Brooks on Books: The Wicked Wit of the West

Continued from Monday's post...

The late Irving Brecher, one of the subjects of Mike Sacks' "And Here's the Kicker," has his own book on shelves (well, virtual shelves, most likely), and that is "The Wicked Wit of the West," a series of transcribed conversations with writer Hank Rosenfeld. The result is more or less a biography of the accomplished screenwriter, who remained a razor-sharp wit until his death at 94.

The book covers Brecher's many adventures in show business, from writing jokes for Milton Berle to writing Marx Brothers films ("At the Circus" and "Go West"--not my favorites, no, but after reading Brecher's thoughts about how the direction may have hurt those movies, I really want to see them again) to "Meet Me in St. Louis" to creating "The Life of Riley" in its radio and television incarnations to just performing for appreciative and varied audiences as an elderly man.

Brecher's memory throughout the book is precise--assuming he's right, of course. He has strong opinions about many of the people and events that he encountered and witnessed, and he is unafraid to share them. The result is an engaging blend of memoir and showbiz history, with a healthy dose of gossip sprinkled throughout.

Besides asking the questions and prompting Brecher's anecdotes and explanations, Rosenfeld adds context and commentary throughout the text, usually set off in italics. He does a good job of arranging this material, but really Brecher is so entertaining, the book would be entertaining even if it didn't have quality structure. I was actually surprised throughout the book by Rosenfeld's apparent ignorance of some things to which Brecher referred. They get explained one way or another, but for a guy with comedy and entertainment experience, Rosenfeld seems to be lacking in his knowledge in some areas. But then again, it must have been difficult for anyone to keep up with someone like Brecher, whose personality and comic brilliance, even in his freaking nineties, come through on every page.

This is another must-read for fans of comedy and especially of classic showbiz, and as an aside, let me mention that it's a great read for Groucho Marx fans such as myself. Brecher has enough cool Groucho stories to make the book worthwhile reading only for them.