Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin

by Joyce Milton

Charlie Chaplin made an amazing seventy-one films by the time he was only thirty-three years old. He was known not only as the world’s first international movie star, but as a comedian, a film director, and a man ripe with scandal, accused of plagiarism, communism, pacifism, liberalism, and anti-Americanism. He seduced young women, marrying four different times, each time to a woman younger than the last. In this animated biography of Chaplin, Joyce Milton reveals to us a life riddled with gossip and a struggle to rise from an impoverished London childhood to the life of a successful American film star. Milton shows us how the creation of his famous character—the Tramp, the Little Fellow—was both rewarding and then devastating as he became obsolete with the changes of time. Tramp is a perceptive, clever, and captivating biography of a talented and complicated man whose life was filled with scandal, politics, and art.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, History, Audiobook, Humor

606 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 21, 1998

About the author

Joyce Milton is the author of several noted juvenile biographies, as well as the prize-winning novel, Save the Loonies.

Reviews

[Anthony Ventrello · Rating 1 out of 5]

It became obvious from page one that the author did not like Chaplin and was doing her best to drag him through the mud. This obviously biased biography was not a joy to read and would leave most Chaplin fans wanting to throw the book at its author.

If you want to read a good book about Chaplin, this is not the one. It is poorly written and the writer obviously used rumors and her own feminist perspective when writing.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very good book but I was put off by the amount of type-o's I found! For example, pg. 175 "Charlie was so furious yhat he fired Ellsworth..." The publisher is Da Capo Press. I wouldn't recommend this version.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was thought to be a good one, but sadly, it was poorly written. A lot was taken from other sources, and it was made to seem like the Chaplin family was a horrible group of people. The bulk of the book was speculation, and there was too much rambling of the tinest of details.

My thoughts:
I felt the author should have gotten to the point.. yes, focus on Chaplin's homelife, but as quick as you can, get to his starting out, and move to his career. Forget the speculation items. I find myself wondering why Ms. Milton wrote the book in the first place. She clearly has no interest in Mr.Chaplin.

Why write something that isn't of interest? we'll never know.


Giving this book one big thumbs down.


Sorry, Joyce Milton.

[Garrett Rowlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One reads this book with fascination for its subject and revulsion (or at least distaste) at the same time. I don't know whether to call Chaplin a person of self-contradiction or a hypocrite. A millionaire who professed to love what we might call today income redistribution, who lived the high life in Beverly Hills, who fought tooth and nail against paying taxes, who sued at the drop of a hat...not to mention his pedophile tendencies...I could go on. Probably the best summation is the author's at the book's end, describing Chaplin as bi-polar. And yet the book is fascinating by showing someone who was born in Victorian England and died during the Carter presidency. Just for the historical scope alone I found the book well worth reading, regardless of my opinion of its subject.

[RYD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Chaplin is a household name and face, but I knew nothing about his leftish politics or his sorted personal life until I read this. It is a really nice character study of him, and gives a good sense of his life and his place in cinema.

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin (1996) by Joyce Milton is a brisk, unsentimental biography that cuts through the myth of Charlie Chaplin to reveal a far more complex and troubling figure. Rather than celebrating the legend, Milton focuses on the tensions that defined him: empathy versus control, vulnerability versus ego. She powerfully links Chaplin’s traumatic childhood with his complex relationships with a manic-depressive mother, vaudeville theater and the infant film industry to the creation of the Tramp, arguing that he “turned the humiliations of poverty into a form of power.” Yet Milton refuses to romanticize his private life, portraying a man who “needed adoration but recoiled from equality,” particularly in his relationships with young women. The book is equally sharp on Chaplin’s politics and exile during the Red Scare, suggesting he “confused his moral intuition with political authority.” Written with wit and moral clarity, Tramp presents Chaplin’s genius without excusing his flaws. It is a clear-eyed, provocative biography that leaves the reader admiring the art while questioning the man. At times Milton comes across as lecturing you in her writing style where she takes the female side on all points so the book does come off as a feminist “I told you so!"

[Sherrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first impression of this book was that it was a very standard, chronological biography of an interesting subject. The author has a very direct, matter-of-fact writing style that isn't particularly exciting, but is perfectly adequate for this kind of book.

