⋙ PDF Free Fred Astaire Icons of America Joseph Epstein 9780300116953 Books

Fred Astaire Icons of America Joseph Epstein 9780300116953 Books

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Fred Astaire Icons of America Joseph Epstein 9780300116953 Books

This is a generally light weight survey, mostly of the much more insightful writings of others on the creative life of Fred Astaire. As such, it retains a certain appeal, except that the author's vision is occasionally flawed or incomplete, or both.

Take for example the oft repeated untruth the Astaire and Rogers didn't like each other very much. Of course, they were two very different individuals, with different visions of their own careers. But to repeat the lie that they didn't like each other is flatly false. It's a lie which they both strongly disputed and which Hermes Pan, who was right there, emphatically debunked.

In a related case, Epstein accepts as gospel, the story concocted by RKO's front office to explain the end of the series, on the basis of a decline of popularity. In fact, their popularity never declined but, due to higher production costs, it was RKO's profits which declined. For public consumption, management didn't want to explain it this way, so they conceived their new story. Epstein, without exploration, takes the position of RKO.

Finally, in his conclusions, he strongly implies, through the words others, that Astaire was more purely a technician; short on the creativity end, crediting, without analysis, Gene Kelly for the seamless continuity of dance and plot. The truth is that Kelly just carried further, what Astaire had innovated. And, in fact, some have convincingly demonstrated, the result of super continuity, makes for a more boring, less dramatically successful result, as it thwarts anticipation of the dance, inherent in any Astaire Rogers film. It was Astaire, not Kelly who was prior to, and led the revolution in how dance was to be filmed. In fact, he created most the cinemagraphic techniques which Kelly employed.

And, in regard to dance itself, it was Astaire, after all, who prided himself on never repeating himself, with such extraordinary creativity though 30 some odd films. It was Balanchine who said that there was "so much dance in him", that he had to distill it. Thirty films is a lot of distillation. In short, Astaire was as peerless in these categories, as he was in the categories of style and technique, upon which Epstein focuses.

The author is too often, sloppy, incomplete, and without new insight. In the end, he has written a insidiously flawed book, which as it informs, also misleads.


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Fred Astaire Icons of America Joseph Epstein 9780300116953 Books Reviews

Joseph Epstein is a superb commentator and author. Even-handed, even brilliant. This is a superb bio that -- unfortunately for the dirt mongers -- shows Fred Astaire to be a great entertainer and dancer and a very decent man. I am conversant with this genre and with several of the great dancers and film entertainers of the 30s and 40s. I am a good friend of the lady whom was a close chum of the deelicious Eleanor Powell and knew many of the Hollywood Stars. This book is an easy reading, enchanting, five-star tour de force. It is a celebration of life. Let the grungy nit-pickers pic nits and stay out of the way. For aficionados of this era, culture, and history, this is first class, must read.
I bought this for my 81 year old mother who I take care of. She keeps it out all the time and when I get a chance to sit down, I enjoy it too!
Fred Astaire (Icons of America)
I was sadly disappointed by this book--the author has taken Fred Astaire and dissected him like a frog. I wanted to read about the magic of Fred Astaire--I kept reading in hopes that the author would kiss the frog and let him turn into the prince he really was...but, alas, that never happened.
Anyone wanting to read a biography of Fred Astaire should look elsewhere. Mr. Epstein doesn't really offer us Astaire but rather his own less than amusing observations about clothing styes, charm, etc. Where one or two lines about a top hat, for example, might suffice, Mr. Epstein offers whole chapters. He tries very hard to be chatty and sophisticated but the result generally falls flat. Any biographical information is shamelessly quoted from other sources. The facts as well as the movie plots and descriptions presented are often incorrect which makes it clear that not enough research was done. The whole book has the feeling of a commission that was dashed off in a hurry and the result is too smug in tone to be informative and too shallow and lacking in real wit to be entertaining or insightful. In the end it's actually rather annoying.
I bought this book for my husband's birthday. He is a fan of Fred Astaire. He loved the book very much.

I am pleased that it was loved so much. Gifts are not always that easy to pick. This was great.
great book
This is a well-written, well-researched book. I have loved Mr. Astaire for 40 years (since the age of 8), and have a collection of 18 books on him (including this one). Knowing all that I know about this true superstar makes it a challenge for an author to keep me enthralled from start to finish. Mr. Epstein did just that... I couldn't wait till I could read the next few chapters (at bedtime). Mr. Epstein also taught me new things about my lifelong hero. In essence, this book is very much like Pete Hamill's superb "Why Sinatra Matters". My only criticism is that the chapter entitled Peculiar Looking is completely unnecessary. We all know that Mr. Astaire was not as "handsome" as Gary Cooper/Clark Gable/Cary Grant. We also know that none of those gentlemen could sing and dance like Fred. When Astaire takes flight he is peerless. Not only that, none other than Audrey Hepburn said she thought Fred was sexy because, "...nothing could be sexier than charm." Otherwise, this well worth reading and adding to your Astaire library.
This is a generally light weight survey, mostly of the much more insightful writings of others on the creative life of Fred Astaire. As such, it retains a certain appeal, except that the author's vision is occasionally flawed or incomplete, or both.

Take for example the oft repeated untruth the Astaire and Rogers didn't like each other very much. Of course, they were two very different individuals, with different visions of their own careers. But to repeat the lie that they didn't like each other is flatly false. It's a lie which they both strongly disputed and which Hermes Pan, who was right there, emphatically debunked.

In a related case, Epstein accepts as gospel, the story concocted by RKO's front office to explain the end of the series, on the basis of a decline of popularity. In fact, their popularity never declined but, due to higher production costs, it was RKO's profits which declined. For public consumption, management didn't want to explain it this way, so they conceived their new story. Epstein, without exploration, takes the position of RKO.

Finally, in his conclusions, he strongly implies, through the words others, that Astaire was more purely a technician; short on the creativity end, crediting, without analysis, Gene Kelly for the seamless continuity of dance and plot. The truth is that Kelly just carried further, what Astaire had innovated. And, in fact, some have convincingly demonstrated, the result of super continuity, makes for a more boring, less dramatically successful result, as it thwarts anticipation of the dance, inherent in any Astaire Rogers film. It was Astaire, not Kelly who was prior to, and led the revolution in how dance was to be filmed. In fact, he created most the cinemagraphic techniques which Kelly employed.

And, in regard to dance itself, it was Astaire, after all, who prided himself on never repeating himself, with such extraordinary creativity though 30 some odd films. It was Balanchine who said that there was "so much dance in him", that he had to distill it. Thirty films is a lot of distillation. In short, Astaire was as peerless in these categories, as he was in the categories of style and technique, upon which Epstein focuses.

The author is too often, sloppy, incomplete, and without new insight. In the end, he has written a insidiously flawed book, which as it informs, also misleads.