My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir by Dick Van Dyke (audio)

Goodreads Book Description:
Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles.

His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van Dyke Show (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s and introduced another major television star, Mary Tyler Moore. But Dick Van Dyke was also an enormously engaging movie star whose films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been discovered by a new generation of fans and are as beloved today as they were when they first appeared. Who doesn’t know the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

A colorful, loving, richly detailed look at the decades of a multilayered life, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, will enthrall every generation of reader, from baby-boomers who recall when Rob Petrie became a household name, to all those still enchanted by Bert’s “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” This is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a “simple song-and-dance man,” but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.

When I was little the Dick Van Dyke Show was one of my favorite shows.  The reruns are still favorites of mine, I especially enjoy watching them nowadays on Netflix - instant gratification.  I grew up on the Dick Van Dyke Show.  Rob and Laura were the perfect married couple to me.  Laura was so pretty and Rob so funny, the whole scenario of the show was just perfect.  I loved the whole idea of being a comedy writer for the Alan Brady Show.  So many of the episodes were a scream.  My particular favorite was the one in which Laura gets her toe stuck in the bathtub faucet at a hotel while on a second honeymoon. 

To say the least, when I heard about this audiobook, I grabbed it and gobbled it up!  Narrated by Dick himself, it's an inside look at his unplanned career and his life in general.  He's a great guy and I really enjoyed learning about him.  He's exactly what I thought he'd be like: a genuinely good man and decent human being.   Listening to him on audiobook, I immediately thought he sounded older than I expected him to sound.  A slight slurring in his speech due to false teeth?  Maybe, maybe not.  Once that initial impression passed, he became the Dick Van Dyke of my memories - aka Rob Petrie.  He's now in his 80's but still working and keeping himself busy and sharp.    It was like having him join me in my kitchen over a cup of coffee and talking, talking, talking.  His narration is natural and easy - conversational and amusing. 

If I had to say there is a theme to Dick Van Dyke's memoirs it's that he marvels at the fact that he wound up in this kind of career and was blessed to be part of such a perfect TV show.  In fact, most of Van Dyke's life is a a charmed one.  He came from a very normal Mid-West sort of background, growing up during the Depression.  His stint in the army reminded me of Rob Petrie's army career.  He began to sing and dance and do his part entertaining troops at the tail end of WWII, though he never went overseas.  He married a home town girl, Margie and haphazardly joined a traveling act lip syncing to popular songs.  Their early married years had their ups and down financially until finally Dick got a few breaks and had a radio show in Atlanta.  From there, he landed a job in New York hosting some game shows until finally he got his big break starring on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie. 

We get Dick's thoughts - and fears - of being in a Broadway show - a star, no less!  He's such a regular guy, I could just imagine what it must have felt like for him, starring with Chita Rivera and Dick Gautier.  The show was a huge success, but success didn't go to his head.  Still, very much a family man, he commuted from Massapequa, Long Island into the city.  By this time, he has a few kids and life is good.  Carl Reiner, the creator of the Dick Van Dyke Show saw Dick in Bye Bye Birdie and knew he was perfect for the role of Rob Petrie.  It was a no brainer.  He brought Dick and his family out to LA and so began TV history.

As Dick says in the first few lines of his book, if you're looking for scandals and tell alls in this book - look elsewhere.  Dick is just about as wholesome as he appears on screen.  If you're familiar with his role as Rob Petrie, then you know what Dick Van Dyke is really like.  He was Rob Petrie!  Over and over everyone says he was simply playing himself.  In addition to his TV career, he made a decision that he would not make any movies that he'd feel uncomfortable watching with his kids.  I admired him for this and sticking to his decision.  It probably prevented him from making a lot more money, but he still made plenty as it is and he had fun doing it too.  Dick honestly really loved his career and had fun.

I found it fascinating when he described making Mary Poppins. I loved him as Bert and for some reason, "Chim Chim Cher-ee" brings tears to my eyes to this day when I hear it.  It's a very nostalgic movie for me, one of my very favorites as a kid.  He mentions more than once what a lousy English accent he had for the role and how strenuous the role was as well.  His first meeting with Walt Disney was memorable and you can't help feeling he was very fortunate to be part of that very special movie.

