Book Review: Monkey Business by Simon Louvish

Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish

This comprehensive biography starts with the arrival in America of the Marx Brothers' grandparents in the 1800s. Like many immigrants, they came to New York in search of a better life. Their mother, Minnie, encouraged them in theatrical and musical careers, which in the early 1900s meant vaudeville or the theater. The brothers started locally (lots of opportunities in NYC) and eventually toured all over the country with popular routines that morphed as they went along. Sometimes they fine-tuned routines; sometimes the bigger historical picture changed things. They dropped Groucho's German teacher character during World War I. Their ambitions took them to Broadway, radio, film, and (for Groucho) television. They had long careers, only breaking apart in the late 1940s when the creative juices flowed less and other concerns (mostly family) took over their lives. Groucho had another reinvention with the TV show You Bet Your Life, keeping himself in the limelight longer than his other brothers. The narrative ends with their deaths in the later half of the twentieth century.

At first, I was worried about the book moving slowly with a lot of the pre-Brothers period being documented in meticulous detail from the sketchy records of the nineteenth century. The interest picks up as the boys come on the scene and begin doing their different characters that blend so well together. Author Louvish has done a lot of research, sorting out the the myths, mistakes, and misdirections about the Marx Brothers' lives. He does occasionally imitate the style of the Marx Brothers with some jokey passages or comments about what's happening. Some of bits are clever, some land flat. They take the dullness off some of the narrative spots where things are barely happening. 

The book is entertaining and informative, providing some insight into the personalities of the boys off-stage as well as on-stage. I enjoyed it.

Recommended, especially for Marx Brothers fans.