Product Description
They were the unlikeliest of pairs—a handsome crooner and a skinny monkey, an Italian from Steubenville, Ohio, and a Jew from Newark, N.J.. Before they teamed up, Dean Martin seemed destined for a mediocre career as a nightclub singer, and Jerry Lewis was dressing up as Carmen Miranda and miming records on stage. But the moment they got together, something clicked—something miraculous—and audiences saw it at once.

Before long, they were as big as Elvis or the Beatles would be after them, creating hysteria wherever they went and grabbing an unprecedented hold over every entertainment outlet of the era: radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution. The millions (and the women) flowed in, seemingly without end—and then, on July 24, 1956, ten years from the day when the two men joined forces, it all ended.

After that traumatic day, the two wouldn’t speak again for twenty years. And while both went on to forge triumphant individual careers—Martin as a movie and television star, recording artist, and nightclub luminary (and charter member of the Rat Pack); Lewis as the groundbreaking writer, producer, director, and star of a series of hugely successful movie comedies—their parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each man’s heart.

In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of a fifty-year friendship, from the springtime, 1945 afternoon when the two vibrant young performers destined to conquer the world together met on Broadway and Fifty-fourth Street, to their tragic final encounter in the 1990s, when Lewis and his wife ran into Dean Martin, a broken and haunted old man.

In Dean & Me, Jerry Lewis makes a convincing case for Dean Martin as one of the great—and most underrated—comic talents of our era. But what comes across most powerfully in this definitive memoir is the depth of love Lewis felt, and still feels, for his partner, and which his partner felt for him: truly a love to last for all time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (110)

A Very Good Read
I think the book was a great read and well written.I found it interesting and had a hard time putting it down.Because of this book I wanted to learn even more about Dean.Maybe I also just didn't want the book to end.Although there are wonderful stories within the book, this book is rare in that it's really a Hollywood love story written about one man's love for another man and they are both straight. One would have to admit that this is rare for Hollywood.

Buy the book.I promise you will enjoy it and will learn things about both Dean and Jerry that I bet you never knew.

One of the best. A rollercoaster of emotions.. Plus some great pictures.
This is the story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. One of the highest paid comedy act's of the 50's. For a decade they charmed audiences all over the world with wild antics, live skits and some great songs. The duo starred in sixteen movies and several different radio and television spots during their time together. They were more than just a comedy team though, they were friends. Dean, nine years older than Jerryplayed the straight man and singer, while Jerry was the crazy man-child. The combination was a hit and they skyrocketed to fame and gained a fortune.

This is the tale of the two from Jerry Lewis' point of view. His account on what happened during their ten years and in this very emotional, revealing and wonderfully written memoir. He tells how they came to be and what broke them apart a decade later, but each chapter is chock full of details which are easy to imagine and see in your mind. It's a great story and should be read by fans of either Dean or Jerry, or any Martin and Lewis fan.. It's personal and very amusing, plus there are some fantastic pictures from Jerry's personal collection.

It's a joyful, sad tale with everything a reader could want or hope for and then some. I highly recommend this for any fan. You won't be disappointed!

excelent boock
this book is excelent told the history of two big persons, like all the clown they have their diferences....just amazing

Jerry 2005 vs. Jerry 1982?
If you've read both of the Jerry Lewis autobiographies you can't help comparing the 1982 autobiography (Jerry Lewis in Person) to this 2005 one. In both Jerry is honest, even very honest at some almost sub-textual level, but he's always a show biz, WWII-era, not so introspective kind of guy, basically: expect that kind of 'honesty'.

So, both auto-bios honest and straight as far as he was concerned, but he's just so much happier in the newer one! And, overall and for most of us, I think that's more true to the real Jerry, the absurdly successful stage and film comedian of the 40s to the early 60s. Strangely, the 1982 Jerry was a longer way away from the salad days than the 2005 one is, in part I think because in 1982 he was still suffering terribly from a lower back injury he'd suffered in 1965. And maybe in 1982 he was still not recovered from a very long but badly ended first marriage.

Anyway, this auto-bio focuses on the crazy good times, lots of the laughs and the pranks, of the Dean and Jerry years. The 2005 Jerry also, and unlike the 1982 Jerry, is honest about the girls girls girls of those good times. It's a crazy testament to his love for his now deceased buddy and 'big brother' Dean that it brings out Jerry's very best side. Or maybe it's a second marriage that is having a fine mellowing effect on him, but here we get a sweetheart, understanding Jerry in sharp contrast to the judgmental, defensive Jerry of 1982. But both of them, I strongly suspect, are the real Jerry, neither of whom provides us the real Dean.

Faaantaaastik!
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Hilarious! Definitely a book I will keep and read again. I'm going to let my daughters read the book, so they will know how comedic movies originated. I let my sister and my dad borrow the book, too. If you like Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis or just a good, funny story, you will love this book!
... Read more

Product Description
The story of Louisiana hellcat Jerry Lee Lewis and his 1958 wedding scandal it was discovered that at 22 he had married his 13-year old second cousin, Myra, before he was divorced from his second wife long ago took precedence over the man himself and the music he makes. In Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, author Joe Bonomo lets others focus on the scandal and delves more deeply into the accidental intersection between fading American Rockabilly and ascending Beatlemania. By first taking a look at the critical years before his famed night in 1964 at West Germany s Star-Club what that meant not only for him but the entire live album-making world then the tumultuous years that follow, culminating in his time on the American Country charts in the late 60s/ early 70s, Bonomo brings Jerry Lee Lewis to life in new and fascinating ways.

In spite of plummeting record sales and concert fees, a media savaging of his personal character, a change of record labels and management, and a considerable upturn in his drug and alcohol abuse, Jerry Lee Lewis has persevered. In between being betrayed and ignored, he would record one of the greatest rock & roll performances in history. Bonomo s thorough research includes new interviews with Live at the Star-Club producer Sigi Loch, members of the Nashville Teens, and other musicians and fans who were at the Star-Club performance, as well as with music industry figures ranging from famed Nashville producer Jerry Kennedy and legendary Memphis stalwart Jim Dickinson to Killer-influenced contemporaries John Doe and Dave Alvin. This passionate book examines and explains the almighty impact of the Father of Rock n Roll. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A Great Book About Jerry Lee & One of the Greatest Live Rock & Roll Records Ever Recorded!!!
This is a great "straight-forward", easy to read book, about Rock & Roll's living legend, Jerry Lee Lewis. It covers his adult live, his musical career, his "boogie woogie", style of Rock & Roll, and the making of the legendary live album, "Live at the Star Club", recorded in Hamburg, Germany during 1964. This album has Jerry Lee performing at his very best, "boogie-woogie", style, and really "pounding" on his piano. The crowd was really into this recorded performance, and so was Jerry Lee, making this one of the best live rock & roll live albums of all time. This great album, was part of Jerry Lee's great "come-back", after the 1958 scandal about him marrying his 13 year old cousin, Myra Brown. This live album was recorded in the mist of Beatle mania.

The Beatles had already recorded a live album at this very same club. However, Jerry Lee was not intimidated by the Beatles, and he delivered one of the best live Rock & Roll Albums ever.

On page 119 of the book, it mentions that it has been recognized as one of the top ten live rock & roll albums of all time.

It covers that Jerry Lee was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, during it's first induction ceremony, back in 1986.

This book covers Jerry's "up's and down's", during his musical career. Also, it covers his time spent recording Rock & Roll, and also, the time he spent recording country music. Jerry had several Country Music Hits, and the author puts up a good argument, that Jerry Lee should also, be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The author believes Jerry Lee has earned that honor. Jerry Lee made a gold record out of the classic Hank Williams "You Win Again", plus he had several country hits of his own, like "What Made Milwalkee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)", and "39 And Holding".

Anyway, this is some great reading, and if you like Jerry Lee, and the story behind one of the greatest live rock & roll records of all time, then you'll really enjoy this book. Thanks!!!

