Essential for anyone interested in 20th-century dance and pop culture. (16 pages b&w photos not seen)
The complex life and enormous influence of one of the most commanding creative forces in America dance and show business is examined in this first-rate biography.
Robbins’s genius was legendary: He was second to none at creating a dance move or at staging and directing. His artistry stretched across the consciousness of a generation, from On the Town (which broke the color barrier as the first completely integrated Broadway show) to The King and I to West Side Story to Fiddler on the Roof—as well as countless ballet pieces, such as Fancy Free and Afternoon of a Faun. Despite his successes on the screen, however, Robbins was always most at home on stage, both for theater and ballet. The behind-the-scenes stories of his famous productions are enjoyable, particularly since a wondrous assortment of the late-and-great appears on practically every page (Leonard Bernstein, Nora Kaye, Zero Mostel, Ethel Merman, George Balanchine, Patricia McBride, etc.). Despite the stellar supporting cast, however, Robbins remains the star of the show and is the soul revealed. Demonized throughout his life by his insecurities (his difficult relationship with his parents, his sexuality, his feelings toward Judaism), his unrelenting push for perfection (he was often brutal to the dancers and actors), and his politics (he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee), Robbins appears in these pages under the guise of a tormented genius. Lawrence (The Shape of Love, 1990, etc.) presents a trove of fascinating, exhaustive information (there are over 60 pages of notes) and makes good use of the many quotes given by those who loved Robbins (and those who despised or feared him).
Essential for anyone interested in 20th-century dance and pop culture. (16 pages b&w photos not seen)Pub Date: May 7, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-14652-0
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
This autobiography might almost be said to supply the roots to Wright's famous novel, Native Son.
It is a grim record, disturbing, the story of how — in one boy's life — the seeds of hate and distrust and race riots were planted. Wright was born to poverty and hardship in the deep south; his father deserted his mother, and circumstances and illness drove the little family from place to place, from degradation to degradation. And always, there was the thread of fear and hate and suspicion and discrimination — of white set against black — of black set against Jew — of intolerance. Driven to deceit, to dishonesty, ambition thwarted, motives impugned, Wright struggled against the tide, put by a tiny sum to move on, finally got to Chicago, and there — still against odds — pulled himself up, acquired some education through reading, allied himself with the Communists — only to be thrust out for non-conformity — and wrote continually. The whole tragedy of a race seems dramatized in this record; it is virtually unrelieved by any vestige of human tenderness, or humor; there are no bright spots. And yet it rings true. It is an unfinished story of a problem that has still to be met.
Perhaps this will force home unpalatable facts of a submerged minority, a problem far from being faced.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1945
ISBN: 0061130249
Page Count: 450
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1945
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