Robert Benchley: his life and good times

by Babette Rosmond

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0006C078M
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An admiring biography with lots of excerpts to enjoy

Today is a good day I think for remembering the life and legacy of Robert Benchley, since it is the sixtieth anniversary of his all-too-early death on November 21, 1945. Babette Rosmond's quick-reading little book is a fine way to do that -- especially if you're someone like me, whose admiration for Benchley as a writer exceeded what you actually knew about his life. Published in 1970 and acknowledging the "generous, enthusiastic help" of Benchley's widow and sons, "His Life and Good Times" is not an in-depth scholarly biography or a path-breaking piece of literary criticism. It is, however, a good general biography, full of entertaining stories and revealing insights, and also richly sprinkled with excerpts from the subject's writing, including some of his movie scripts. It's also a highly positive look at Benchley's life -- the author was fortunate to meet Benchley during her early professional years, and if she wasn't close enough to consider him a friend, at least seems to consider herself blessed to have had the chance to work with him. And so while there are hints about things like alcoholism, extramarital affairs, and changing relationships with people like the members of the Vicious Circle, there's not really quite enough information for the otherwise-uninformed reader to be sure what the true nature of circumstances really was. This book is a quick read and an entertaining look at a most interesting and talented man. While serious students will no doubt want more (and I plan to look into more comprehensive biographies of the man soon enough), fans of Benchley's life and work and that of his Algonquin associates will find this a worthwhile place to start.