Found - The Missing Links
I'm about half way through my copy of "Lost and Found" and so far I've found a wealth of information that I never knew before about the years between Jerry's mega-hits in 1957-58, and his country period, which began in 1968.Most worthy and interesting though is the extensive coverage to Jerry Lee's recorded appearance at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany in 1964.There are interviews with many who had anything to do with that night's recording, right down to the fans who were in the audience.It's well written, and frequently sheds a refreshing, and even surprising new light on the rocker that most people have come to love to hate.You can't read this book without coming away thinking that the Killer probably knew what he was doing all along, and even though he alienated the majority of potential fans with his cockiness - he rocked HIS WAY, and walked to no one else's tune.As Bruce Springsteen said in his introduction of Jerry at the Rock Hall of Fame Concert in 1997, "Jerry Lee don't play rock and roll - he IS rock and roll!"

This Man Teaches College English?
This apparently self-published book tells a good story that was badly edited.

At one point Jerry Lee "singed" his contract; at another he "singed" his songs; and at another he was appealing to city "clickers". Jerry Lee Lewis(') is obviously a god since the author drops the "s" after the apostrophe when in the possessive. The author is unnecessarily crude in his descriptions of Jerry's sexual activities using language that sounds angry and inappropriately direct. Actually,the story, painted in broad strokes with little detail, is readable.

To truly understand Jerry Lee Lewis, the reader will need to seek other resources. To know the author, one only needs to read this book as he is firmly entrenched in the story. However, his undisciplined writing and editing would make me less than thrilled to find that my children were in his class.

Essential for Killer Fans
Given the stature of Jerry Lee Lewis as a performer in several genres, as well as his longevity (the "last man standing" recorded his first side for Sun in 1956), one would expect there to be far more out there in the way of serious literature on the Killer. Nick Tosches came out with his book in 1982, and there's good reason it's been called "the best rock 'n' roll biography ever written...." Now there's finally something out there that deserves a place on the bookshelf next to Tosches's masterpiece. While still not the in-depth, full scale biography his life surely merits, Bonomo delivers a brilliant look at Lewis's fall from grace and subsequent rise, climaxing with a fascinating look at the 1964 show at Hamburg's Star-Club that will leave you almost feeling you were a witness to what many believe to be the greatest live rock 'n' roll performance ever put to record. If you're a fan of the Killer's music, or just looking for some great rock 'n' roll writing, you'll want to own this superb book.

Bonomo Captures Live Killer
For Killer fans or just those who love great rock-and-roll writing, check out Joe Bonomo's "Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found." Word of warning: carve out time, cause you're not going to put this one down. As riveting as the Killer performances it describes.

Bonomo has a rare skill: Describing a live performance or recording in a way that instills an excitement similar to being there at the event or the listening experience itself. Now, if someone would address the grevious oversight of this record not being in print in the U.S... ... Read more

Product Description
Arranged For Piano, Vocal & Guitar With Lyrics, Chords & Chord Frames. 30 of "The Killers" hits in this one of a kind songbook collection. Also contains 9 pages of author Colin Escott's essay on Jerry Lee Lewis.Contents: Another Place Another Time, Big Legged Woman, Breathless, Carry Me Back To Ol' Virginia, Chantilly Lace, Crawdad Song, End Of The Road, Great Balls Of Fire, High School Confidential, I Am What I Am, Lewis Boogie, Lucille, Me And Bobby McGee, Middle Age Crazy, New Orleans Boogie, Once More With Feeling, One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart), Over The Rainbow, Rockin' My Life Away, She Even Wook Me Up To Say Goodbye, She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left Of Me), Think About It darlin', Thirty-Nine And Holding, To MAke Love Sweeter For You, Wall Around Heaven, What'd I Say, What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out Of Me), Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On, Would You Take Another Chance On Me, You Win Again ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It's About Time!!!
I started learning to play the piano because of Jerry Lee Lewis! When I was growing up, my friends all complained about their piano lessons because they were playing "boring classical music" - that didn't sound like fun to me.Then I saw "Great Balls of Fire" in 1989 and WHOA, BABY! This was something WILD! Now, I've been playing for 17 years and in all that time, I've tried to get my hands on anything to do with Jerry Lee and 50s rock'n'roll.This book is an EXCELLENT collection to have for any Jerry Lee fan and it's about time we were treated to some transcriptions of his greatest hits instead of the mostly inaccurate and dumbed-down versions I've come across in other books.
Too bad this book didn't include his version of "Crazy Arms", though.Hopefully we won't have to wait so long for another book like this.Buy this book, you'll be happy you did - and keep on rockin' your life away! ... Read more

Product Description
The life of Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the most dramatic and tormented in rock 'n' roll history. "Hellfire" remains one of the most remarkable biographies ever written on Lewis . . . "nothing else comes close. . . . Sooner or later, "Hellfire" will be recognized as an American classic" (Greil Marcus). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A Very Detailed Book About, Jerry Lee's Louisiana Ancestry, Jerry Lee's Birth, Childhood, & His Adult Life, Up To The Late 70's.
This book starts off sometime around 1803, just after American had purchased Louisiana from Napoleon of France. It was around this time, that Jerry Lee's first Louisiana Ancester, Thomas C. Lewis, was one the earlyist settlers in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Thomas became one of the wealthiest and powerful men in Ouachita Parish (in Northeast Louisiana). He became a judge around the time Louisiana entered the Union in 1812. He was one of the forefathers of Monroe, Louisiana. From this point, the book covers Jerry Lee's pedigree and family history, up through the American Civil War, and afterwards, and how they migrated from Monroe, to smaller Northeast Louisiana Communities, like Snake Ridge, and evenually down to Ferriday, Louisiana, the birth place of Jerry Lee. I was born and raised in this part of Louisiana, so I can relate to all the places mentioned in this book.

Ferriday is in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. This book gives a good history of Concordia Parish. The book covers some history, of Jerry Lee's two famous cousins, Jimmy Lee Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley, and how they are related. It covers the pentecostal movement, and the Assembly of God Church in Concordia, Parish, and how the Swaggart's really got involved in this movement. It covers Jerry Lee, Jimmy Lee, and Mickey Gilley growing up in Concordia, Parish. Also, it covers that Jerry Lee's dad Elmo, was a moonshiner, who made moonshine whiskey.

It covers how Jerry Lee and Jimmy Lee liked sneeking out at night to Hanney's Big House, a black juke joint, where they got to see many black entertainers, including a young Ray Charles, and an 18 year old B.B.King. Jimmy Lee Swaggart decided he didn't like that music, but Jerry Lee loved it. Anyway, it continues up to Jerry Lee in his late teens, playing piano, in honky tonks, in Concordia, Parish, and even in Natchaz, Mississippi, across the Mississippi River from Concordia. For a while Jerry Lee, played in this real wild joint, located in a place they call "Natchez Under the Hill". This has been a wild place since before the Civil War. I've been there, there's still a honky tonk there, plus a Gambling, River Boat Casino.

The book covers the death of Jerry Lee's brother, Elmo Jr. It covers his mon & dad, Mamie & Elmo, his sisters, Frankie Jean & Linda Gail (and Linda Gail's Rock & Roll & Country Music career). The book covers how Jerry Lee along with his dad went to Memphis to audition for Sam Phillips at Sun Records Sudio, and how Jerry Lee became famous. It covers Jerry Lee's marraiges, especially to his second cousin, Myra Gail Brown, which was his longest marriage. Jerry Lee had a son from a previous marraige, named Jerry Lee Lewis, Jr. Him and Myra had a son Steve Allen Lewis, and a daughter, Phoebe. Both of Jerry Lee's sons died, and this book covers the details.

The book covers the scandal that took place on Jerry Lee's first tour of England, in 1958, when news broke out about him being married to his 13 year old cousin, Myra. It covers Jerry Lee's comebacks, his recording of the classic live album "Live at the Star Club", in Hamburg, Germany during 1964, and how in the early 60's even England welcomed him back. Also, it covers the double album "The Complete Sessions", recorded in London in 1973, with many, many European artists, including Peter Framton, and the late/great, Rory Galager.

It covers Jerry Lee's struggle between good and evil, his struggles, his triumpts, his marriages and divorces and the details. It covers his Country Music hits, along with his Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues hits. It covers the show where he had to follow Chuck Berry, and he didn't want to follow anyone. So, when he was ending his part, he poured gasoline on the piano, set it on fire, and played "Great Balls of Fire". The crowd went crazy. After he left the stage, he told Chuck Berry, "Follow That, Nobody follows the Killer".

