Rating: 
Summary: Not as great as I thought it would be...
Review: I bought this book after it had been hyped up in "The Sondheim Review", a magazine for Sondheim junkies like myself. I read it in hopes of going behind the genius of such musicals as "Follies", "Company" and "West Side Story", but instead got a dark and detailed (too detailed for my taste) account of the more dreary parts of his life. There is some musical theater critique, but her lack of knowledge in this area is unbelievable. Her constant "Here, let me tell you what I think was going on at this point" grows tiresome as well. Still, there's no denying his life has been fascinating, and this book serves as a good rainy day reader.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing biography.
Review: I, like many other people, approached this biography with high hopes. Unfortunately, I found an often poorly and pretentiously written book. Some of it is so incoherent that it was hard to believe it had been edited and copy-edited. There were also a number of factual errors in the book, many of them minor, some not so minor, but surprising in a book like this (especially one that Sondheim was apparently allowed to see and comment on before publication).However, what is the Sondheim addict to do? Craig Zadan's "Sondheim and Co." and Stephen Banfield's "Sondheim's Broadway Musicals" both have much of value (Martin Gottfried's "Sondheim" is awful), even if Banfield's often brilliant and certainly ground-breaking book has a few factual errors of its own. But they are not biographies. If you love Sondheim, this is a book you're going to want to read; there is unquestionably much that is of interest here. Hopefully, no one will read it under the illusion that it is definitive. In the meantime, I look forward to the next Sondheim biography in the hope that when it comes, it is better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Factual and annoying
Review: If you care about Sondheim, there's no way you're going to avoid "Sondheim." And if you don't much care about the man or his music, you probably wouldn't pay much attention even if the book were on par with Richard Ellmann's biography of Oscar Wilde -- which, I can assure you, it is not. There is certainly a great deal of information in "Sondheim," and there are moments of insight and even lyricism in Ms. Secrest's presentation. What there isn't, however, is a sustained, properly distanced critical perspective. Often this book seems like the autobiography Sondheim can't bring himself to write. Worse, there are so many bizarre time shifts and narrative fractures as to suggest that the book was not treated to the services of an editor. A sad thing, given the fabled meticulousness of the subject as well as the Knopf imprint. If your shower singing is about the wife whose "sweet imbecilities tumble so lavishly onto her lap," nothing's going ! ! to stop you from reading this book, in spite of its flaws. But if you have no idea why perpetual anticipation is good for the soul, go listen to Ella sing "I Wish I Were in Love Again" instead. It'll be a lot more edifying about words, music, and life, if not about Sondheim.
Rating:
Summary: A mess, but for now it's the only mess we have
Review: If you want to learn about Sondheim's life in detail, this is the most thorough account. Although there are books that are mostly about his work in which you can also find biographical information, this is the first and (thus far) only biography. That's the only reason why I'm giving three stars to this generally shoddy book. What's wrong? First, there is an astounding number of factual errors. In addition to the outright errors, Secrest also makes many misleading, imprecise, or incomplete statements. Loose ends and chronological confusions abound. Some of the people Secrest quotes also make statements that are factually incorrect, and neither she nor her editors (who must take a good share of the blame) caught these mistakes. All of this suggests that she knows little about musical theatre in general or Sondheim's work in particular. She actually gets major plot details of Sondheim's shows wrong. Unbelievable. There are also numerous places where she makes statements that contradict what she writes elsewhere. All these problems seriously call into question how much of the material here that isn't public knowledge can be trusted. You end up wondering how someone who is so clearly unqualified persuaded the people at Knopf to give her this assignment, much less how she got Sondheim to cooperate. She must talk well, but she certainly doesn't write well. Which brings us to the final problem: She isn't a very good writer. Still, if you want a Sondheim bio, this is it. Since Secrest had access to Sondheim and to many of his friends and associates, I'm sure that some of what she writes is accurate. But if you read this, you should just realize that a good deal of what is here is unquestionably wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: don't bother
Review: It's very sad to see Craig Zadan's "Sondheim & Company" out of print and in its stead this plodding pastiche. Ms. Secrest has no training in, experience with, or especial knowledge of theatre or music, yet she feels obliged to bore us with her theatrical obiter dicta, to critique each of Sondheim's works. Ms. Secrest has no training in, experience with, or especial knowledge of pschology, yet she feels obliged to psychoanalyze her subject. The result is not enlightening. recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen Sondheim: A Life
Review: Meryle Secrest presents a balanced, authoritative, comprehensive view of Sondheim. Secrest does "get" Sondheim: the man, the composer, the lyricist. She also "gets" his musicals, both as chronicler and as listener. Virtually all Sondheim screenplays, plays, musicals, and individual songs are intelligently discussed. Extensive and intimate interviews with Sondheim provide the basis, but alternative outlooks from his principle collaborators, associates, friends, and enemies also appear. (Insights of his peers are not present since Sondheim has no peers.) The book carries an inside, but not reverent feel. Sondheim's troubled relationship with his mother leading to extensive therapy, his difficulty in coming to grips with his homosexuality, and his periods of self doubt and perceived failure are sensitively covered. Secrest does not hesitate to call attention to perceived shortcomings, but her undisguised love and admiration for her subject continually shine through. The book is geared toward an audience with a serious interest in Broadway musicals with emphasis on beauty and meaning in lyrics. Secrest does footnote her interviews and references meticulously, but I would also have enjoyed a discography and a listing of his songs by musical as elements of an appendix. I especially enjoyed the insight on Leonard Bernstein.
