The Groucho Letters

I 'discovered' the Marx Brothers at age 12 and tried to see as many of their movies as I could after that. My fondness for their humor hasn't faded, and now that I've read this insightful book, I feel a need to see their work for the first time in ages. Groucho's knack for wordplay always appealed to me most of all, and this book highlights his wit--and the wit of his fellow correspondents, often other writers of the day. There's something especially joyful about seeing Groucho go into fanboy mode as he writes to E.B. White, and reading how he became such a fan of these new guys Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner that he sends their comedy album out to a few of his other writer-friends abroad.

I do wish this book was annotated. A few of the show more people had asterisks by their names accompanied by brief explanations about who the person is, but since it was originally published in the late 1960s, there is an assumption that the reader will know recognize other names or get other cultural references. I picked up a lot, sure, but wanted to know more. More context around Groucho's life would have helped, too. The letters are not in chronological order, but grouped by theme and correspondent, and sometimes the back and forth flow in time is confusing--he's married to one woman then another, then single, then married to the first woman again.

That said, much of the humor is still gold. I laughed out loud throughout and smiled much of the time I read. Sure, a few jokes went a bit far, but even Groucho at his raciest is downright mild compared to modern comedians. show less

Groucho was a superb letter writer and this book contains some great examples.
I read this book end to end - which, I now suspect to be an error: rather like eating too many delicious choccy treats, the confection was too rich. This is a book into which I shall dip and receive succulent provender on an occasional basis. Perhaps, if I were to have used this method from the off, I would have awarded five stars!

As the title suggests, this book is a collection of letters sent to and from comedian and actor Groucho Marx. Groucho was a prolific letter writer, and corresponded with friends, colleagues, politicians, other writers, and many more.

I am not going to list the many people who received or sent the letters in this book – it would take too long, for one thing – but the book is a shining example of Groucho’s wit and wisdom, his acerbic sense of humour, and (to a lesser extent) his beliefs.

My favourite exchange was between Groucho and T.S. Eliot. It was clear that Groucho was much in awe of Eliot’s work, and when the two met for dinner, he hoped for a ‘literary evening’ – only to discover that Eliot was equally in awe of show more Groucho, and just wanted to discuss Marx Brothers’ films!

I liked this book, and thought that it was great to dip in and out of – there were some extremely funny one-liners, and Groucho was also clearly a very astute man. My only criticism is really an editorial one – a lot of the correspondents may not be known to people reading the book (I know that I certainly had to look some of them up to see who they were, and how they were connected to Groucho), and therefore, the context of the letters isn’t always entirely clear.

Nonetheless though, this was highly enjoyable read, and one that I would definitely recommend. show less

Groucho Marx is an amazing letter writer. This collection of his letters is wonderfully entertaining. I have now read it three times.

My favorites are his letters about his dinner with TS Elliott and his exchange of letters with the Warner Brothers legal department who challenge his use of "Casablanca" in "A Night in Casablanca. This is a set of letters that should be read by every lawyer.

Got this on the recommendation of several people I know, but was a bit disappointed. Maybe I just had the wrong expectations: I thought (hoped) it would be full of laughs, but it's not (though there are certainly a few jokes). I think it's better read as an insight into showbusiness, particularly American TV and radio, around the 1940s to 1960s (which is when virtually all the letters date from). This isn't something that I've got an enormous interest in, so I guess it wasn't really for me. I liked the rather unexpected exchange with T.S. Eliot, however (Tom comes across a bit like an excited schoolboy, holding onto a shared love of cigars like a security blanket).

The editing isn't up to much, by the way (I had to look up who half the show more people are; surely footnotes aren't too much to ask) and there's no index, annoyingly (at least not in my cheap Sphere edition). show less

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough background in this age of Hollywood and radio to understand a lot of what was going on in this book. The letters were always entertaining, and often extremely funny, but without more context it was lost on me. I just didn't know enough about the relationships between Groucho and his correspondents to make this an enjoyable read - more complete notes from the editor would have been helpful.

One of my more serious friends read this book in an idle moment and was most impressed. "I have a much higher opinion of Groucho Marx after reading how much T. S. Eliot admired him." I couldn't resist the natural response, "I have a much higher opinion of T. S. Eliot."

Hilarious book.