Basically Jerry Lee has been many up and downs. He's been through some very hard times, especially the death of his two sons, his divorces, his career problems, problems with alcohol and pills, his trouble with the law, and etc. However, he has been tough and has weathered those storms.

The book ends around the time of Elvis Presley's death in 1977. It has a sad ending, it ends where the IRS, & others are legally seizing Jerry Lee's assets, motorcyles, luxury cars, etc.

So this book only covers part of the Jerry Lee Lewis story. We know the rest, he overcame his problems, got his property back, and is still performing and recordig today. His lastest album is "Mean Old Man", release this year. I've been to the Jerry Lee Lewis home in Ferriday, many times, its a museam now, operated by his sister Frankie Jean and her daughter Jerry. Also, there is the Delta Music Museam in Ferriday, where Jerry Lee is honored.

Overall, this is a very good, very detailed book about Jerry Lee up till around 1977, and in my opinion, it is well worth the read and the price of purchase. Thanks!!!

Some Fiction, Some Fact -- good read!
This book mingles Tosches' imagination with reseachable facts.I doubt he peeped in on Elvis to really know what color pajamas he wore on a specific night.Who cares?It's an interesting thought . . . !

Hellfire
I am a big fan of Jerry Lee Lewis and his magnificant story that continues till today. I wanted a nice book on him and his life. This book is phenomenal. I couldn't put it down when it arrived. It arrived very quickly which allowed me to get a jump on the book. I am reading a couple of books on musicians but I continue to go back to this one. The "Killer" has a fine story and Nick Tosches tells it wonderfully well.

Pretty informative and engaging, but...
Nick Tosche's HELLFIRE is probably the best biography devoted to Jerry Lee Lewis hence far. Whereas other books tend to dwell far more on the scandal which ruined his reputation rather than the talent which built this reputation in the first place, this book also provides a fair amount of information about his recording sessions, performances, as well as pretty little-known facts about this and that (did you know Jerry Lee appeared in a production of MACBETH in -68?). Especially of interest to me was to read about Jerry Lee's parents and grandparents, giving a fairly good picture of what it was like to grow up in the Lewis-family, and how their cultural traditions largely shaped the man's onlook on the world. As for the scandal, Tosche manages to illustrate that Jerry Lee marrying his underage cousin was the result of his cultural background; it was still pretty common practise where he came from, a fact which the film GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! (and several books) never cared to point out.

Yet, despite the insight displayed into Jerry Lee's work, talent and past, HELLFIRE disappoints in the way that it has a definite sensationalist feel to it. Other reviewers have praised Tosche's writing, but I think his talent in this field may be one of the problems with the book. His writing is indeed crisp, and could be close to stunning in an appropriate context; a fictional story, that is. By frequently using metaphors involving the devil and God in a biography, Tosche's purpose may be to display an understanding of Jerry Lee's inner feelings as he kept doing things which, as taught during his upbringing, were opposed to his religious beliefs (like playing the "Devil's music"), but it is distracting; surely a biography should be engaging, but not to the point that it shifts from prose to fact throughout the book.

My other main objection is that HELLFIRE badly needs an update. Originally written in 1982, it ends with Jerry Lee having almost killed himself due to alcohol and drug abuse. As any fan of Jerry Lee would know, much has happened since then; he managed to outwin his demons and is still performing. I bought the version of this book released by Penguin in 2007, hoping for it to include at least a new afterword to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, it didn't. I suspect this to be a result of the author's "crisp writing;" it isn't preferable to mention that Jerry Lee came to himself as that wouldn't be an exciting enough conclusion for his book.

Despite my negative sentiments, I should stress that I enjoyed reading HELLFIRE. Having been a big fan of Jerry Lee's music for several years, it was enlightening to be accorded access into the story of his music, performances, associates and personality. Just keep in mind that there is a lot more to his story, which this book doesn't touch.

The Whore of Fame
Hellfire is the second Nick Tosches book I have had the pleasure of reading, the other book being Unsung Heroes of Rock and Roll. Both books are laced with black humour, both have soundtracks, and both have elements of mammon's struggle between fame and salvation.

Hellfire drops you deep into Jerry Lee Lewis' psyche, his conflicts, his sins and his internal agony.
It contrasts the three cousins whose fame made Ferriday proud, Jerry Lee, Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilley. The book was written in 1982 and does not reach the calamities of Swaggart's downfalls or the suspicious deaths of two of Lewis' wives, or Gilley's ten number one country hits and subsequent decline and financial crisis. Nonetheless it is a riveting read written by a talented stylist whose biblical prose evokes the fire and brimstone puritanism of old backwoods Louisiana where the Spirit possessed and spoke in tongues, and where the devil growled in the darkness beyond.

In dirt farming Ferriday the poor were succoured by the Holy Ghost and the Hidden Hooch and enticed by the Lure of The Devil, and you were hot or cold, never lukewarm, and Jerry Lee became seduced by the Whore of Fame. I recall Little Richard had the same conflict (refer the entertaining Life and Times of Little Richard by Charles White) and doubtless they had philosophical discussions when they played together... Jerry Lee was convinced that his way was the way of the Devil and that he was leading his fans to Hellfire. This was the flame of his fame, his agony which he doused with drugs, booze and women, a similar platter to that which served his perceived arch rival Elvis.

Jerry Lee Lewis was a product of his time and location with it's attendant racism, sexism, wife bashing, violence, and yea religion - all those good ole black and white values. This book does not dwell on goodness; there is little grace, comfort or light. It is not an uplifting read but it is fascinating and well written. The soundtrack is Lewis's Live At The Star Club, Hamburg, a 1964 gig where the Killer is absolutely manic, growling and speaking in tongues. It is astounding. It's energy is unrelenting in fact I can't think of anything which comes close, unless there is a good Little Richard live album. Mmm, must suss that out. Nick Tosches is gifted and I'll read more of his output, maybe Dino or Country, sometime later.


... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Agreed -- it's "Amazing"
This is an hysterical parody of a memoir by Jerry Lewis. The points are hamhanded and the the author is so in love with his own words that he thinks his "expert" voice can rectify all the flaws of his logic and self-importance. Jerry I give you a lot of credit because most people will read this as you seriously reflecting on your life ... but you and I both know that you're lampooning the retrospective tomes that faded stars put out well into their golden years as one last gasp so that they may feel the heat of the spotlight for just a few moments more, and remember that for one shining moment way in the past people actually cared what you had to say.

In His Own Words
This book is Jerry Lewis in his own words.It is interesting, because more than two decades of his life have passed since penning this autobiography.This was him before his success in "Damn Yankees", and before his film with Johnny Depp or the 1995 film "Funny Bones".He gives a personal account of a man, not a Hollywood mogul or American Icon, as he is, and this is why the book is amazing. ... Read more

Product Description
Jerry Lewis on Being A Person
It was 1962. I was at Paramount filming The Nutty Professor, a labor of love that transcended everything else I had ever done. One day I felt instinctively that there were minor rumblings among my crew. Backbiting and envy are two of the most destructive forces I know of. So I went home that night, sat down and wrote a tome -- a small one, but a tome, on the benefits of being a person. I wrote down the words in a matter of two hours and had my sketch artist interpret what I wrote in sketches. Within one week I had the little book printed and bound and made up only 200 copies (my crew was a total of 185). I distributed the book to every member of that crew and it made a difference... and I created a small, worthwhile message to all who read it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Capturing the Virtue of being a "good" person
Jerry Lewis's book "Being a Person" is a delightful book that provides individuals with simple instructions for how to be happy.Aristotle said that the goal of all humans is to reach a state of happiness, and that we achieve this happiness by living a virtuous life.Well, Lewis provides a variety of suggestions for how one can live a virtuous life, be happy, and in the process become a "real" person.

The book combines Lewis's words of wisdom, usually one or two sentences, with some wonderful drawings that show what happens when one starts living being a person.The book is appropriate for all age groups, and is a perfect gift for anyone who needs a little direction in how to be happy and feel better, or for anyone who is just happy all the time.It can be read in a matter of minutes, but its lessons stick with you forever.

Jerry's First Inspirational Book
This is an excellent, brief, inspirational book.Years before DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF and other tiny inspirational books, Jerry Lewis knew what he was doing.This is a great "pick-me-up" type read and you will enjoy it if you are a HUGE Jerry Lewis fan like me, or if you just need a moment of inspiration.