Rating:
Summary: derivative, banal, plodding, unauthoritative
Review: Meryle Secrest's book is one of a kind (so far): a story of Stephen Sondheim, the man, rather than simply Stephen Sondheim, the artist. No other book has attempted to do this, and Secrest does a fine job. This book is an absolute feast for Sondheim fans, because the Great Man himself reveals several illuminating insights into his own life, conflicted personality and peerless work. I read the other reviews here at Amazon, and people seem to be missing the point--this isn't a critical biography, but a personal one. And it is one of the very best books written about this enigmatic, thoroughly fascinating man.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific biography of a supremely gifted artist.
Review: Meryle Secrest's book is one of a kind (so far): a story of Stephen Sondheim, the man, rather than simply Stephen Sondheim, the artist. No other book has attempted to do this, and Secrest does a fine job. This book is an absolute feast for Sondheim fans, because the Great Man himself reveals several illuminating insights into his own life, conflicted personality and peerless work. I read the other reviews here at Amazon, and people seem to be missing the point--this isn't a critical biography, but a personal one. And it is one of the very best books written about this enigmatic, thoroughly fascinating man.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES: SONDHEIM BOOK HAS IT ALL
Review: Perhaps what is most impressive about the Sondheim biography is the detail in which Secrest delves into Sondheim's psychology, especially his relationship with his mother, Janet "Foxy" Sondheim. While most of the history about the development of shows is repetition of what we have already seen in Zadan's "Sondehim and Co.", and Gordon's "Art Isn't Easy", the exploration into Sondheim's personal life is delightful, especially since Sondheim has always been a rather private man. His personal relationships are handled with great delicacy and respect, and Secrest makes sure she never judges Sondheim or his behavoir. Being a biography written about a man while still alive, I was afraid the book would take a form similiar to the Issac Goldverg bio of George Gershwin, written in 1931 while Gershwin was still in his prime - it comes across as a biased "Gershwin is God" type book, and it wasn't until Gershwin's death that biographers began looking at his life with objectivity. Luckily, for us, we haven't had to wait for Sondheim's death for an intelligent, thoughtful bio written about the man to surface. If fault must be found with the book, it is that without a solid background in Sondheim lore (ie. having read Zadan and Gordon's book, along with Martin Gottfried's "Sondheim" and Banfield's "Sondheim's Broadway Musicals"), the newcomer may feel a little snubbed at the lack of detail regarding the shows themselves. Even I was a little disappointed at the relatively quick mention of Pacific Overtures and Into the Woods. Other shows, such as Sweeney Todd, received much more mention, and I found myself wishing Secrest had handled each show evenly. Of course I'm aware that Sweeney Todd was one of Sondheim's favorites, a project he initiated himself, and perhaps this explains why there is so much devotion to that specific musical. For any Sondheim fan, the book is a must-have. But even if you loathe Sondheim, "Sondheim: A Life" is also a chronicle of the decline of musical theatre, from the golden age in the 1960's, straight through to the Aluminum Foil Age that has pervaded the last two decades - Almunium Foil, because Broadway has become all glitter, with very little strength behind it. Sondheim, like the song says, has seen good times and bad times, and through them all, is still here. His biography will tell you exactly how he did it, and inspire all of us future-playwrights and theatre-goers to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but the definitive book on SS has yet to be written
Review: Secrest has written a book on Sondheim that skims the surface and gives a broad overview. It rarely has insights, however, except a few "anaylses" of the musicals themselves that often border on the ludicrous (such as how many references to S&M there are in his works). There are misspellings of people's names, wrong dates, and some confused plot descriptions as well. But most of all, she seems too polite and distanced from her subject, offering facts but not insight or exploration. I'm not asking for National Enquirer-style dirt, but there is more on the inner-workings and intrigue of such works as "Merrily" in Craig Zadan's "Sondheim & Company," which unfortuantely is out of print, I believe. Furthermore, Secrest is often a confusing writer. She switches pronouns without always making it clear who is now doing the talking, or includes an out-of-context quote without explaining its meaning or context. She also repeats herself in several spots, making me think she revised one segment while forgetting what she had written just a page later or earlier. In short, this book needed an editor, as well as a more probing and insightful author. Most biographies suffer from excessive speculation. This one has just the opposite flaw.
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