Flat out, one of the best Hollywood memoirs ever written . . . an
absolute treasure. Booklist (starred review) In my ninety-plus
years I ve lived a multitude of lives. In the course of all these
lives, I had a front-row seat at the birth of television; wrote,
produced, created, or developed more than a hundred shows; had nine
on the air at the same time; founded the 300,000-member liberal
advocacy group People For the American Way; was labeled the no. 1
enemy of the American family by Jerry Falwell; made it onto Richard
Nixon s Enemies List; was presented with the National Medal of Arts
by President Clinton; purchased an original copy of the Declaration
of Independence and toured it for ten years in all fifty states;
blew a fortune in a series of bad investments in failing
businesses; and reached a point where I was informed we might even
have to sell our home. Having heard that we d fallen into such dire
straits, my son-in-law phoned me and asked how I was feeling. My
answer was, Terrible, of course, but then I added, But I must be
crazy, because despite all that s happened, I keep hearing this
inner voice saying, EventhisI get to experience. Norman Lear s work
is legendary. The renowned creator of such iconic television
programs asAll in the Family; Maude; Good Times; The
Jeffersons;andMary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lear remade our
television culture from the ground up. At their peak, his programs
were viewed by 120 million people a week, with stories that dealt
with the most serious issues of the day racism, poverty, abortion
yet still left audiences howling with laughter. In Even This I Get
to Experience, Lear opens up with all the candor, humor, and wisdom
to be expected from one of America s greatest living storytellers.
But TV and politics are only a fraction of the tale. Lear s early
years were grounded in the harshness of the Great Depression and
further complicated by his parents vivid personalities. The
imprisonment of Lear s father, a believer in the get-rich-quick
scheme, colored his son s childhood. During this absence, Lear s
mother left her son to live with relatives. Lear s comic gifts were
put to good use during this hard time, as they would be decades
later during World War II, when Lear produced and staged a variety
show for his fellow airmen in addition to flying fifty bombing
missions. After the war, Lear tried his hand at publicity in New
York before setting out for Los Angeles in 1949. A lucky break had
a powerful agent in the audience the night Danny Thomas performed a
nightclub routine written by Lear, and within days his career in
television began. Before long, his work with Dean Martin and Jerry
Lewis (and later Martha Raye and George Gobel) made him the
highest-paid comedy writer in the country, and he was spending his
summers with the likes of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. Movies
followed, and soon he was making films starring Frank Sinatra, Dick
Van Dyke, and Jason Robards. Then came the 70s and Lear s
unprecedented string of TV hits. Married three times and the father
of six children ranging in age from nineteen to sixty-eight, Lear s
penetrating look at family life, parenthood, and marriage is a
volume in itself. A memoir as touching, funny, and remarkable as
any of Lear s countless artistic creations, Even This I Get to
Experience is nothing less than a profound gift, endlessly readable
and characteristically unforgettable."
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