Jerry's words a precise and to the point and the illustrations add to the message.

Makes a great gift! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Got me listening to Jerry Lee
I ran across this book online (in its entirety) at guterman.com (the link says Jerry Lee Lewis book). Reading material there got me listening to Jerry Lee Lewis' music, which also led me to seek out the out-of-print book. I feel that Guterman really understands his subject, the music and the man.

The best available book on Jerry Lee
"Rockin'my life away" is by a longshot the best book written about Jerry Lee Lewis by a non-relative.This book doesn't exaggerate things like Nick Tosches' "Hellfire" did and concentrates on the mostimportant thing: The MUSIC.The book also credits Lewis' contributions toall the genres that he covered,including blues, country,rock 'n'roll,gospel & boogie.However,this book is not 100% perfect,either -but comes close to being so.The author compares Jerry Lee too much withElvis Presley - who is a very different type of performer altogether ashe's more pop based that The Killer.Also,not all of Lewis' songs are dealthwith and there are some inaccuracies.That aside,though,it's an excellentread. ... Read more

Product Description
Details the love affair between singer Jerry Lee Lewis and his thirteen-year-old cousin, Myra Brown, and the scandal that resulted from their marriage in 1957. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fascinating Story, Terribly Written Book
Jerry Lee Lewis is a fascinating man, given the many dramatic events of his life: a backwoods Louisiana boy catapulted to rock 'n roll fame, who deep down always believed that rock 'n roll was evil and that he was leading himself and his fans to the devil; a restless man who went through multiple marraiges starting in his teens, then fell from public grace and success by marrying the love of his life, his 13-year old cousin Myra; later their son drowned and their rocky marraige fell apart. A tell-all biography from Myra's perspective could have made a great book, but this writer, Murray Silver, mangles her story.

At times it is unclear who's perspective the story is being told from: Myra doesn't even show up until well into the book, as it tries to tell Jerry Lee's early story, but the book ends at their divorce.Like a bad children's biography, the book is filled with made-up assumptions and thoughts that the writer could not have been privvy to.Silver makes Jerry Lee and Myra, who were uneducated yet passionate and conflicted people, sound imbecilic at times.He also glosses over important personal events (such as Myra's rape by another man before she got involved with Jerry, Jerry and Myra's summer romance before they got married, and the drowning death of their son), while devoting page after plodding page to such boring events as Jerry getting unfairly treated by unscrupulous agents who took advantage of his naivite.

So judge for yourself.If you really want to know the details of Myra and Jerry's story, you'll find a lot of them here, but the terrible writing keeps it from touching you, and distorts the story because, again, the writer's constant and inappropriate use of dialect makes everyone involved sound fairly stupid.There is one exception: when Myra describes Jerry Lee's reaction to the birth of his first daughter (born after his son drowned).Jerry Lee at first wouldn't hold or interact with her, but after two weeks his heart melted, he held and cared for her all the time he was home, even let the baby sleep in their bed and called his daughter not by her name but "my heart".It is a pity more of the events in the book weren't rendered with this kind of simplicity and compassion.Then we might have been brought closer to the fascinating story of the Killer and the only woman he really loved.

THE BEST WRITTEN ABOUT JERRY LEE!!
This is the best book ever written about "The Killer."It is
well researched, factual, and brilliantly composed!It is a classic.

WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON...
Entertaining biography of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis. It details his rise from the poverty of rural Louisiana to become a rock and roll legend. Told by his wife of thirteen years, Myra Lewis, the book recounts an insider's view of those early days of rock and roll and of the rise of Jerry Lee Lewis in the annals of rock and roll.

Jerry grew up with his first cousin, Jimmy Lee Swaggart, who in his own right achieved a measure of notoriety as a prominent preacher and televangelist. Lewis, however, a music lover from early childhood, wanted nothing more than to be a piano playing musician. A backwoods good ole boy, he shocked the country with his antics, topping it all off with his marriage to his thirteen year old cousin, Myra, an act which brought him unwelcome notoriety.

Known for his high energy performances, Jerry Lee Lewis lived hard, played hard, and worked hard at his music. His was a life of which legends are made. This book is an enjoyable, no holds barred narrative of that life.

WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON...
Entertaining biography of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis. It details his rise from the poverty of rural Louisiana to become a rock and roll legend. Told by his wife of thirteen years, Myra Lewis, the book recounts an insider's view of those early days of rock and roll and of the rise of Jerry Lee Lewis in the annals of rock and roll.

Jerry grew up with his first cousin, Jimmy Lee Swaggart, who in his own right achieved a measure of notoriety, as a prominent preacher and televangelist. Lewis, however, a music lover from early childhood, wanted nothing more than to be a piano playing musician. A backwoods good ole boy, he shocked the country with his antics, topping it all off with his marriage to his thirteen year old cousin, Myra, an act which brought him unwelcome notoriety.

Known for his high energy performances, Jerry Lee Lewis lived hard, played hard, and worked hard at his music. His was a life of which legends are made. This book is an enjoyable, no holds barred narrative of that life.

The best book written on Jerry Lee Lewis
Here's a writer who did his research for years...its factual, interesting and important! ... Read more

Product Description
A portrait of one of America's most influential comedians analyzes the complex, sometimes disturbing world of Jerry Lewis, from his rise to fame and his philanthropic work to the dark side of his career and personal life.Amazon.com Review
"Americans had never seen a grown man behave this waybefore," notes Shawn Levy. From Lewis' upbringing as the son of astruggling show biz dad, to his heyday as one half of the Lewis andMartin team that was the hottest act in the business, to his career asthe host of charity telethons, Levy presents Lewis in all his comicglory and horror. There's his inspired work with Dean Martin atAtlantic City's 500 Club in 1946; the "Jewish Bataan deathmarch" promotional tour for the movie "The NuttyProfessor"; and, later, Lewis, star of movies for kids, whomistreated his family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Wonderful Book - Impossible to Put Down; The Clown Prince of Darkness Revealed!
It's funny how whenever you chase something so intensely, it eludes you. Often it turns on you and devours you. That's the story of Jerry Lewis - how the his parents neglect of him in childhood led him to eventually and compulsively force himself down our collective throats. In all fairness, any Jerry-hater should blame his parents: their bad parenting has led to us - the sorry public - not being able to rid ourselves of Jerry Lewis. He's like a long, thick, oily hair in our vanilla ice cream.

If you harbor an intense dislike for "Jer" - and I'm sure you do! - this book is like sweet revenge. Reading the history of this scary and troubled man is payback for all the conceit and bad product he's washed over American culture like a toxic cream soda. It's thoroughly satisfying, a fitting comeuppance. Don't misunderstand, it isn't nasty or sarcastic like Goldman's "Elvis"; it's just that the life described is so lurid and repellent, there is only one true way to write it. Like watching a cockroach scurry across your white tiled floor: the only reasonable response is to quickly step on it, reveling in the sharp crunch it makes.

If you're a thoughtful individual, you'll love this book. There are so many lessons and warnings in it. At times you stop and look up from the page and say "whew, I've got to think about that..." If you're a Bible scholar or a preacher, you'll love it because there must be at least of lifetime of sermon-material in it.

And if you're a writer, you'll love it too. It's beautifully written. Levy is a master wordsmith: his verbs are bright and effective, his use of phrases and adjectives highly satisfactory. The reading never becomes tiresome or dense because of buried verbs, overuse of the verb "to be", or unnecessary prepositional phrases. And it's such a difficult subject. It would be easier to describe classical mechanics than the life of this show-business serpent, but Levy makes it seem effortless.

If you're younger than 23, wondering what you're parents meant during your childhood when they would cast an alarmed glance at the TV, change the channel or turn it off immediately, and then moan "Oh, I can't stomach that Jerry Lewis!", here is your chance to find out. You guys are lucky - all you have are moderate annoyances like Kid Rock and Lindsey Lohan to muddy your generational landscape.

I can't remember when I've enjoyed a book this much. This book will make you realize that life is fair after all.

