) is essential reading for Marx Brothers fans, and a hilarious and nostalgic trip through the twentieth century. Available for purchase here.
Event: Marx Brothers Book Signing and Double Feature
Santa Monica, California
New Years Day 2012, the Aero Theater in Santa Monica (1328 Montana Ave.) will be screening a double feature of Animal Crackers and Horse Feathers at 5pm. However, if you come to the lobby at 4pm, you can get autographs from Robert S. Bader, the editor of Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales AND Bill Marx (the son of Harpo Marx), author of Son of Harpo Speaks! Books on sale by Larry Edmunds Bookshop in the theater lobby.
Groucho Marx was a comic genius who starred on stage and in film, radio, and television. But he was also a gifted writer – the author of a play, two screenplays, seven books, and over 100 articles and essays. This newly expanded collection presents the best of Groucho’s short comic pieces, written over a period of more than fifty years between 1919 and 1973 for theNew York Times, the New Yorker, the Saturday Evening Post, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and other newspapers and magazines.
Available from Applause Books and booksellers nationwide.
Bill Marx is the last living person to have worked professionally with the three Marx Brothers, his uncles Chico and Groucho and his father, Harpo Marx. Because Chico and Groucho had siblings that had written about them, Bill Marx wanted to complete the Marx Brothers’ literary trifecta by authoring a book about the personal and professional relationships that he had with his father. Available from Applause Books and booksellers nationwide.