HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Dean and Me: (A Love Story) by James Kaplan
Loading...

Dean and Me: (A Love Story) (edition 2007)

by James Kaplan

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3981963,136 (4.05)3
Love and respect between partners and friends

This book is a very detailed description of how one of comedy's greatest duos came to be - and subsequently parted ways.

Jerry Lewis writes from the heart about his love and respect for Dean Martin, personally and professionally. He elaborates with love how they met, the development of their act, and how they met their disappointing end of the partnership. Lewis is consistently in awe of Martin and how Dean's talent is underestimated in the early part of his career.

Although some of the writing is disjointed and a bit challenging to follow from time to time, the book is quite enjoyable and enlightening. Definitely recommended reading for anyone interested in Hollywood history. ( )
  CRMJones | Jan 4, 2017 |
Showing 19 of 19
Having been a longtime fan of Martin and Lewis - with Dean Martin being more my favourite as I grew up on his tv shows and music - it was really great to get this point of view on their relationship. Basically, reading about it from Jerry's side added a new perspective to what I already knew from Dean's autobiography.
Lots of memories, lots of laughs, and lots of nostalgia for me. A great, if poignant, book. Or as Jerry would say, Pathos. :) ( )
  savageknight | Jul 8, 2022 |
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had heard the rumors but glad I know straight from the horse's mouth the truth. Highly recommended for anyone interested in biographies and old Hollywood. ( )
  mjkutan | Nov 2, 2018 |
Love and respect between partners and friends

This book is a very detailed description of how one of comedy's greatest duos came to be - and subsequently parted ways.

Jerry Lewis writes from the heart about his love and respect for Dean Martin, personally and professionally. He elaborates with love how they met, the development of their act, and how they met their disappointing end of the partnership. Lewis is consistently in awe of Martin and how Dean's talent is underestimated in the early part of his career.

Although some of the writing is disjointed and a bit challenging to follow from time to time, the book is quite enjoyable and enlightening. Definitely recommended reading for anyone interested in Hollywood history. ( )
  CRMJones | Jan 4, 2017 |
A story of unrequitted love and a litany of excuses why or why not some business decisions were made. ( )
  GeneHunter | Mar 13, 2016 |
A story of unrequitted love and a litany of excuses why or why not some business decisions were made. ( )
  GeneHunter | Mar 13, 2016 |
A story of unrequitted love and a litany of excuses why or why not some business decisions were made. ( )
  GeneHunter | Mar 13, 2016 |
A story of unrequitted love and a litany of excuses why or why not some business decisions were made. ( )
  GeneHunter | Mar 13, 2016 |
It's subtitled: "A love story" and that it definitely is. But Lewis's ego gets in the way about 2/3 of the way through ... as the strain in their original partnership has to be explained. Still it's a very good book. ( )
  BookConcierge | Feb 17, 2016 |
This book was fun to read. It was a paean of praise of Dean Martin and what his relationship meant to Jerry. (I played Dean Martin singing in the background while reading this :)

Reading about their breakup was very sad. Lewis described going into their last performance as feeling so choked up it was like he was being chocked without hands. Horrid feeling. Fortunately there was plenty talking about their good times together too.

This book felt like it was coming straight from the lips of Jerry Lewis. So well done to the chap that helped put this together. ( )
  Chris_El | Mar 19, 2015 |
Through his many anecdotes, this book gives an interesting glimpse of our recent past. Jerry Lewis’ stories about the Havana-Madrid, the Copacabana and other famous night clubs, Hollywood, and London (where the McCarthy trials affected his performance) were very interesting to read.

Dean cannot counter any of the stories that Jerry tells about their life together; nonetheless, this book begins and ends showing Jerry’s great admiration for him. I found some of his stories rather puzzling, such as how he overcame an addiction to Percodan. The narrative is certainly full of his personality but overall, it seems to me that Jerry Lewis presents an honest and interesting recollection of events. ( )
  Carlelis | Sep 20, 2014 |
This is a memoir about two people (Martin and Lewis) that find success as a comedy team and break up at the peak of their popularity. The story is told by Jerry Lewis and all the events are retold from his view point.

In the last chapter I could feel the love Lewis held for Martin. Two people can’t work together without some connection, no matter how different they are. Not a bad read and I didn't feel I wasted my time learning their story. ( )
  arning | Oct 16, 2013 |
I could have done without Lewis' constant "Christ!" outbursts and his Holocaust joke ("Pastrami killed more of my people than Hitler"), but for the most part I really enjoyed this book. It does give great insight into the relationship between the two men and makes readers feel as though they're right there, back in the old days when Martin & Lewis ruled the world. ( )
  Eliz12 | Aug 30, 2012 |
A very entertaining book on the relationship between Martin and Lewis. A real page-turner that reveals so much about their relationship. ( )
  Ed_Gosney | Jan 5, 2011 |
My reading of this book has been long overdue and I don't now what took me so long. I can't express just how surprised I was by this book; I expected a lot of bullshit, but I was wrong. The honesty in this book was almost shocking; Jerry didn't hold back. I love the funny stories of him and Dean in the early part of their partnership and marked a few of them to go back and read when I need a laugh. Jerry Lewis has always made me laugh with his Idiot shtick and he made me laugh with the written word.

The admiration and love he had for Dean is unmistakable. He was just as mad as anyone that Dean wasn't getting the respect he deserved. Dean was always a clever and masterful comedian, but in a way that was subtle. He could spew off one-liners without even thinking about it.

The honesty and the love that went into this book is well worth five-stars. The last chapter and afterword had me in tears.

Bravo, Jerry. ( )
1 vote runaway84 | Aug 11, 2009 |
Well written and surprisingly subtle autobiography of Jerry Lewis's days with Dean Martin. It's the kind of book that takes you back through time. You feel as though you are Jerry, just getting started in the unique New York show business world of the 1940s, desperately trying to get a foothold. Then you suddenly discover magical on-stage chemistry with an older, equally ambitious singer. Both of your lives change overnight from hungry wannabe to wealthy superstar. More than just an autobiography, it's a slice of show business history and an insight into the personality and life story of Dean Martin by his closest friend. Jerry was an only child whose Vaudevillian parents were often absent, and he found the older brother he unknowingly craved, in Dean. It is an emotional, funny and dramatic story, unforgettable. Especially vivid is the one time Dean openly revealed his ambitiousness and drive to succeed, after seeing Frank Sinatra brilliantly perform at the Paramount, to the adulation of his fans. He and Jerry sit at a deli after the show , and the not-so-young, struggling singer Dean bangs on the table, saying "That should be me!" ( )
  zigory | Oct 3, 2008 |
Listened to the audio recording a few months ago. I really could not stop listening. Very enjoyable and I'm not a big Martin and Lewis fan. ( )
  kevinpshan | May 16, 2008 |
Detailed, humorous tell-all from Jerry Lewis about Lewis and Martin. xoxoxo ( )
  velvetsnape | Feb 11, 2008 |
Nice anecdotes and some good bittersweet looks at the relationship, but Lewis' famous ego is almost too much to take. Still I recommend it. ( )
1 vote ClydePark | Nov 22, 2006 |
Showing 19 of 19

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.05)
0.5
1
1.5 2
2 2
2.5 1
3 15
3.5 4
4 38
4.5 2
5 31

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,234,453 books! | Top bar: Always visible