An encyclopedia in story form
Jerry Lewis' films represent to me the best and the worst of that genre: at times he's able to evoke the most joyous emanations from the human voice box, in individual scenes, projecting through brilliant technique and artistic temperment some of the most beautiful, balletic images ever captured in that medium; at other times, he seems to trash the entire industry by indulging himself in some of the most laborious and unfunny bits one can imagine - the "what was that?", "why didn't he just..." response from the fans inevitable.
On the small screen, he could host and perform in greatly successful fund-raisers, singing, dancing, ad-libbing at a level most comedians could only dream of; and at the same telethon, drop his pants while a diva sings.
This book effectively brings out such artistic (and personal) highs and lows.
For this historians, Levy writes of events I had long ago aassumed never could have taken place, i.e. a 1958 and 1961 stage reunion with Dean Martin.
But through all the twists and turns, the wonderment and the disappointment, Jerry emerges as the natural successor to Chaplin and Laurel. At the end of that charity event with the the embarrassing boxer display interlude, he sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" with enough emotion and grace to temporarily make fans of his most carping critics.

The Day The Clown Cried
Jerry Lewis is a genius, pure & simple. Read this tome & you'll discover a man as complex (and misunderstood) as Wagner. This IS Wagnerian... absolute glory & absolute dispair. It encapsulates what Jerry has always been about, but this isn't just shtick. It's the real deal. One would wish for someone as hell-raising & life-affirming as Lewis to lead a life-as-party existance--- he hasn't. And you'll read why. Still & all, he's called the shots for however many decades straight & how many people can say THAT? This man is a giant, & shall be remembered as such. I love you Mr. Levitch!!!

The Lives of Buddy Love
We all grew up watching Martin & Lewis movies and Jerry's solo projects, but there were those National Enquirer stories in the 1970's about Jerry being nasty to old people.Then a good friend of mine told me about when he worked at the Vegas Aladdin and saw Jerry Lewis completely lose his mind on a group of little children who'd talked their way backstage during a telethon to give him a donation.Jerry screamed every type of profanity at them.(A humiliated Chad Everrett hustled the kids to his limo for a ride home and my friend said he trembled in rage to keep from throttling Jerry).
When I saw Jerry on stage in the 1990's, I was stunned by the amount of swearing he did--even as I've seen him in interviews swear he never cusses on stage!
Obviously, any honest account of Jerry Lewis will have to try to reconcile the sweet, clumsy "nine-year-old" clown and the rampaging, egocentric monster.Shawn Levy has done that and I admire his book for not going too far one way or the other.I picked up the book to read about the unseen film, THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED, and for any insight into the Martin & Lewis split (I'd also read Nick Tosches' DINO), and I'm glad I did.

For the people (including Jerry himself) who would dismiss this book as a "hatchet job," you only have to look at Jerry's behavior and quotes himself to see both sides of him: Jerry not only disowned one of his sons for talking to the Enquirer, he completely wrote him out of every biography of him ("Love hard, hate hard"); Jerry's dismissal of all women comics as "unfunny" and "predominately here to have children"; his recent interview with Bill O'Reilly where he declares that JFK never had an affair with Marilyn Monroe--because Jerry did!(Even O'Reilly, a man not known to be caught unawares, blinked, speechless).

Jerry's wretched behavior, whether drug-induced or simply chosen, can't diminish his contribution to entertainment, only diminish one's opinion of him as a human being.And I don't think Jerry cares what you think about him.
I can just see him as Buddy Love (a creation mistaken for Dean when it was really Jerry), lighting up a smoke and saying, "I've done it all, baby."

Compulsively readable, very detailed and fair
Whether you love Jerry Lewis or hate him, you won't be able to stop reading this definative biography that corrects years and years of misinformation and paints a brutally honest picture of the entertainer. It's certainly a warts-and-all bio, filled with unflattering information, but its leveled with a real appreciation for Lewis's work as a comedian, actor and director. This biography gets beneath the skin and gives you a real insight to Lewis. He's not a monster but he's also not someone you'd want to spend a lot of time with off the pages of this excellent biography. ... Read more

Product Description
Well known for his slapstick comedic style, Jerry Lewis has also delighted worldwide movie audiences with a directing career spanning five decades. One of American cinema's great innovators, Lewis made unmistakably personal films that often focused on an ideal masculine image and an anarchic, manic acting out of the inability to assume this image. Films such as "The Bellboy", "The Errand Boy", "Three on a Couch", and "The Big Mouth" present a series of thematic variations on this tension, in which such questions as how to be a man, how to be popular, and how to maintain relationships are posed within frameworks that set up a liberating and exhilarating confusion of roles and norms. With sharp, concise observations, Chris Fujiwara examines this visionary director of self-referential comedic masterpieces. The book also includes an enlightening interview with Lewis that offers unique commentary on the creation and study of comedy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incisive, academic analysis
You wonder if Jerry's reading this book, rolling his eyes like only he can and going, "WTF? ... Did I really mean to communicate all these subtexts in my movies?" Chris Fujiwara knows his stuff, and writes in a dry manner appropriate for an academic treatise. My only quibble is that he focuses on the films Jerry directed. Classics such as Cinderfella and Delicate Delinquent are barely mentioned, although they are inevitably Jerry Lewis projects in every aspect. The lengthy interview at the back, conducted in several sessions, is priceless. They clearly bonded on a quasi-filial level, and Jerry obviously relished being quizzed by a relative youngster. It's not Chris' fault, but a lot of Jerry's films are hard to track down; hopefully Jerry will fix this.

Great Director, Great Critic
That old viper John Simon once joked that Jerry Lewis could cure muscular dystrophy overnight if during his next Labor Day telethon Lewis announced he would disappear forever if everyone watching sent in a quarter. One of the worst of the two billion degradations in our current pop culture (along with Dizzee Rascal, Michelle Malkin, "Mad Men," and the Coen Brothers) is that far more people think of Lewis in terms of "his kids" and that annual telethon than think of him as one of the great movie directors of his age. Which he was.

Chris Fujiwara may not be able to reverse that ratio, but he has written the best book ever written on Lewis in English. (Or maybe ever. I don't read French.) Of course, at 180 pages (30 of them being a marvelous interview with Jerry Lewis himself) one wants more. I was hoping for the kind of chapter-by-chapter, movie-by-movie analysis found in most director books(and never so revelatory then in Fujiwara's own masterpiece on Jacques Tourneur), Lewis's movies being that deep and complex and necessary. Rather, the book is organized thematically (the Lewis Sound, the Lewis Look), which does allow Fujiwara to make connections across movies, genres and decades. And his approach really puts the hook in, leading me on to Lewis's own "Total Filmmaker"(one of the best and funniest filmmaking books around) and then "Dean and Me." Right now, I'm going through the Lewis Sixties masterpieces on DVD. So Fujiwara really does his job.

He's particularly great on the plastic elements of Lewis's work, movies which are especially beautiful to look at, with amazing and ever-changing pace. And here we begin to understand just how deeply and devoutly Jerry Lewis believed in the magic and in the transformative possibilities of movies. As does Fujiwara, who deepens his readers' understanding and love of the form, once again. ... Read more

Product Description
The one thing everybody knows about Jerry Lewis is that he is beloved by the French, those incomprehensible hedonistic strangers across the sea. The French understand him, while in the U.S. he is at best a riddle, not one of us. Lewis is someone we take profound pleasure in excluding, if not ridiculing.

Enfant Terrible! Jerry Lewis in American Film is the first comprehensive collection devoted to one of the most controversial and accomplished figures in twentieth-century American cinema.A veteran of virtually every form of show business, Lewis's performances onscreen and the motion pictures he has directed reveal significant filmmaking talents, and show him to be what he has called himself, a "total filmmaker."Yet his work has been frequently derided by American critics.

This book challenges that easy reading by taking a more careful look at Lewis's considerable body of work onscreen in 16 diverse and penetrating essays.Turning to such films asThe Nutty Professor, The Ladies Man, The King of Comedy, The Delicate Delinquent, Living It Up, The Errand Boy, The Disorderly Orderly, Arizona Dream, and The Geisha Boy, the contributors address topics ranging from Lewis's on- and offscreen performances, the representations of disability in his films, and the European obsession with Lewis, to his relationship with Dean Martin and Lewis's masculinity.Far from an out of control hysteric, Enfant Terrible! instead reveals Jerry Lewis to be a meticulous master of performance with a keen sense of American culture and the contemporary world.