But, in addition to the good things that happened in Dick's life, there's always a down side to things and one of the things that happened to Dick while in Hollywood was his propensity for drinking.  Before moving to Hollywood, he and his wife didn't drink at all!  But, he fell into the routine (as so many of us do) of having a drink or two after work when you get home.  One drink began to lead to another.  He never really thought he had a drinking problem, he never drank at work or during the day, it was only at home before and after dinner or at parties.  Many would say he was a social drinker.  But, at around the time he started to analyze his life, in his late 40's he realized he had a problem and got help and stopped drinking.  Interesting he chose not to go through AA.  It wasn't easy and he fell off the wagon several times, but eventually he stopped altogether, he just didn't like the way it was making him feel sick.   He stopped smoking too.  Around that same time, he fell in love with another woman.  He didn't expect it or see it coming and though he loved his long time wife, Margie, they had grown apart and wanted different things in life.  She eschewed the Hollywood life and she didn't even want him to act anymore.  She was happiest away from Hollywood, and they lived in Arizona for a long time.  He loved his acting career and longed to talk about it with someone who could relate to it.  That someone wound up being a young woman he got to know, Michelle, who became his partner for the next thirty years until her death from cancer.  (Ironically, she was Lee Marvin's ex-girlfriend who made the word "palimony" a household word.)

Even though Dick and Margie split, he was a gentleman about it, though he felt terribly guilty at first sneaking around behind her back with Michelle.  He made sure Margie was always taken care of for the rest of her life.  They remained friends and he was with her when she too died from cancer.  He's a good father, grandfather and great-grandfather.  I felt terrible for him when he described his eldest granddaughter's heartbreaking death when she was 11 years old from Reye's Syndrome.  He has a big heart and a sense of justice and equality.  No longer as politically active as he was for a time in the 1960's, he still helps many people, visiting and spending time in shelters with the poor and homeless.  I really, really like him!

This is a short audiobook, the book itself is less than 300 pages long.  It only made me like Dick Van Dyke even more.  There are loads of amusing anecdotes and observations in regard to his co-workers, Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam, Carl Reiner, Walt Disney, Julie Andrews, Ann-Margret, Janet Leigh, Jean Stapleton to name a few.  It's a great look at Hollywood and the early days of TV in the 1950's and '60's.  I loved every bit of it, I only wish there had been more of it.  I admit, his later years weren't as interesting to me, since I never watched any of his later TV shows like Diagnosis Murder, but no matter what, he always remained a good man in whatever he did.

Anyone who is a fan of Dick Van Dyke should read or listen to this book, you'll love it too!  How can you not love it? It's Dick Van Dyke!

4/5

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Life: Keith Richards by Keith Richards (audio)

Book Description:
As lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics, and the songs that roused the world. A true and towering original, he has always walked his own path, spoken his mind, and done things his own way. Now at last Richards pauses to tell his story in the most anticipated autobiography in decades. And what a story! Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records in a coldwater flat with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, building a sound and a band out of music they loved. Finding fame and success as a bad-boy band, only to find themselves challenged by authorities everywhere.  Dropping his guitar's sixth string to create a new sound that allowed him to create immortal riffs like those in "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg, Brian Jones's girlfriend.  Arrested and imprisoned for drug possession.  Tax exile in France and recording Exile on Main Street.  Ever-increasing fame, isolation, and addiction making life an ever faster frenzy. Through it all, Richards remained devoted to the music of the band, until even that was challenged by Mick Jagger's attempt at a solo career, leading to a decade of conflicts and ultimately the biggest reunion tour in history.  In a voice that is uniquely and unmistakably him--part growl, part laugh--Keith Richards brings us the truest rock-and-roll life of our times, unfettered and fearless and true.

