Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing look at a legend
Review: First things first: Who on earth chose that horrible cover photo? I guess it was chosen to represent some of the classic faces Lucy perfected on "I Love Lucy", such as the "spider" but the cover photo looks like a National Enquirer sneak shot. Lucy deserves better than this. And she deserves much, much better than this recycled rehash of a biography.If a writer is going to do a complete biography of the greatest female television star of all time, he at least needs to watch the show and PAY ATTENTION!. There are so many mistakes about the plots of some of the shows that is hard to believe this got past an editor. I was very disappointed in this book. There are better books about Lucy available.
Rating: 
Summary: Errors mar a lively, perceptive book
Review: I'm nearly through Mr. Kanfer's energetic look at the life and times of La Ball and, I regret to say, the author seems never to to have taken any notes while watching the episodes of "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show" of which he writes. These shows are so well known (by so many!) that it is a bit jarring to read that Lucy Ricardo, for example, panicked at meeting Bill Holden in her hotel room because she'd previously had "an argument" with him in a restaurant - not so; she'd annoyed the actor by staring at him, and when he'd turned the tables, Lucy's flight resulted in Holden winding up with a face full of food. In another section, Kanfer writes how, as a lark, Lucy took a small role in Desilu's blockbuster series "The Untouchables" and tried to lecture star Robert Stack on how to play Elliot Ness. Yes, that incident occurred, but it was during the shooting of an episode of "The Lucy Show" which parodied the hit gangster series. Top that off with the author's assertion that Lucy's character on that show was named "McGillicuddy" (it was "Carmichael"; "McGillicuddy" was, of course, Lucy Ricardo's maiden name) and one begins to wonder what else Mr. Kanfer may have gotten wrong. Eagerly anticipated, but disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating woman , let-down of a book
Review: If you've never read a biography of Lucille Ball, then you will probably get some value out of this book, but if you have read 'Desilu - The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz' or the Kathleen Brady book, or you have seen the Desi and Lucy documentary done by their daughter Lucie Arnaz,or the PBS documentary, then this book will be somewhat of a letdown and not provide you with any additional insight into this very talented and striving lady.I was expecting, and hoping, that this book would provide new material and additional biographical or personality information, but for me, it did not. Also, there appeared to be several spelling errors thru-out, example, David Selznick being referred to (repeatedly) as Selznik and Peter Sellers as Sellars. Also, at one point ( if I am remembering this correctly) - reference was made to a Confidential magazine story about Desi Arnaz - as being part of the reason, or impetus, for the first divorce action in the 1940's - tho' I believe that this article was published in the late 1950's(?) Overall, it is not a bad book, but again, if you have read extensively about Lucille Ball in the past, this book may not add much to your understanding of her life or craft.
Rating:
Summary: Did Kanfer Ever Watch Any Interviews with Lucy?
Review: Kanfer gets Lucille Ball's place in the history of comedy right, that alone gets him three stars. The rest of the book reads like an assignment from his editor. Most of the information is taken from previously published books. Most importantly, Kanfer must have missed Lucy's many TV interviews. I remember late in life, Lucy turned to Johnnny Carson on the Tonight Show and asked why
he did not seem to like her all that much. It was unclear whether
she meant personally or her work. I suspect it was the later. JC
quickly changes the subject, but it was a revealing moment about Carson's possible preferance for male comics. Did Kanfer bother to visit the Museum of Radio and TV? There's a tape of Ball giving a class in comedy at the museum, which is worth watching over and over. Maybe after all the books and interviews, there is not much new to say about Lucy. But, she remains one of the most popular figure in the history of show business. Too bad, Kemfer did not take this assignment more seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and Informative
Review: Lucille Ball is an icon, and this book explores her life, her show, and her fame brilliantly. The story is told crisply and completely. Even Lucy's fans will find new material here, and everyone interested in comedy will appreciate Stefan Kanfer's expert knowledge and vivid prose.
Rating:
Summary: If you can't even describe the Bill Holden episode...