Contributors include: Mikita Brottman, Scott Bukatman, David Desser, Leslie A. Fiedler, Craig Fischer, Lucy Fischer, Krin Gabbard, Barry Keith Grant, Andrew Horton, Susan Hunt, Frank Krutnik, Marcia Landy, Peter Lehman, Shawn Levy, Dana Polan, Murray Pomerance, and J. P. Telotte. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Makes for a good read for serious fans
"Enfant Terrible!: Jerry Lewis in American Film" is a worthy book for those serious fans of Jerry Lewis.A good collection of essays, it is most beneficial with Shawn Levy's update from his detailed, very readable biography of Lewis' life (a bio that Lewis apparently did not care for, as Levy notes).Also worthy is the detailed analysis of Lewis' "The Jazz Singer" TV special, of which I heard little about (other than in Levy's book) before purchasing this. Other films are given serious thought - "Arizona Dream," "The Geisha Boy," "The Stooge," and "The Disorderly Orderly."What's missing is a detailed list of all of Lewis' films (which, of course, would have added another 10 pages to the volume).But I have referred back to it on occasion and it is a critical, even-keeled look at a major comedian/actor of the 20th century.

Who established "tiers" of American cinema comedy?
I just read the review of this book by Jmark2001, which apparently has been here since 2002.In any event, as a professional film historian who has written about comedy for 20 years, I must say that I have never run into these mysterious "tiers of film comedy" this person mentioned in his review.I agree that Jerry Lewis deserves a real reassessment in the U.S. before he passes on, but placing the superlative Laurel and Hardy in a "second tier of film comedians?"Please!Many film historians consider L&H the absolute apex, and DEFINITELY the greatest comedy team of all time.Abbott and Costello on a "second tier," maybe.The Three Stooges, UNDOUBTEDLY.But we are talking about apples and oranges here, in the first place.Go ahead and praise Jerry Lewis, but let's not denigrate two absolute geniuses like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.Saying they were second-rate is akin to saying the same thing about Beethoven or Satchmo!(This is a very good book, by the way!)

Will somebody please stand up the real Jerry Lewis?
Books on the "king of comedy" are,unfortunately,few and far between.A much misunderstood,underappreciated and undeservedly maligned genius.I must also state that Lewis could sometimes (often?) be his own comedic "worst enemy" ,and his on-screen persona arguably worked best when he was directed BY someone other than himself (a'la Frank Tashlin).
But Lewis has always been a man who's failures are almost as fascinating as his triumphs.This book is a compendium of essays on the various facets of the Lewis persona--most of which are authoratative and fascinating.It comes highly recommended and every JL fan will want to read what it has to say.

Jerry Lewis: Comic genius gone terribly wrong
Lewis is a bewildering American talent: he is one of the best comedy directors around, was an amazingly original screen comic (we too easily forget that his character - the nerdy adolescent - was new when he invented him), was an excellent mime, an inventor (he invented several innovations still used in film), writer of much of his material, actor, singer, etc. He could easily have been remembered as being on the second tier of American film comics (along with Laurel and Hardy) though he aspired to be on the first tier with Chaplin and Keaton. So what went wrong? Why do people hold their nose when his name comes up (except in Europe)? Although his personality has become increasingly abrasive over the years and his screen character was not able to age gracefully (what comic personae does? Look at the abominable final films that Chaplin made!), it must be remembered that all of this is not Lewis' fault. He had a disastrous back injury (on live tv, no less) in the early sixties that gave him unbearable pain for years afterward and that led to his abuse of painkillers. That accident sapped most of his creative powers. It is terrible that so much of the good stuff that Lewis is responsible for has been forgotten. He deserves some objective reassessment. I hope someone will do this before he dies as he deserves to be recognized here in the USA as an important figure.

Jerry Lewis: Comic genius gone terribly wrong
Lewis is a bewildering American talent: he is one of the best comedy directors around, was an amazingly original screen comic (we too easily forget that his character - the nerdy adolescent - was new when he invented him), was an excellent mime, an inventor (he invented several innovations still used in film), writer of much of his material, actor, singer, etc. He could easily have been remembered as being on the second tier of American film comics (along with Laurel and Hardy) though he aspired to be on the first tier with Chaplin and Keaton. So what went wrong? Why do people hold their nose when his name comes up (except in Europe)? Although his personality has become increasingly abrasive over the years and his screen character was not able to age gracefully (what comic personae does? Look at the abominable final films that Chaplin made!), it must be remembered that all of this is not Lewis' fault. He had a disastrous back injury (on live tv, no less) in the early sixties that gave him unbearable pain for years afterward and that led to his abuse of painkillers. That accident sapped most of his creative powers. It is terrible that so much of the good stuff that Lewis is responsible for has been forgotten. He deserves some objective reassessment. I hope someone will do this before he dies as he deserves to be recognized here in the USA as an improtant figure. ... Read more

Product Description
Vividly bringing to light the tradition of physical comedy in the French cabaret, café-concert, and early French film comedy, this book answers the perplexing question, "Why do the French love Jerry Lewis?" The extraordinary emphasis on nervous pathology in the Parisian café-concert, where the genres of the Epileptic Singer and the Idiot Comic took center stage, and where popular comic monologues and songs included "Man with a Tic" and "I'm Neurasthenic," points to a fascinating intersection between medicine and popular culture. The French tradition of comic performance style between 1870 and 1910 nearly exactly duplicates the movements, gestures, tics, grimaces, and speech anomalies found in nineteenth-century hysteria; the characteristics of hysteria became a new aesthetics.

Early French film comedy carried on this tradition of frenetic gesture and gait, as most film performers came from these entertainments and from the circus. Even before Chaplin's films triumphed in France, film comics were instantly recognizable from their pathological gait, just as Jacques Tati would be a half-century later. Comedy, a genre that dominated French cinema until World War I, has often been linked to a mass public for film; the author elucidates this link by proposing a broadly generalized cultural-medical phenomenon as the explanation for the dominance of the comic genre. Comic performance style drew from a group of nervous disorders characterized by the psychological automatism emanating from the "lower faculties": nervous reflex, motor impulses, sensation, and instinct.

Building on her previous work on hysteria, the cabaret, and pathologies of movement in the films of Georges Méliès, and drawing on over 400 French films made between 1896 and 1915, the author contributes to a new theory of spectatorship at work in the cabaret, in shows of magnetizers, and in early French film comedy. Jerry Lewis touches a nerve in French cultural memory because, more than any other film comic, he incarnates this tradition of performance style. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Psychiatry and Cinema
That is a carefully documented work where, probably for the first time in such works, is developed the analogy between cinema and psychiatry, "from Charcot to Charlot" [Charlot is the French nickname of Charlie Chaplin] to Cabaret to Pantomime and early Cinema. One may not have realized it before, but there is a strong analogy between hysterical behavior (more common at the end of the nineteenth century) and the exaggerated gestures frequent in silent movies. The reading is admittedly not as easy as the title may suggest, but it is worth the effort, including going through the many footnotes that should be read when one reaches the place at which they appear. ... Read more

Product Description
This work reveals those key elements that make for greater bonding with couples in therapy. The author believes that improvement in the couples he treats almost always involves greater closeness and the development of greater capacity for intimacy. Change can come about in different ways for different couples. For some, insight appears to play to play an important role. Learning about one's central problematic relationship of childhood and its re-enactment with one's partner in adult life frequently involves also learning about the ways one subtly recreates this dysfunctional relationship structure.; For others, improvement appears to be closely related to experiencing new ways of dealing with conflict. This avenue of improvement relies in part on the understanding but, even more, on learning the approaches to conflict resolution. It is as if these couples need to hear over and over again the recordings that document their insensitivities and consequent failure. They must offer Each Other The Experiences That Are Emotionally Suppportive And Crucial for emotional and physical health and also give life its meaning.; Finally, the treatment approach outline also has significant effects on the therapists. Indeed, it may be difficult to know who learns most. Involvement as a couples therapist may have all sorts of impact on the therapists, and it will come as surprise that it is in the area of the therapist's capacity for intimacy that the greatest effect can be experienced. ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents more than 1,500 quotes from Lewis's writings, providing ready access to his thoughts on a variety of topics. An exhaustive index references key words and concepts, allowing readers to easily find quotes on any subject of interest. Also included are many photographs of Lewis and his close circle of friends.