A little known fact about me, that probably none of you are remotely aware of is I was once a complete Rolling Stone junkie.  I was obsessed as a young teenager.  Posters all over my room, the Stones insignia -that giant red mouth with the shiny lips on my bedroom door...  a lifesize poster of Mick Jagger leering over my bed for everyone driving past our house to see.  What can I say?  I've been in love with the Rolling Stones for over 35 years.  I didn't just love them, I grew up with them, I learned how to play the guitar with them - by them.  Playing Rolling Stones songs as a kid, listening to the songs constantly and then becoming obsessed with them solidified my Stones mania.  Mick and Keith in particular.  I read up on them all I could - is it any wonder I'd drop everything and get this audiobook of Keith's - with Johnny Depp narrating?  Come on - it's a no brainer!

This was an amazing autobiography, love, love, loved it! Keith's story is superbly told. One of the best autobiographies I've read (or listened to).  An in depth view of life from the the resilient, indefatigable Keith Richards. Maestro, backbone, creative heartbeat and soul of the Rolling Stones.  Never would I have imagined that the stoned out, heroine addicted, dark rhythm guitarist had been a choir boy and a boy scout! Tons of revelations on life, on the road, touring, drugs, his relationship with (and without) Mick, his girlfriends, children - even his pets!  But most of all, the heart of it is the ever expanding love of his craft - the guitar and his music.

There are parts that get bogged down a bit in their early years.  If you're not already aware of who the blues and jazz greats of Chicago were at the time, your eyes may glaze over as Keith extols over the greatness of these musicians.  I remember reading  their names way back when during my Stones obsession when I was thirteen or so: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, playing at the Crawdaddy Club.  The early Stones were into rhythm and blues, that was their shtick.  They then morphed into rock n' roll later.

One of the most amazing things Keith reveals is the fact that he was actually a choirboy - and a Boy Scout! It's almost a joke - as if he's putting us on heh, heh, "Let's fuck with their heads and make them think I was a choir boy and a Boy Scout - you think they'll believe it?"  Well, let me raise my hand - I can't help but wonder, "Is he putting us on?"  He was a soprano in a boy's choir in Dartford where he grew up and actually sang before the queen in the 1950's.  On top of that he was really into scouting! He was even a patrol leader and to this day remembers it all - Keith remembers everything!  I was really surprised and loved the accounting of his life. 

In case you're not sure who Keith is, he's the dark horse, mangy, scary looking Stone who plays rhythm guitar while Mick struts across the stage, always in the limelight.  Keith sings, but his speaking voice is gravelly, sexy, nearly incomprehensible.  Yet his singing voice sounds so different!  High and somewhat weak in the early years, he rarely sang except in harmony vocals with Mick.  Never solo.  Many of his songs, particularly on the "Steel Wheels" album are my favorites.  "Can't Be Seen With You" and "Slipping Away" are great.  His voice is good on them too.  He really got into singing more in his later years and it shows.  I can barely stand to listen to Mick on that album now, Keith is so much better and his songs are soulful with some beautiful melodies.  Who'd have thought?  Many of the Stones' great songs were written by Keith, they're his music, while Jagger mostly wrote lyrics, but later on wrote some big hits as well, such as "Miss You."

Keith was pretty cute in his early days of the '60's and '70's, you'd never know it now, with that leathery look about him.  Check out his eyes, they've seen a lot over the years.  I've seen the Stones twice in concert, first time was in 1981 on the "Tattoo You" tour. Keith looked very muscular onstage, I was surprised, I thought he'd look like a wasted heroine addict.  He was off the stuff by then.  Wearing a black leather vest and nothing underneath.  Even from where I was, somewhere back in the crowd on an outdoor day in Philadelphia, he was someone to watch and follow.  Keith was steady, much more than Mick, who was doing all his gyrations and turns and bumps and grinds with  "Start Me Up" blasting.  Keith held my attention, he looked focused and strong.  Mick just looked, well... stupid.  Ah, memories.  The second time I saw them was on their "Steel Wheels" tour around 1989 at the Meadowlands at Giant Stadium.  I remember it was a good concert, but not nearly as memorable as the Philadelphia gig.  I don't even remember what Keith or Mick were wearing at that one - it was at night, outdoors, but I was older and more sedate by then.  We actually had seats at that concert. *grin* I was married, but no kids yet.

