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Summary: WOW! What a great book!
Review: Harpo Speaks is a fabulous book about a man most people know nothing much about. I've seen several Marx brothers films and found them all to be hilarious but knew little (next to nothing) about the brothers themselves. So I decided to inform myself. Harpo Speaks was the first book about one of the Marx brothers I purchased. Money well spent. I recommend this book to anyone for it's touching, funny and informative content.Harpo was definitely someone I'd like to have known.
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Summary: A very touching book.
Review: I admire Mr. Marx for learning/teaching himself so many different things later in his life that he never had the chance to do during his childhood. He learned by his association with other intellectuals and by being a quick study. Being an adoptee, myself, I found it fascinating to read about this special gift Harpo gave his children.
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Summary: The greatest book ever written.
Review: When reading the other reviews I kept thinking, "Yes! That's exactly what I thought when I finished it." A friend of mine loaned the book to his doctor who, after reading it, began prescribing it to depressed patients! Humorous and heartwarming, even the tough guys among us will be profoundly touched. Believe me, YOU WILL NOT WANT THIS BOOK TO END!!!
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Summary: One of the best books I've read by anyone on any subject.
Review: _Harpo Speaks_ is deffinitely one of the best books I have ever read by anyone, anywhere, not just among books about the Marx Brothers, but among books on any subject. Even though it was several hundreds of pages long, I wanted several hundred more pages when I got to the end. It was so totally engrosing. Harpo seems to have an almost inexhaustable supply of hilarious true stories. I wonder why more of these hysterically funny tales and practical jokes were not used in Marx Brothers movies. There are, it must be said, also several serious passages -- some heartbreaking, some suspenseful, some inspirational. There are parts of this book which read like a wonderful manual on how to have a great marriage and adopt and raise four great kids, which is exactly what Harpo and Susan did. Harpo was an extremely interesting person who surrounded himself with many extremely interesting friends. Harp has many lessons to teach on how to get the most out of every moment, and out of life. This book makes you wish you had met Harpo; it makes you wish you had been one of his friends. He shares so much in this book that is personal that reading it makes you feel almost as if you are one of his friends. Rowland Barber helped Harp get his great story across in a fairly orderly manner, but the content of the book is all from Harpo's fascinating mind, big heart, and his numerous, diverse, extaordinary experiences. This book is about Harp's and his brothers' career(s) in show business, but it is about so much more than that; there are amazing true stories about poverty & affluence, tough urban street life, Vaudville, Broadway, Hollywood, international espionage, love, family, friendship, life & death, crime & punishment, failure & success, anti-Semitism, and more. There are also some wonderful photographs.
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Summary: Harpo Speaks is one of the greatest books I've read!
Review: Going from the time he can remember to after his death, Harpo Speaks is a very informative and fun book written by the man himself (with help from his wife and oldest son.) Most of the time, I found myself laughing, but there were sentimental moments too, such as when Harpo met his wife, Susan. I am always finding myself giving anecdotes based on this book to my family and friends. A must for Harpo Marx fans!
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Summary: I found the book humorous, informative, and entertaining.
Review: Harpo Speaks was an attention grabber. I was thoroughly entertained from cover to cover. This is THE Book, if you are interested in the Marx Brothers, the Algonquin Round Table, and the early years of vaudville, Broadway, and Hollywood.
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Summary: Pick this book up, and you will be married to it!
Review: Of all the books I have read, this one has brought me the most pleasure everytime I read it (8 times at last count). Halirously written account of how one person saw the world, and lived in it. I get the idea that he would have had a fun and interesting life even if he had not been one of the Marx Brothers or a member of the Algonquin Round Table. Any used lappa seller or tin can swinger is alright by me. I never want it to end.
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Summary: Makes you a member of The Round Table!
Review: This book captures the era of the Algonquin Round Table with style and panache. Harpo appears to have been a great listener and the stories he tells are terrific. I truly hated for this book to end.
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Summary: BRILLIANT!!!!! A TRULY INSPIRATIONAL LIFE!!!
Review: I cannot imagine having so wonderful a life as Harpo Marx had, one should be so lucky to share in the life of any one of the multitude of brilliant minds that gravitated to Harpo's world. But why wouldn't they find their way to one who was no less a genius than any who frequented the Algonquin Round Table. Harpo said it best, he was a great listener in a world of great talkers and what he garnered from all that listening is the stuff to captivate you through every page of HARPO SPEAKS. You will read this book more than once!!!
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Summary: A great book about the literary giants of the 1920s and 30s
Review: When I first read Harpo Speaks back in the 60's, it had a profound meaning in my life. It was through Harpo that I first learned of Woollcott -- and the works of the Algonquin Round Table: George Kaufman, Edna Ferber, Dorothy Parker, Benchley, FPA and the others. I found out about a magazine called the New Yorker and a playwright named Shaw. For a kid of about 12, who knew only Groucho from the quiz show, this was pretty heady stuff.
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