Hope

November 1, 2014

Bob Hope (1903-2003) was interested in himself and his career, and not much else. He wasn't intellectually curious. He didn't care about causes that didn't affect him personally. He wasn't interested in other people. Except...that's not entirely true. He wrote long, personal, detail-filled letters to his fans. He always remembered a face. He traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the world visiting U.S. servicemen and -women. Hope's career spanned the whole of the 20th century, and for that reason alone an in-depth look at his life and career is long overdue. Zoglin (Comedy at the Edge) addresses the complexities that defined both Hope and the entertainment industry of his era in what should be the definitive biography of the comedian. Zoglin takes a subject who, outwardly at least, seems flat and easily defined and slowly peels back the layers of decades and the protective wrappings of celebrity to reveal an entertainment pioneer who has been vastly underappreciated. VERDICT This volume will be of interest to film and television scholars, comedy historians, United Service Organization buffs, and the general reading public looking for a well-written and entertaining account of one of the most famous celebrities of the last century.--Teri Shiel, Univ. of Connecticut Health Ctr. Lib., Farmington

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014
While Bob Hope's star had faded considerably in the decades before his death in 2003, from the 1940s through the 1960s he was arguably the world's most famous entertainer. Hence, a definitive biography of this legendary performer has long been overdue, an undertaking Time magazine theater critic Zoglin completes here with great attention to detail and commendable skill. As Zoglin points out in the introduction, Hope was a pioneer in developing the rapid-fire, self-effacing monologue rife with jokes that comedians such as Johnny Carson later emulated. Hope was also instrumental in launching entertainer branding, with his famous ski-nosed caricature recognizable almost everywhere even today. Beginning with Hope's hardscrabble upbringing in England and Cleveland, Ohio, as the son of a stonecutter, Zoglin follows the comedian's career from vaudeville acts in the 1920s through his now classic films with Bing Crosby and his yearly Christmas tours lifting the spirits of U.S. troops overseas. Not just for Hope fans, Zoglin's work will also appeal to readers interested in the colorful history of American entertainment, in which Hope played a prominent role.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 15, 2014
A contributing editor and theater critic for Time weighs in with what will immediately become the definitive biography of the legendary comedian, born Leslie Townes Hope (1903-2003). Born in England at a time when movies were new-and talkies were still decades away-Hope, whose family immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1908, lived to see moon landings and the Internet. Zoglin (Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America, 2008) credits Hope for a number of things (including stand-up comedy itself), and he writes at times in jaw-dropped amazement at how Hope succeeded in, even dominated, every medium available to him: Broadway, vaudeville, movies, radio, TV and live appearances of all varieties. He wrote best-sellers and popular newspaper columns as well-though, as Zoglin points out continually, after success began to arrive, Hope had a large team of writers. The author notes that Hope had a quick wit, impeccable timing and, later, the ability to read cue cards, which became his preferred performance aid (he did not like teleprompters). Zoglin's presentation is generally chronological, but with Hope's many activities-tours to military zones, TV specials, "Road" movies with Bing Crosby-the author sometimes groups things thematically. Those who knew Hope only in his later cue-card-reading days will be surprised to learn about his grace as a dancer, his cool (not warm) relationship with Crosby, his myriads of sexual escapades (despite a marriage of nearly 70 years), his temper, his ferocious work ethic and his vast real estate holdings in California. Older readers will once again live through Hope's public support of the Vietnam War, his friendship with alpha Republicans and his post-Vietnam return to his well-earned status as an American institution. In this rich and entertaining work, Zoglin pulls no punches but also remains an astonished admirer.

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