But then...the pacing was just so so bad. She spent 100 pages to get from birth to the pinnacle of Chaplin's career. I was caught off guard while reading when she stated that he was now the highest paid man in America (of any profession). Like, what? I've barely started this book. What is going on?

Later, she spent an inordinate amount of time talking about his taxes, lack of taxes, IRS questions about his taxes, INS questions about his taxes, comments about taxes, and communism. It was exhausting. Who reads a book about one of the most famous comedians on earth in order to learn every detail of his taxes?

By the end, I just wanted the book to be over with. Much disappoint, Joyce Milton. Much disappoint.

[Biggus · Rating 1 out of 5]

After 14 hours of listening to a guy who can't read, (with 5 more to go) tell a story in a way that is just plain boring, I pulled the pin. I neither love Chaplin nor hate him, but this book does seem a little biased, and it repeats itself unnecessarily and goes into laborious detail when much could be summarised or skipped.

I really would have thought that the number two (number one being the 'voice' which in this case is fine) prerequisite of being a narrator, would be the ability to read. This guy clearly cannot. Pauses all over the place (new lines maybe?), reading words that aren't there, ridiculous mispronunciations, and the annoying coultn't, woultn't and ditn't wear thin quickly. He often places the stress on the wrong words, and generally demonstrates pretty much everything that an audiobook reader should not do. Or should I say shoultn't.
/sarcasm off

Narrators aside, this just isn't a good book. Look elsewhere, I am sure there are far better books on the man.

[Dennis Vance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly detailed description of Charlie Chaplin. Ms Milton performed comprehensive research as indicted at the end of the book. It is clear Charlie was a very complex person and his fame is justified by the many first rate movies he made. A plus is that as you read the book and come to a movie being discussed, one can easily see that movie on YouTube. For me this really enhanced the reading of the book. Most of his movies were silent pictures and not very long.

There is lots of details about his life, his dealings with actors who might be in one of his movies, his romances and 3 marriages. He was involved in a large number of law suits and problems with taxes in USA. I skipped through some of this since it was more than I wanted to learn about. When it came to his movies, I read that carefully and fully enjoyed them.

[Wayne Sigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story behind one of the greatest artists in Hollywood. loved by millions, troubled by depression and bipolar personality. very good at business, very bazaar behavior in real life at times.

[Lyn Stapleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very so so biography of the great Charlie Chaplin. With such a wealth of material available about Chaplin, I felt that the author didn’t even try to make this biography interesting. It was just a litany of facts. It could have been so much better.

[Alexandria Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my favorite. It was very very slow

[Daniel Lipsher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much information

Exhaustively researched and written, Milton's book is exhausting to read. Somehow she managed to make Charlie Chaplin dull and uninteresting.

[Austin Lugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uninterested in the film life.

Mostly just court cases (which, to be fair, was most of his life).

[Melissa Nicholson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't understand why Ms. Milton even wrote the book. It really showed that she didn't much care for him. A lot of what was written was all based on rumour and no concrete facts. Too much detail was placed on making Chaplin and his family seem like horrible people. Too much about childhood, and not enough about his start and later success. Giving this book one big THUMBS DOWN.

[Ruthanne Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about a very flawed man & his equally flawed sycophants. Charles Chaplin was very talented but he was not a nice man.

[Trav S.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched and written, but she clearly doesn't like Chaplin very much. It's predominantly devoted to his communist pecadilloes and his unfortunate relations with women (as opposed to, say, his films, which are loved the world over). And she preposterously implies (as some do) that after the Mutuals his career was all downhill, which is complete and utter nonsense. Still, it's a point of view, and read in conjunction with other Chaplin biographies it does flesh out your picture of the man.

[Maria Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was a dragging, but informative book. Though a clearly troubled individual the line between genius and madness stands true as Chaplin moves from the streets caring for an insane, drunken mother to the limelight and beyond. Certainly an interesting read for anyone interested in Charlie's extensive and twisting career.

[Mary Poduska · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a lot of typos but overall a good read. It was well researched and held an overwhelming amount of information. I'm a huge Chaplin fan and have drawn inspiration from him for my own films. I don't think the author hated him. He was just a difficult person to work with and be around. That's not a hidden fact the author just came up with. It's been discussed for years.

[Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going to reread at later date ~ this man interests me.