Rating: 
Summary: surprisingly moving
Review: As a 50 year old guy who grew up in New York, Jonathan Schwartz' unique voice and delivery were drummed into my head at a time when the FM radio band underwent a revolution, and I went through adolescence. Later, JS made quite a name for himself as a lover of Sinatra, and other great American songbook crooners. I always assumed he was something of a phoney, cashing in on a more mature sound when album oriented rock died away. This book, in a surprisingly moving fashion, tells his story as being a lover of the Great American Songbook from his early youth. It is quite an interesting read, sort of a non-fiction Holden Caulfield, with lots of true vignettes about celebrity friends of his father, songwriter-Broadway producer Arthur Schwartz. The chapters dealing with Jonathan's mother's death, and his brief stay in a psychiatric facility proved to me that JS is no phoney at all. He's a part of the New York scene.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: I am a fan of memoirs, love to read the real instead of the fantasy side of life. This is a fantastic book, funny at times. Well worth your time to read this. You will thoroughly enjoy it.
I want to also recommend a couple of other memoirs-Running With Scissors and Nightmares Echo-courageous books.
Rating:
Summary: Writer Of Note(s)
Review: I first came to know Jonathan Schwartz as the writer of liner notes for Sinatra CDs. Thanks to him I will always hear "The Long Night" as a sequel to "One For My Baby." Then I read his thoughtful essay in the Frank Sinatra reader, where I learned of such things as Sinatra's seemingly random phone calls; the way he could validate a man's existence in a day. And then turn to stone the next. Anyway, when I saw this book reviewed in Entertainment Weekly I knew I wanted to read it and I'm glad I did; I liked it a lot. Unlike some reviewers here, I'm not one of Schwartz's listeners. But all that means is that I'm not absolutely sure whether the voice I hear in my head is completely right. But tis' enough, 'twill serve. The love of music, and the stories from his unique background come through loud and clear.
Rating:
Summary: Writer Of Note(s)
Review: I first came to know Jonathan Schwartz as the writer of liner notes for Sinatra CDs. Thanks to him I will always hear "The Long Night" as a sequel to "One For My Baby." Then I read his thoughtful essay in the Frank Sinatra reader, where I learned of such things as Sinatra's seemingly random phone calls; the way he could validate a man's existence in a day. And then turn to stone the next. Anyway, when I saw this book reviewed in Entertainment Weekly I knew I wanted to read it and I'm glad I did; I liked it a lot. Unlike some reviewers here, I'm not one of Schwartz's listeners. But all that means is that I'm not absolutely sure whether the voice I hear in my head is completely right. But tis' enough, 'twill serve. The love of music, and the stories from his unique background come through loud and clear.
Rating:
Summary: Surprising revelations
Review: I have listened to Jonathan Schwartz since soon after he began on WNEW-AM. Sunday mornings were not complete without Jonathan's voice, his music and his stories. I loved the book. I know it's a cliche but I couldn't put it down. I can't agree with the reviewer who said you didn't have to know Jonathan to enjoy his story. It is all the more poignant to read of his lonely childhood when you know the man he became and I'm glad I didn't know the tragic details of his life so I could just enjoy his radio persona. I just assumed he had sprung full-grown into the music guru, wise and witty, that I heard on the air every Sunday. It was delicious fun to hear about his relationship/non-relationship with Sinatra. Read this book...you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: The Invisible Voice of my Youth
Review: I loved this book. I loved this book SO much. I was a teenager in the 70s and listening to Jonathan Schwartz on WNEW-FM in New York was an incredible influence. I taped his last show when he bid farewell to his listeners there, and listened to it for years (alas, it is now lost). It never failed to move me. Later, I read his short story collection Almost Home and the stories have stayed with me for decades. I think he was one of the writers who inspired me to write fiction myself. Reading Jonathan Schwartz's work offered a glimpse into this magical voice that had both soothed and inspired and provoked so much in me thoughout my high school years. It was an enormous gift to receive this new memoir and to learn even more about this extraordinary life. It is sad in many ways, but compelling and ultimately inspiring and always moving.
Rating:
Summary: The Invisible Voice of my Youth
Review: I loved this book. I loved this book SO much. I was a teenager in the 70s and listening to Jonathan Schwartz on WNEW-FM in New York was an incredible influence. I taped his last show when he bid farewell to his listeners there, and listened to it for years (alas, it is now lost). It never failed to move me. Later, I read his short story collection Almost Home and the stories have stayed with me for decades. I think he was one of the writers who inspired me to write fiction myself. Reading Jonathan Schwartz's work offered a glimpse into this magical voice that had both soothed and inspired and provoked so much in me thoughout my high school years. It was an enormous gift to receive this new memoir and to learn even more about this extraordinary life. It is sad in many ways, but compelling and ultimately inspiring and always moving.
Rating:
Summary: An American original
Review: Jonathan Scwartz's memoir reads like a novel, not surprising as he has put in much effort writing fiction (described in the book). The story is so American. We are taken through Hollywood of the 30s and 40s; the musical environment of New York in the 40s and 50s; the idyllic summer in Connecticut; the unsettling whir of the 60's; and into the 70s, featuring the Betty Ford clinic, a sad symbol of that decade. Near the end, the death of his famous father and the birth of his own children, finally, in the 80s. The book ends with his arrival on FM, where he broadcasts live 8 hours a weekend on WNYC 93.9. The is much richness along the way. And it's interesting to me what he chose to leave out, for example his relationship with Richard Rodgers. The Red Sox, his team, are not discussed as much as you'd might expect (for those interested in this aspect of his quirky life, I recommend his "A Day of Light and Shadows"). He does however describe his friendship with Ned Martin, the Red Sox radio broadcaster in the 1960s -- I particularly liked that part as I spent many a night listening to Martin as a child in Massachusetts. Finally, there is sadness in the book, along with the joy, but no self pity. And humor shines through regardless.
Rating:
Summary: The American Songbook
Review: Most of my Saturdays are spent driving around running errands - with Jonathan Schwartz on the radio. I have long been fascinated with his copious knowledge of the American Songbook - all that great music from the Sinatra era - and now I know how he knows all about it. Friends with Sinatra, Carly Simon, composers, songwriters and singers, and a radio broadcaster since he was 7 or 8, Jonathan Schwartz is a treasure trove of music and musical history.
This is all wound into his personal history in this lovely story about his life. Not all the details of his life are lovely - including his relationship with his stepmother, his drinking, commitment in a psychiatric hospital - but the end result is a great life and a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Honest, funny, heartbreaking ¿ the life behind the Voice
Review: The steady voice of Jonathan Schwartz on AM and FM radio in New York and now on XM Satellite Radio everywhere in the continental USA has provided intelligence on music and almost every other subject since Jonathan's debut in 1958 (on WBAI). This extraordinary and literate memoir takes us back farther to WKCS, "The Voice of 94th Street", his teenage broadcasts on an Electronic Baby-Sitter to the family apartment and environs, and earlier to Beverly Hills with his parents Composer Arthur Schwartz ("Dancing in the Dark", "That's Entertainment") and Actress Katherine Carrington. This is a life worth knowing and "All in Good Time" provides us a unique look at everything. Want Frank Sinatra, Carly Simon, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Jackie Robinson, Paris, New York, Boston, Beverly Hills, Radio, Baseball, Paine Whitney and the Betty Ford Center in 304 beautifully designed pages - Here it is to savor.
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