Nobody’s Fool: The Lives of Danny Kaye by Martin Gottfried

Now this is more like it. This is the second biography I have read of the great mid-century comedian Danny Kaye, and this book really gives me a terrific overview of his life and character. I won’t mention the author of the other book I read last month, but will only say that this book delivers on the promise implicit in all these star bios – the promise of giving the reader an inside look at a star’s life, putting some rumors to rest, and sparking others about Kaye’s sexuality, relationships, talents and deep-seated neuroses.

Unlike the other biography, Gottfried’s story doesn’t end when Kaye’s film career does. Gottfried goes from talking about Kaye’s origins and climb to fame, to talking about how Kaye did on his television show, as well as what he did when he was off screen for good. This allowed me as a reader to hear about the man not only at the peak of his fame, but to watch his behavior as his fame ebbed, and that is a truly instructional glimpse, especially as Kaye was troubled by depression which seemed only to deepen with age.

This book looks at the relationship between the great British stage actor Laurence Olivier, and the author makes a call about whether he feels the relationship between Kaye and Olivier was sexual in nature. Gottfried likewise addresses some of the female companionship Kaye enjoyed late in his life, leaving no doubt about the nature of those relationships either. This is quite a relief, as the previous biography promised dirt on the star, but was unable to deliver anything but unsubstantiated rumor. Gottfried appears to have spoken to enough people and analyzed the situations with a clear head, making what seems like the best, most sensible judgment regarding the truth of those rumors.

As a result, this biography does not treat Kaye as an unreachable star, but as a human being with great and amazing talents, who was also given over to very ugly, very human emotions like anger, pride and fear. Gottfried shows the co-dependent relationship Kaye had with his wife Sylvia, but makes no excuses about his treatment of her in later years, or about how he treated other women he loved. Gottfried also takes an unflinching look at how Kaye behaved toward his daughter, and his friends and co-workers, which was not always stellar, but at the same brings out shows his humanitarian leanings and the great personal sacrifices he made for causes like Unicef and the USO.

While it is impossible ever to know another human being completely, in this biography, Gottfried comes very close to examining every aspect of the actor Danny Kaye, and left me feeling that I knew him deeply and well.

Submitted by Gerti

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Let me first say that I wouldn’t normally read a “crime” novel, and that I had never heard about the author P.D. James before this book arrived. I’ll further stipulate that I would never have read a book in this genre had it not been that James based this novel on the characters found in the Jane Austen work “Pride and Prejudice”. With those parameters established, the reader of this review can easily imagine that this book was not my favorite of the novels I have read which are based on the Austen characters Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. But I was impressed that a writer like James, who has obviously spent her whole writing career working on crime and legal stories, was able to fashion a book about Austen’s beloved characters that somehow also involves the Old Bailey.

In “Death Comes to Pemberley,” James draws a portrait of the Darcy family a few years after their marriage, where Elizabeth is planning “Lady Anne’s Ball” based on the example of Mr. Darcy’s mother. As any reader of Austen knows, Elizabeth has a disreputable sister named Lydia who is married to a wastrel named George Wickham, who has his own connections to the Darcy family. In this book, it is in Pemberley wood that Wickham is found hovering over the dead body of his friend, Captain Denny, and as a result, is drawn into a legal fight for his own life for murder. James is skilled at bringing back the Austen characters, but her language does not even try to mimic that of the 18^th century writer, and even worse, some of the characters seem to have changed so greatly that the only resemblance they bear to the Austen characters is that they have the same name. One example is Colonel Fitzwilliam, who is awkwardly drawn into a conspiracy with Wickham to hide the latter’s illegitimate child. The Colonel fans meet in Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” would never have “polluted the shades of Pemberley” in that way.

The illegitimate son of Wickham’s ends up living with the Robert Martin family, from Austen’s novel “Emma”, and several other Austen characters from other novels are drawn in as this book draws to a close, as if to show the reader that James knows her Austen books. However, much of “Death Comes to Pemberley” is concerned with such dry matter as the inquest into the murder and Wickham’s trial, which may be James bailiwick, but which I’d venture to guess does not interest Austen readers quite as much as clever dialogue and romance. There is a brief romance, as Darcy’s sister Georgianna becomes involved with an attorney, but that coupling holds about as much charms as those chalky Valentine’s candies. In short, I believe the book, while well written, will prove unsatisfactory for true Austen fans.

Submitted by Gerti

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan James

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

This book was written by a mother, son duo. You don't see that very often. I have to say they did a good job. I enjoyed this book. When I first read what this book was about I thought it sounded eerily like Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly but after reading the first few pages I was happy to see that it wasn't anything like Angel Burn.

Claire Brennan and her mother Lynn move around a lot. Claire jokes that her mom is a free spirit picking up and moving when the mood strikes but for the past two years they have held steady and Claire wants to stay put. She attends Emerson Academy, which she loves, and she has two best friends. So when she starts having psychic visions there is no way she is going to tell her mother about them. She also falls for the new boy in school, Alec. Alec MacKenzie is hiding from his past. He is fed up with his duties to watch and, when necessary, eliminate the descendants of his angelic forefathers. He chose Emerson as the ideal hiding place so could be normal for once but he didn't factor Claire into his plans.

Their love is forbidden, going against everything Alec has been taught to believe. But when Claire's life is threatened how far will Alec go to protect her? If you like books with Angels then check this one out. I didn't see anything about a second book on either of the authors websites but they leave it wide open for one. Crossing my fingers because I feel like there is more to this story.