W C Fields: His Follies and Fortunes

by Robert Taylor

Paperback

Published January 1, 1950

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[John L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I disagree with the first reviewer. This is a lively, sparkling work with lots of laughs, many in the style of offbeat humor associated with its subject. The context and comments indicate whether a tale is fact or fiction and a little embellishment or exaggeration doesn't hurt a good story! Fields' "terrible treatment" isn't "made light of", but is described honestly and without apology.
An unusual aspect of this biography is that the only addition to the 340 pages of text is a list of illustrations. No prelude, introduction, footnotes or endnotes, sources, bibliography, acknowledgements, or index. There isn't even a table of contents!
Nevertheless, this is an entertaining read and recommended.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can dig through the awful writing—by a man who doesn’t try too hard to separate fact from fiction, and who makes light of Fields’ terrible treatment of most everyone around him—you’ll get a sense of how Fields managed to survive an impoverished, love-starved childhood and grow into an unhappy, alcoholic comic genius. Read it alongside Harpo Speaks to get a clear picture of how grim a life in vaudeville could be.