Growing up an only child in a poor post-WWII Dartford, Keith got into scouting and singing in the school choir.  But when his voice changed at around age 13 he was booted out of the choir and he was lost.  He became a rebel after that, but still kept with the scouting until he heard Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel and began playing the guitar.  That was it.  His advice on guitar playing really interested me, for his advice is almost exactly what I did growing up.  If you want to learn how to play the guitar, start with the basics and learn on an acoustic.  Then work your way up to steel string and electric.  I only got as far as acoustic with the gut strings (steel hurt my tender fingers too much) but I played and played constantly developing the much needed callouses.  Luckily my older brother was just as into it as I was and he taught me alot.  We'd jam together up on our third floor blasting "Sticky Fingers" and playing "Sway" and "Wild Horses," I was singing and wailing away on  "Dead Flowers" over and over until we got it right.  I was rhythm and my brother was lead.  Hard to believe nowadays.  I was very interested in Keith's trick by tuning his guitar with just five strings to get that quintessential sound.  I play by ear most of the time nowadays and can learn a song simply by hearing it and playing it over and over - the same way Keith learned in his early days playing the guitar!  Lots of craftmanship and hints and instruction abounds throughout his book.  As he says at one point, musicians are always happy to help fellow musicians get it right.  I haven't picked my Yamaha up in years - but I still have the same one I had from 1973-unbroken, no less!  (I think it needs new strings - but that's about it.)  I think it's about time I took that baby out of it's case - I'm so in the mood to jam again!

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Stones you can probably find out in Keith's book.  He pulls no punches and tells is like it is. 

Keith was the real leader of the Stones.  He rounded people up and got them to do stuff.  Of course, during his heroine years, he might keep them waiting around for hours and hours, but he'd make up for it by not going to sleep for days to finish recording a track!  He managed his heroine addiction to a tee, it was quite an art when you think about it.  He's very open about it, I feel like, if the need ever arose, which I don't think it ever will thank-you-very-much, I would know just how to cut heroine - but it would have to be the good stuff.  He lived with heroine for over 10 years, both he and his wife/girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were junkies -what an existence - but they managed it.

Keith's not malicious or spiteful, you can tell, he's just telling the truth about how he saw things.  He's candid about Brian Jones and Mick Jagger - he doesn't hold his feeling back.  He tells you exactly what he thought and still thinks of them.  He basically hated Brian who had a mean streak.  It was refreshing and clear - despite the 10+ years of when he was a heroine addict.  Keith basically comes across as a great guy, a nice guy, a decent guy who just wants to play music and doesn't want to have to deal with egos and one particular member's LVS (lead vocalist syndrome) attempt to branch off to a solo career and undermined a record deal to do it.  Keith is loyal and a friend for life but Mick's subterfuge really pissed him off.  A must for any Stones fan, I cannot recommend it enough.  I also liked the way the audio was set up.  Johnny Depp did most of it as Keith before heroine, and then after heroine.  During the heroine years, the voice is different, narrated by Joe Hurley, a fellow musician.  He's more like Keith's real voice, slurry, sloshy, very British and just plain ... cool.

5/5

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First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life by Eve Brown-Waite

Book Description:
In this laugh-out-loud funny memoir, a pampered city girl falls head over little black heels in love with a Peace Corps poster boy and follows him -”literally -“to the ends of the earth.

Eve Brown always thought she would join the Peace Corps someday, although she secretly worried about life without sushi, frothy coffee drinks and air conditioning. But with college diploma in hand, it was time to put up or shut up. So with some ambivalence she arrives at the Peace Corps office,€sporting her best safari chic attire -“to casually look into the steps one might take if one were to become a global humanitarian, a la Angelina Jolie. But when Eve meets John, her dashing young Peace Corps recruiter, all her ambivalence flies out the window. She absolutely must join the Peace Corps - and win John's heart in the process. Off to Ecuador she goes and - after a year in the jungle - back to the States she runs, vowing to stay within easy reach of a decaf cappuccino for the rest of her days.

