Bob Hope: A Tribute

by Raymond Strait

Bob Hope was an American legend whose wisecracks kept America entertained for more than 60 years. Discover in this biography all the glamour and fun of Bob Hope's fabulous life.

Genres: Nonfiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kirkwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since a young guy in the 60s I've had a weird love/hate relationship with Bob Hope. I've admired his wit (yes, mostly his writers, I know) and delivery, and his cheesy 'Road to ..." movies with Bing (another entertainer who it's difficult to always admire) but been turned off by his strong pro-Vietnam war stance and conservative politics.

In later life I became aware of his womanising which I suspect was based on his position and power and not his charm (or, based on this book, his skills as a lover). His poor wife ...

And his love of a buck was legendary.

After reading this I re-visited an old late 60s Christmas special from his Vietnam tours (on YouTube) and the heavy lashings corn, patriotism and mild cheesecake (via female guests - Raquel Welch must have looked back on these and squirmed just a little) were kind of balanced by the cheers from the servicemen and women in the audience who must have appreciated being remembered.

The book isn't all that well-written, smacking of being the kind of quicky puled together from a range of sources. But the writer does seem to have some experience of the subject peripherally which lent it a little credibility for me.

I'm still torn about the bloke, but he can sure deliver some cracking one-liners.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemed pretty comprehensive of Bob Hope's life - there was an epilogue where the author mentioned that the book was started in 1995 and finished in 1998; it was published in 2003 after Hope passed away so that section began with a brief obituary (the last few decades of his 100-year life felt a little rushed after the author took a steady pace to cover the preceding years, though). I learned a lot about the subject and the national and international events that occurred during his life that I didn't know before, and was reminded why I usually don't read biographies because now I feel like I can't enjoy his work the same way knowing how he treated some of his co-stars, young (sometimes too young) women who were trying to get into Hollywood, and his writers (who supplied almost all his material). His wife Dolores was a saint, and that's all I say about that aspect of his life. The author seemed to editorialize and insert himself a little too much (and the typos in this edition were distracting); however, he also mentioned in the introduction that he would be covering the good and bad parts so it was commendable that as much as the author would praise Hope for his talent, his work with the USO and charities, and caring for his family, he equally would relate the times when Hope's flaws and behavior hurt others and himself. It also was interesting to read about the gradual shift in entertainment trends from vaudeville to radio to movies to television.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus of this is to present Bob Hope in his entirety. The author strives to neither glorify or demean Mr. Hope.You will read about his accomplishments and his mistakes also.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never knew much about Bob Hope except he was patriotic. The more I read the more I realized what a selfish, womanizng, egotistical, pennypinching jerk he was. All those overseas trips were paid for by the taxpayers and he has government planes at his disposal whenever he wanted. And he literally screwed his way through life with no regard to his wife and family. Interesting read though disgusting at times.

[Temptress2536 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest and up front - detailed even in details not savory.

[Ronald · Rating 2 out of 5]

definitely a tell all;read SOMETIME in 2003