Review: Lucille Ball is one of the totems of America in the 1950s, but she has proved to transfer very well into the next century and into other cultures. At every second of every day, people somewhere in the world are watching Lucy stomp grapes, drunkenly pitch a vitamin product, or get woefully behind on a candy assembly line. "I Love Lucy" was the hallmark of her career; she didn't do anything as well before or after, but it wasn't for lack of trying. _Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball_ (Knopf) by Stefan Kanfer is a big, entertaining biography that spends about a third of its pages on the "Lucy" years, when the star produced a classic program that will, like the films of other clowns such as Chaplin and Keaton, always find an audience. Even during those years, however, Lucy's life was tense and unhappy except for her professional efforts. It is the standard paradox of comedians, and Kanfer rightly evaluates it in full. Lucy was a beautiful brunette from Jamestown, New York. She worked as a model and then became "Queen of the Bs", a hardworking actress stuck in second-rate pictures. Her eventual success on television stemmed directly from her marriage to Desi Arnaz, but their joint effort was from the beginning an attempt to keep the marriage together. Kanfer is careful to show just how much Desi contributed and how revolutionary the format of the show was; production in front of a live audience with three cameras going had never been tried before, for instance. But he knew she was the core of the show; when she tripped on a cable, he told everyone, "Amigos, anything happens to her, we're all in the shrimp business.") She got opportunities to show off a physical comedy that movie producers had denied her. The television success did not, of course, save the marriage. There are wonderful anecdotes about the production of the show, and surprising facts such as Lucy's summons to appear before HUAC because she had been a registered Communist, and her role in bringing such shows to the air as _Star Trek_. Lucy was increasingly anxious even during the height of her success. Her marriage failed, and she had fitting worries as her children tried being adults. She had a phobia about birds and about dirt, and she was a prig, fretting over the morals of movies and upbraiding Marlon Brando for _Last Tango in Paris_. Spinoffs after "I Love Lucy" were derivative failures, and her movies, except for _Yours, Mine, and Ours_, were embarrassments. Toward the end of her career as at the beginning, she just did not fit; but it was a glorious second act. Kanfer, who wrote an excellent biography of Groucho (who along with Harpo and Zeppo has a cameo in this book), has loaded it with facts and anecdotes that anyone who likes Lucy reruns will enjoy. He has not been able to explain just where Lucy's amazing gift for an almost universally enjoyed brand of comedy came from. No one could do that. She had more than her share of failures and disappointments, but harnessing that gift was her main aspiration in life. The best part of her energies went to acting happy in a television marriage and acting a manic fool in improbable situations with which everyone could identify. She had a decidedly sad life overall, but increased the world's mirth. _Ball of Fire_ helps fans appreciate how much of a gift that was.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Story of the Sad Clown
Review: Lucille Ball is one of the totems of America in the 1950s, but she has proved to transfer very well into the next century and into other cultures. At every second of every day, people somewhere in the world are watching Lucy stomp grapes, drunkenly pitch a vitamin product, or get woefully behind on a candy assembly line. "I Love Lucy" was the hallmark of her career; she didn't do anything as well before or after, but it wasn't for lack of trying. _Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball_ (Knopf) by Stefan Kanfer is a big, entertaining biography that spends about a third of its pages on the "Lucy" years, when the star produced a classic program that will, like the films of other clowns such as Chaplin and Keaton, always find an audience. Even during those years, however, Lucy's life was tense and unhappy except for her professional efforts. It is the standard paradox of comedians, and Kanfer rightly evaluates it in full. Lucy was a beautiful brunette from Jamestown, New York. She worked as a model and then became "Queen of the Bs", a hardworking actress stuck in second-rate pictures. Her eventual success on television stemmed directly from her marriage to Desi Arnaz, but their joint effort was from the beginning an attempt to keep the marriage together. Kanfer is careful to show just how much Desi contributed and how revolutionary the format of the show was; production in front of a live audience with three cameras going had never been tried before, for instance. But he knew she was