Desilu : The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Rating:
Summary: Full of information!!!!!
Review: "Desilu" is a very good book. It tells the story of Lucy & Desi using lots of details, which helps you visulize Lucy & Desi in the crazy situations that arose on "I Love Lucy". You must read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny, and then some.
Review: "Desilu" is probably the best book on Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz available on the market. The authors combine a perfect blend of biography with first-hand accounts from the people who were there during the reign of TV's most famous, and unarguable most powerful, couple. A fascinating back-stage look of "I Love Lucy" gives us a glimpse of what made that show the success it still is some 45 years later. Add this one to your shelves, you'll be glad you did.

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Summary: Uncensored: A True Account of Life with Lucy
Review: All I have to say is: Run, don't walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy it! Personally, I bought it as a "vacation book" - you know what I mean-- one of those books you take on a trip with you for those times when there's nothing to do. Well, I could not put it down! It was insightful, hilarious, and unexpectedly touching and sensitive, even as it dealt with serious issues,such as Desi's well known womanizing and alcoholism, the marital disputes and subsequent divorce. Lucy turns out to be nothing like "Lucy", and it debunks the common perception that Desi was a no-talent riding to fame on his wife's coattails. Mr. Arnaz was never given the recognition he so richly deserved for revolutionizing television in its infancy to television as we know it today. For fans of the show- yes, it chronicles the most famous sitcom in history with utmost precision, but the show becomes almost secondary when one realizes what these wonderful people gave up in order to GIVE us this show. Lucy and Desi started this whole thing because they wanted to be together, and it's ironic that the same show threw them together so much that faults and misdeeds were magnified to the point that it tore them apart. This is the best book about this phenomenon I have ever read, and I have read them ALL- no kidding. It even gives follows Desi and Lucy after the divorce, and through their second marraiges to other people. Did you know that Desi and Lucy continued to speak by telephone every single night until his death? That Desi married another redhead who looked just like Lucy? That, even after the divorce, for the rest of his life, Desi still sent Lucy flowers on November 19, their wedding anniversary? Thanks to interviews with daughter Lucie Arnaz, Luc's brother, former co-stars, and, the most famous baby in history (whose name need not be mentioned), we have the most intimate facts about the lives of these two beautiful people. Also, there are alot of stories about Lucy's other shows, which, if they are to be believed, paint Lucy as a bitter woman who exercised the utmost control over everyone and everything in her employ. She was known as a tyrant on the set, and once, after working with her for a week, Jack Benny called her director saying, "Get her to a psychiatrist- she's going nuts!" She even made Joan Crawford CRY! But, I think the basic premise of the book is love. Lucy loved her audience, Desi loved to drink and gamble- they were two very self destructive people. But they also loved their children and each other, in a way that I couldn't understand before I read this book. Most illustrative of this point is a conversation that Lucie Arnaz recounted, which took place 2 days before Desi died. Lucie said she was holding the phone to her father's ear (he was bedridden) and that Lucy asked to speak to him. Lucie Arnaz said that Lucy kept saying "I love you, Desi. Desi, I LOVE you. I Love you..." while she cried into the phone. Lucie Arnaz said that Lucy was the last person Desi talked to, for he slipped into a coma hours later and died ther following day. As she was writing about it in her diary, after the funeral, Lucie Arnaz said that she never realized the importance of that conversation until she wrote the date it happened. "Nov. 19"- the day that would have been their forty sixth wedding anniversary. I cried when I read that because it proves that, to the end, "I Love Lucy" was more than just a show. It was true.

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Summary: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH: Lucy's Genius
Review: Although I am in part hesitant to join the Lucypalooza Love Fest that comprises most of the "reviews," below, I am compelled to do so because of the burning question that Steven Sanders tackles with the zest of a freshly-baked cantalope pie: is Lucy in any way funny? Or do we just respond to her as if she were funny, from a once-removed position, motivated by the suspicion that everyone else thinks she is funny? In other words, are we that voice in the necessary laugh track that allowed Lucy to "earn" what she does not deserve. What is funny about her? Those overblown Jerry Lewis-esque expressions? Truly the part-time clown at the local fair is blessed with at least as much "talent," and not cursed by a fraction as much pretension. What Steven Sanders does not get at here is the audience for Lucy's zany overblown histrionics--the same folks for whom the fun house mirror is the epitome of sophisticated wit. Steven Sanders' final chapter might have tackled those infamous "glamour shots" of Lucy--truly the most misguided photographic endeavor ever attempted. Instead, Steven Sanders resorts to the role of a human chestnut: an understated basket of baubles best suited for black and white television. All of this considered, though, Steven Sanders lends a certain sincerity to this book--a book well worth reading because of it. This book is an excellent value. If you, too, love Lucy, buy this book: and you will not say "WAAAAAAAAH." Yes. I love Lucy.

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Summary: Not What I Expected!!
Review: Although this book is thoroughly researched, I find the material disenchanting and does not capture the true essence of Desilu as other books have, such as "Love, Lucy" by Lucille Ball and "A Book" by Desi Arnaz. As a true LUCY fan, I urge you to read with caution.

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Summary: Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball....The Best Story Yet !
Review: Candid account of televisions best known duo during TV's begining. A must read for any Lucy and Desi fan. Television's most beloved red head and the love her and Desi had for each other to the very end. A lot of input from those that knew them best and how Lucy a dedicated perfectionist in whatever she did to her ski accident in which she never fully recoverd to Desi's bout with alchole & cancer that would claim his life. Her marriage to producer Gary Morton and Desi Jr's bout with drugs. This book is by far the best that's been written on this great team from accounts of Studio people at Desilu Productions to people that were closet to them. Loaded with never before seen photo's including tremendous input from daughter Lucie Arnaz. Thanks for memories, Lucy and Desi! Larry Dodson

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Summary: "This One Left Me Speechless!"
Review: Hi, I am writing this to intrigue the mind of a true Lucy & Desi fan. This book left me absolutely speechless. It goes deep into the lives of the most loved couple in American history. If you want to find out everything there is to know about Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz please purchase this book and get totally swept away. You'll feel like you are part of them after you finish this book. I would find myself laughing on one page and crying on the next.Coyne Steven Sanders & Tom Gilbert done a faboulous job. Just take my word, you won't ever regret purchasing this great book! Thank You, Christy Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book!!!
Review: I am a young die hard Lucy fan, and this was one of the first books I read about her, and to this day it is still one of the best. I started reading this book one day, and I finished it the next day. I just couldn't put it down. I recommend this to anyone that knows anything about Lucy or Desi, this tells everything you could want to know.

Rating:
Summary: it's okay....
Review: I highly recommend this book. You learn so much about Lucille
Ball and Desi Arnaz from this book. A great read!

Rating:
Summary: A must have for any "I Love Lucy fan"
Review: I highly recommend this book. You learn so much about Lucille
Ball and Desi Arnaz from this book. A great read!