Quick summary:

More than 1,500 quotes from Lewis's writings.
• Sixteen pages of photographs.
• Extensive index and numbering system.

Customer Reviews (15)

Great Resource For Reference
I purchased this book specifically for reference work for a manuscript I hope to actually work on one day. The book came undamaged and in excellent condition. The book is rather thick and bulky but it is an exhaustive reference of the best quotes from the master of literature himself, C.S. Lewis. I find myself looking something up for reference but becoming mesmerized by the poetic and artistic prose of this great writer. I will spend hours just reading through this masterpiece and find myself sharing the tidbits of wisdom with others who my have the unfortunate luck of being in the same room with me. This collection is compiled by Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root. They have done an excellent job and have gone to great lengths to find the best quotes of C.S. Lewis including footnotes and cross references. This will be a wonderful addition to any home or school library.

Good, but long quotes
Very good structure, and easy to find quotes according to topic. BUT: Many quotes are way too long! And I also miss an index according to book (if you know that a sorn said something like "lifting himself by the hair", it would be easier to find by book than by topic).

Still: I've already had use of it, and I'll probably use it quite frequently.

It's hard to rate an item you never received!
I ordered the book on Sept 1 and it's now Oct 5.The company has not responded to my e-mails and since I still haven't received my book I am going to consider myself ripped off.

The Best of C.S. Lewis
It is difficult at best to include all of Lewis's profound statements. The authors do a great job of categorizing pertinent topics with associated quotes by Lewis. This is a must for any that value his insights, works and wisdom.

Better than a box of chocolates!
As other reviewers have noted, everything Lewis wrote is amazing. The profundity of his thought and the simplicity of his presentation are two of the characteristics which mark him as a literary master. This book then gathers gems from Lewis' corpus, they are grouped topically, and indexed. Thankfully there are also references made to the source from which any given quote was taken, so that future reading is made easier to find. This is certainly a good reference book to have for reflection, inspiration or instruction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not bad, but not the best either.
It's definitely an interesting book for fans and those who may be interested in hearing Patti Lewis' side of things during her thirty six years of marriage to Jerry Lewis. It tells you a good deal of interesting tidbits and facts about the family and Jerry. From Patti and their six sons perspectives. Though each tale leaves you wanting more.. She's respectful and has a great outlook, but in trying to be positive she never truly delves into the details and the book is rather scattered and inconsistent. It's a good read for fans, but there are better auto-bios and bio's out there. I recommend reading this, but you'll want to read other ones as well for more/better information.

bittersweet memories
Patti Lewis tells the tale of a marriage and family that no one else could tell. Along with her husband Jerry Lewis, she experienced showbiz sucess, wealth, fame, love, devotion, SIX sons and eventually drug abuse, adultery, abandonment...heartache. All this from the same man who brought laughter to so many and gave so much to his telethon. Two diverse sides to the same man. Patti writes without bitterness or blame which is admirable to say the least. Her sons are each given space to voice their own thoughts on their dad. It's an honest, sometimes happy, sometimes heartbreaking tale of a real family. ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing inspiration from Lewis’s fiction and nonfiction, The Soul of C. S. Lewis is a devotional-style book that encourages reflection and thought. It includes 240 meditations designed for the reader’s personal growth.
C. S. Lewis opened up more than just wardrobe doors—he opened the doors to human experience, new worlds of ideas, and imaginative discoveries. His honest observations about life highlight the interconnectedness of Scripture to real life and encourage a worldview that is integrated and harmonized. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Another Great Resource from Which to Draw
The Soul of C.S. Lewis: A Meditative Journey through Twenty-Six of His Best-Loved Writings (written and edited by Wayne Martindale, Jerry Root, and Linda Washington) was not quite what I expected.Rather than essays on various works by Lewis, it is set up as a devotional book.The authors take quotes from Lewis, combine it with Scripture reinforcing the point, and then reflect and expand on the meaning behind the chosen passages.The topics are divided into Pilgrimage, Temptation and Triumph, Going Deeper, and Words of Grace and are drawn from 26 of Lewis' fiction and non-fiction works.There are 240 one page offerings, making this easier to read as you would a devotional (a day at a time) rather than straight through.

We are currently involved in a one year unit study utilizing The Chronicles of Narnia series.This is yet another great resource to draw from, especially for the older kids, to gain more insight into the depth of Lewis' work.I would not suggest it as a replacement to Bible study, but it's a nice addition and well done.

Inspiring reflections of spiritual themes
I really enjoyed the devotional structure of "The Soul of C.S. Lewis" from Jerry Root, Wayne Martindale and Linda Washington, and how it delves into the Christian themes in Lewis' vast body of work. There's a lot to digest here in devotional form.

It focuses on 26 of his fiction and non-fiction books, in a way that analyzes a quote from a Lewis story, and interprets its impact on our lives. "The Soul of C.S. Lewis" is a comprehensive, yet smartly and briefly packaged way to dive deeper into the stories it showcases. I enjoyed learning about the themes in such a readable format.

Disclosure: I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of the Tyndale Blog Network book review bloggers program. I write impartial reviews for the program. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Devotionals To Shape The Heart And Mind
Thanks go to Tyndale for my review copy of The Soul of C. S. Lewis. I took my time reading through each entry in the book, and am glad I did.

The book is made up of 24 chapters, 1 book each for the most part, divided into 4 sections, each addressing themes important to Lewis' writings. Each chapter is divided into 10 readings, each filling a page and easy to digest in a sitting. Each reading contains a short quote from Lewis, some devotional thoughts from the authors, and a passage from Scripture. While I was at first a little saddened that Lewis' own words were in short supply, I quickly found that the authors do a wonderful job of sharing his heart, passion, and even his shortcomings. Lewis shines through.

Chapters 1-6 are grouped under "Pilgrimage", and cover the idea of longing so prevalent in Lewis' books. Surprised By Joy and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader can be found here. Chapters 7-12 fall under "Temptation and Triumph" and address conflict in the life of Christ, between a world of good and a world of evil. Greats like Perelandra and The Screwtape Letters are here. Chapters 13-18 are under the heading "Going Deeper" cover the continual process of formation, being shaped according to God's plans. I found the insights into Prince Caspian helpful, and enjoyed being introduced to A Grief Observed, a book I will have to look into in the future. Finally, Chapters 19-24 come under "Words Of Grace", and share the power Lewis saw in words and stories of all kinds. I was greatly impressed by The World's Last Night in Chapter 23!

This book is well worth reading, whether you have an appreciation for Lewis, or have just heard his name. You will leave the book with a thirst to read more, and a feeling you know Lewis like never before.

The Soul of C.S. Lewis
The Soul of C.S. Lewis: A Meditative Journey through Twenty-Six of His Best-Loved Writings
Written and edited by Wayne Martindale, Jerry Root, and Linda Washington

Whether the words Narnia, Screwtape, and the Weight of Glory lead down familiar paths in your reading habits, or if you are just being introduced to one of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century, this book is a must-have. It is an invaluable spring-board into the broader range of Lewis' thinking coupled to helpful comments and Biblical passages.

It is dedicated to the need for quiet reflection and the "interconnectedness of Scripture and life."

Designed for the reader's personal growth, each offering is one short page. The book is divided into four categories: Pilgrimage, Temptation and Triumph, Going Deeper, and Words of Grace. There are six chapters in each category from six different writings, with ten contemplative offerings from each work cited. The introduction is packed with valuable references and establishes the flow for the entire work.

This book is three hundred and seventeen pages of sustenance for our souls. It expands our ability to plumb the depths of God's Word through the heart of C. S. Lewis.The contributors vary from life-long Lewis scholars to those who have lived his mind in the realms of his fiction. All carry insight into Lewis' connection to the mind of God.

Thankfully, his fiction works have been included and act as what they are: an expansion of his intellectual understanding of human nature. Story, for many of us, is the link that brings truth to life. The introduction states:

"Lewis himself was well aware that reason has its own weaknesses. If someone makes a bad decision or a questionable moral choice, reason is not so quick to challenge the choice and call the individual to repentance. It is more likely that reason will be marshaled by the will to make a host of rationalizations and excuses for the bad choice. Consequently, bad moral choices can lead to intellectual blindness; cleverness is no synonym for ethical clarity. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:18 that `wicked people...suppress the truth by their wickedness.' Lewis recognized that reason, having been employed to justify a bad choice, will stand like a dragon guarding access to the heart, thus keeping one's understanding darkened. Sometimes story alone makes it possible to get past a watchful dragon."