the core of the show; when she tripped on a cable, he told everyone, "Amigos, anything happens to her, we're all in the shrimp business.") She got opportunities to show off a physical comedy that movie producers had denied her. The television success did not, of course, save the marriage. There are wonderful anecdotes about the production of the show, and surprising facts such as Lucy's summons to appear before HUAC because she had been a registered Communist, and her role in bringing such shows to the air as _Star Trek_. Lucy was increasingly anxious even during the height of her success. Her marriage failed, and she had fitting worries as her children tried being adults. She had a phobia about birds and about dirt, and she was a prig, fretting over the morals of movies and upbraiding Marlon Brando for _Last Tango in Paris_. Spinoffs after "I Love Lucy" were derivative failures, and her movies, except for _Yours, Mine, and Ours_, were embarrassments. Toward the end of her career as at the beginning, she just did not fit; but it was a glorious second act. Kanfer, who wrote an excellent biography of Groucho (who along with Harpo and Zeppo has a cameo in this book), has loaded it with facts and anecdotes that anyone who likes Lucy reruns will enjoy. He has not been able to explain just where Lucy's amazing gift for an almost universally enjoyed brand of comedy came from. No one could do that. She had more than her share of failures and disappointments, but harnessing that gift was her main aspiration in life. The best part of her energies went to acting happy in a television marriage and acting a manic fool in improbable situations with which everyone could identify. She had a decidedly sad life overall, but increased the world's mirth. _Ball of Fire_ helps fans appreciate how much of a gift that was.
Rating:
Summary: What a pity.
Review: My esteem for Lucille Ball fell while reading this book. And I don't think it's her fault, I think it was Kanfer's. He doesn't miss a chance to give you the overall impression that she was not in charge of her own life. Anybody who ever saw Lucy knows that she was a woman who had her own demons, but it takes a biographer like Kanfer to show just how much the terrible past reached out its claws and choked her life free of pleasure and fun. To the outside, she gave a vivid impression of a daffy screwball, but to those who attempted to get close to her, she couldn't help revealing the tightly wound, neurotic worrywart. Her relationship with Ginger Rogers was just about the only one she found a jot of comfort in, and Kanfer makes it seem as if she reached out to Ginger as a way to complete her education. All her life she was made to feel inferior to other people. Even marrying an immigrant did nothing for her self-esteem, for he wound up cheating on her. What did Lucille Ball do to deserve such a constricted, joyless life or such an inept and colorless biographer? What a pity.
Rating:
Summary: What a pity.
Review: My esteem for Lucille Ball fell while reading this book. And I don't think it's her fault, I think it was Kanfer's. He doesn't miss a chance to give you the overall impression that she was not in charge of her own life. Anybody who ever saw Lucy knows that she was a woman who had her own demons, but it takes a biographer like Kanfer to show just how much the terrible past reached out its claws and choked her life free of pleasure and fun. To the outside, she gave a vivid impression of a daffy screwball, but to those who attempted to get close to her, she couldn't help revealing the tightly wound, neurotic worrywart. Her relationship with Ginger Rogers was just about the only one she found a jot of comfort in, and Kanfer makes it seem as if she reached out to Ginger as a way to complete her education. All her life she was made to feel inferior to other people. Even marrying an immigrant did nothing for her self-esteem, for he wound up cheating on her. What did Lucille Ball do to deserve such a constricted, joyless life or such an inept and colorless biographer? What a pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Good and straightforward
Review: This was the first and so far only biography I read of Lucille Ball; I found it to be good. It covers her life from childhood to death and discusses everything that seems important: her years starting out in modeling and show business in New York, moving to Los Angeles, meeting Desi, starting the show that became so famous, Desilu studios, the breakup with Desi, her later years. I would've liked to read more about her kids and her relationship with them, but it's her biography, not theirs, and maybe that kind of information isn't forthcoming to a biographer. I would've liked more photos, too. But I shut the book feeling that I've gotten a good solid basis for my Lucille Ball education. This seems like a good book from which to go on to others.
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