Rating: 
Summary: The mind can be a terrible place to be confined
Review: Oscar Levant was by far one of the most prominent pianists of the early 20th century. His fame was by no account singularly attributed to his musical success- his neuroses were were part of his biting, acerbic charm. His tale is from a golden age, littered with greats like Gershwin, Chaplin, Astaire, Garland, The Marx's, and the like.This book is a detailed account of Oscar's life, and goes into greater detail of his apprehensions and taboo subjects than previously published in "A Smatttering of Ignorance", or "Memoirs of an Amnesiac".
Rating:
Summary: Remembering an Amnesiac
Review: These two biographers have done a superb job reconstructing a life that Oscar himself was content (for an audience) to remember with zingers and one-liners. Anyone who has read Levant's hugely popular, now out of print, memoirs, knows that Oscar Levant was a sad, strange man with a razor wit and many compulsions and addictions. Perhaps this book's greatest gift is to show that he was also a decent, even sweet and thoughtful, man of great musical talent who deserves remembering.
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