But life had other plans. Just as she's getting reacquainted with the joys of toilet paper, John gets a job with CARE and Eve must decide if she's up for life in another third world outpost. Before you can say, "pass the malaria prophylaxis," the couple heads off to Uganda, and the fun really begins-if one can call having rats in your toilet fun. Fortunately, in Eve's case one certainly can, because to her, every experience is an adventure to be embraced and these pages come alive with all of the alternatively poignant and uproarious details.

With wit and candor, First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria chronicles Eve's misadventures as an aspiring do-gooder. From intestinal parasites to getting caught in a civil war, culture clashes to unexpected friendships, here is an honest and laugh-out-loud funny look at the search for love and purpose,”from a woman who finds both in the last place she expected.

I really did enjoy reading this book, even though it took me forever to do it! Buying it on Kindle with every intention of reading it while working out at the gym, I thought I'd breeze through it! Ahem, not exactly, since I haven't been to the gym in over a month! But, I finally decided, I've just got to get into it and finish it, which I did today!

I have a few personal reasons for picking this book up, one is I have a sister who was in the Peace Corps in Iran (to be with the man she wanted to marry and the only way they could go together was if they were married) and I have a "do-gooder" niece who has been all over, not unlike Eve, first in S. America, then in Africa (with the man she loves) and now in India! I found there were many similarities in this book to my niece's story, and I wonder just how many Peace Corps and CARE volunteers really join up because they are head over heels in love and want to go for that reason!

I did laugh out loud reading Eve's memoirs, for one thing, she is the same age as me, and I could so relate, she even got married around the same time I did, and she had her first child the same year I did! I knew where her head was at, despite that I was living in suburban NJ, and she was living in the middle of nowhere in Uganda! This was a great book to give you insight as to what it's like for a city girl in America to suddenly go live in near poverty stricken lands, where no one speaks your language and danger is a way of life. When Eve first goes to Ecuador on her own, it's a bit frightening to her, and she eventually must leave due to the fact she nearly falls apart after a friend is raped and she must come to terms with her own memories of being molested, which she had repressed her whole life. Still, that is a minor part of the story, the main part is her love for John, her Peace Corps poster boy who she marries and goes to Africa with. John - or Saint John as she affectionately refers to him as, was born to be in the Peace Corps or some other similarly humanitarian type of world organization, and Eve willingly goes wherever he leads.

Their life in Uganda is different to say the least. They become friends with many other expats and live in the bush, hardly any electricity or running water, yet they play badminton and tennis daily and drink gin and tonics to keep the malaria away (although Eve still manages to come down with it.) We see Eve change from a total scaredy cat ninny who can't do anything on her own to an experienced young woman and mother who can host a dinner party, buy a fish in a busy marketplace and entertain her inlaws all in one day! Doesn't sound like much, but it's quite a feat in Arua, which is really a dirtwater town. The book is filled him humorous anecdotes and I totally could relate to Eve's squeamishness and fear of many things, as well as her woes as a young mother or the many different smells associated with living it up in the rough during a drought! Thank God she had her husband John and many friends and servants to help her. By the end of their three years in Uganda, she didn't want to leave and it was in her blood (along with the malaria.)

This was a departure for me, but I'm glad I read it to get an eyeful of what it's like living in a third world country. It makes you realize it's possible, yet it also really makes you realize just how poor and behind the times these countries are, and what a long way to go they have to catch up with the rest of the world - or whether it's ever going to be possible. So much of what we take for granted in the West is an absolute luxury in a third world country - this book really points it out and brings it home.

Give this book a try, it's an entertaining read and all true. I'm sure if I had been reading it in regular book form, I would have raced through it, it goes pretty fast, and Eve is very likable and unpretentious as is her writing, not a bit holier than thou or preachy - she's a natural!

4/5

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