We have been blessed with Lewis' insight into the human soul. His ability to communicate that insight will stand for posterity. This book adds to that gift by helping us connect the dots between Lewis' vast works, his enduring themes, and Scripture. It is the work of ten gifted writers who will help move this treasure into the minds and hearts of coming generations, adding their own depths of scholarship and understanding to us, the readers.

Tyndale House Publishers has graciously provided a complimentary copy of this book to the reviewer. Yea!

Meditations on the Master
C. S. Lewis' writing prowess is legendary--especially in Christian circles. His economy of language and knack for choosing the perfect metaphor to make any point made him one of my favourite authors from a young age. Now, after having read most of Lewis' works at least twice, I discovered this book of meditations.

The Soul of C. S. Lewis is a collection of 240 one page meditations on Lewis' works. His popular books are all here, but so are some of his lesser known works and essays. Lewis' style lends itself perfectly to this sort of treatment. You can choose a line from almost any page of his written output to reflect upon.

The book has three writers/editors on the front cover, and ten author biographies in the front of the book. While the overall quality of the meditations is high, the diversity of authors shows through at times. Some meditations reach to the depths of Christian experience while others seem to pick the low-hanging fruit. Some meditations are tersely constructed mini-essays, while others are two stream-of-consciousness paragraphs strung together.

This is a substantial devotional for any believer, but almost required reading for a C. S. Lewis fan.

Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided for free by Tyndale Publishing House. ... Read more

Product Description
What did C. S. Lewis think about truth, goodness and beauty?

Fifteen essays explore three major philosophical themes from the writings of Lewis--Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Lewis's philosophical thinking on arguments for Christianity, the character of God, theodicy, moral goodness, heaven and hell, a theory of literature and the place of the imagination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty: Truth in Advertising
'C. S. Lewis as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty' is a valuable contribution to the critical literature of a neglected aspect of Lewis' work. Owen Barfield once said that everything Lewis thought was evident in anything he wrote; to get at the heart of his popular fiction, juvenile and adult, and his Christian apologetics, the Lewis reader needs to understand at least in part Lewis' philosophic positions because he was, by training and at least partially by disposition, a philosopher.

This collection of essays delivers on its promised explorations of Lewis' ideas about 'Truth, Goodness, and Beauty' in the breadth of its explorations, the depth and cogency of its arguments, the beauty of the book inside and out, and the clarity and crispness of the prose, which, though written predominantly by professional philosophers, is mercifully free of academic jargon.

Three essays I enjoyed very much and which stretched my thinking as well as my understanding and appreciation of Lewis were Victor Reppert's 'Update on Lewis' Argument from Reason,' Gregory Bassham's 'On the Power of the Imagination,' and Peter Kreeft's opening work on 'Truth, Goodness, and Beauty' that sets the engaging, challenging tone of the collection. What I learned from this fraction of the whole (a fifth!) justified many times the cost of the book.

Again, Lewis as Philosopher and Lewis as Social Critic are the neglected aspects of this brilliant Renaissance Man (as much as the Medievalist might have disliked that term). 'C. S. Lewis as Philosopher' is a valuable addition to the growing awareness of this don and his relevance in understanding virtue, art, and reality. I recommend it with enthusiasm to individuals who are serious readers of CSL and to libraries and schools with collections of Lewis' books, critical and fictional. This is a text to help the neophyte and scholar to a greater appreciation of those books.

C.S. Lewis: Views From Wake Forest

C.S. Lewis & Philosophy As a Way of Life ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fascinating Story, Terrible Book
Jerry Lee Lewis is a fascinating man, given the many dramatic events of his life: a backwoods Louisiana boy catapulted to rock 'n roll fame, who deep down always believed that rock 'n roll was evil and that he was leading himself and his fans to the devil; a restless man who went through multiple marraiges starting in his teens, then fell from public grace and success by marrying the love of his life, his 13-year old cousin Myra; later their son drowned and their rocky marraige fell apart. A tell-all biography from Myra's perspective could have made a great book, but the writer, Murray Silver, mangles her story. At times it is unclear who's perspective the story is being told from: Myra doesn't even show up until several chapters into the book, as it tries to tell Jerry Lee's early story, but the book ends at their divorce. Like a bad children's biography, the book is filled with made up assumptions and thoughts that the writer could not have been privvy to. Silver makes Jerry Lee and Myra, who were uneducated yet passionate and conflicted people, sound imbecilic at times. He also glosses over important events (such as Myra's rape by another man before she got involved with Jerry, Jerry and Myra's summer romance before they got married, and the drowning death of their son), while devoting page after plodding page to such boring events as Jerry getting ripped off by unscrupulous agents who took advantage of his naivite.

So judge for yourself. If you really want to know the details of Myra and Jerry's story, you'll find a lot of them here, but the terrible writing keeps it from touching you, and distorts the story because, again, the writer's constant and inappropriate use of dialect makes everyone involved sound fairly stupid. There is one exception, when Myra describes Jerry Lee's reaction to the birth of his first daughter (born after his son drowned). Jerry Lee at first wouldn't hold or interact with her, but after 2 weeks his heart melted, he held and cared for her all the time he was home, even let the baby sleep in their bed and called his daughter not by her name but "my heart". It is a pity more of the events in the book weren't rendered with this kind of simplicity and compassion. Then we might have been brought closer to the fascinating story of the Killer and the only woman he really loved.

Fascinating Story, Terrible Book
Jerry Lee Lewis is a fascinating man, given the many dramatic events of his life: a backwoods Louisiana boy catapulted to rock 'n roll fame, who deep down always believed that rock 'n roll was evil and that he was leading himself and his fans to the devil; a restless man who went through multiple marraiges starting in his teens, then fell from public grace and success by marrying the love of his life, his 13-year old cousin Myra; later their son drowned and their rocky marraige fell apart. A tell-all biography from Myra's perspective could have made a great book, but the writer, Murray Silver, mangles her story. At times it is unclear who's perspective the story is being told from: Myra doesn't even show up until several chapters into the book, as it tries to tell Jerry Lee's early story, but the book ends at their divorce. Like a bad children's biography, the book is filled with made up assumptions and thoughts that the writer could not have been privvy to. Silver makes Jerry Lee and Myra, who were uneducated yet passionate and conflicted people, sound imbecilic at times. He also glosses over important events (such as Myra's rape by another man before she got involved with Jerry, Jerry and Myra's summer romance before they got married, and the drowning death of their son), while devoting page after plodding page to such boring events as Jerry getting ripped off by unscrupulous agents who took advantage of his naivite.

So judge for yourself. If you really want to know the details of Myra and Jerry's story, you'll find a lot of them here, but the terrible writing keeps it from touching you, and distorts the story because, again, the writer's constant and inappropriate use of dialect makes everyone involved sound fairly stupid. There is one exception, when Myra describes Jerry Lee's reaction to the birth of his first daughter (born after his son drowned). Jerry Lee at first wouldn't hold or interact with her, but after 2 weeks his heart melted, he held and cared for her all the time he was home, even let the baby sleep in their bed and called his daughter not by her name but "my heart". It is a pity more of the events in the book weren't rendered with this kind of simplicity and compassion. Then we might have been brought closer to the fascinating story of the Killer and the only woman he really loved.

WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON...
Entertaining biography of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis. It details his rise from the poverty of rural Louisiana to become a rock and roll legend. Told by his wife of thirteen years, Myra Lewis, the book recounts an insider's view of those early days of rock and roll and of the rise of Jerry Lee Lewis in the annals of rock and roll.

Jerry grew up with his first cousin, Jimmy Lee Swaggart, who in his own right achieved a measure of notoriety, as a prominent preacher and televangelist. Lewis, however, a music lover from early childhood, wanted nothing more than to be a piano playing musician. A backwoods good ole boy, he shocked the country with his antics, topping it all off with his marriage to his thirteen year old cousin, Myra, an act which brought him unwelcome notoriety.

Known for his high energy performances, Jerry Lee Lewis lived hard, played hard, and worked hard at his music. His was a life of which legends are made. This book is an enjoyable, no holds barred narrative of that life. ... Read more