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Niagara Falls All Over Again
By turns graceful and knowing, funny and moving, Niagara Falls All Over Again is the latest masterwork by National Book Award finalist and author of The Giant’s House, Elizabeth McCracken.
Spanning the waning years of vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood, Niagara Falls All Over Again chronicles a flawed, passionate friendship over thirty years, weaving a powerful story of family and love, grief and loss. In it, McCracken introduces her most singular and affecting Mose Sharp — son, brother, husband, father, friend ... and straight man to the fat guy in baggy pants who utterly transforms his life.
To the paying public, Mose Sharp was the arch, colorless half of the comedy team Carter and Sharp. To his partner, he was charmed and charming, a confirmed bachelor who never failed at love and romance. To his father and sisters, Mose was a prodigal son. And in his own heart and soul, he would always be a boy who once had a chance to save a girl’s life — a girl who would be his first, and greatest, loss.
Born into a Jewish family in small-town Iowa, the only boy among six sisters, Mose Sharp couldn’t leave home soon enough. By sixteen Mose had already joined the vaudeville circuit. But he knew one thing from the “I needed a partner,” he recalls. “I had always needed a partner.”
Then, an ebullient, self-destructive comedian named Rocky Carter came crashing into his life — and a thirty-year partnership was born. But as the comedy team of Carter and Sharp thrived from the vaudeville backwaters to Broadway to Hollywood, a funny thing happened amid the It wasMose who had all the best lines offstage.
Rocky would go through money, women, and wives in his restless search for love; Mose would settle down to a family life marked by fragile joy and wrenching tragedy. And soon, cracks were appearing in their complex relationship ... until one unforgivable act leads to another and a partnership begins to unravel.
In a novel as daring as it is compassionate, Elizabeth McCracken introduces an indelibly drawn cast of characters — from Mose’s Iowa family to the vagabond friends, lovers, and competitors who share his dizzying journey — as she deftly explores the fragile structures that underlie love affairs and friendships, partnerships and families.
An elegiac and uniquely American novel, Niagara Falls All Over Again is storytelling at its finest — and powerful proof that Elizabeth McCracken is one of the most dynamic and wholly original voices of her generation.
Spanning the waning years of vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood, Niagara Falls All Over Again chronicles a flawed, passionate friendship over thirty years, weaving a powerful story of family and love, grief and loss. In it, McCracken introduces her most singular and affecting Mose Sharp — son, brother, husband, father, friend ... and straight man to the fat guy in baggy pants who utterly transforms his life.
To the paying public, Mose Sharp was the arch, colorless half of the comedy team Carter and Sharp. To his partner, he was charmed and charming, a confirmed bachelor who never failed at love and romance. To his father and sisters, Mose was a prodigal son. And in his own heart and soul, he would always be a boy who once had a chance to save a girl’s life — a girl who would be his first, and greatest, loss.
Born into a Jewish family in small-town Iowa, the only boy among six sisters, Mose Sharp couldn’t leave home soon enough. By sixteen Mose had already joined the vaudeville circuit. But he knew one thing from the “I needed a partner,” he recalls. “I had always needed a partner.”
Then, an ebullient, self-destructive comedian named Rocky Carter came crashing into his life — and a thirty-year partnership was born. But as the comedy team of Carter and Sharp thrived from the vaudeville backwaters to Broadway to Hollywood, a funny thing happened amid the It wasMose who had all the best lines offstage.
Rocky would go through money, women, and wives in his restless search for love; Mose would settle down to a family life marked by fragile joy and wrenching tragedy. And soon, cracks were appearing in their complex relationship ... until one unforgivable act leads to another and a partnership begins to unravel.
In a novel as daring as it is compassionate, Elizabeth McCracken introduces an indelibly drawn cast of characters — from Mose’s Iowa family to the vagabond friends, lovers, and competitors who share his dizzying journey — as she deftly explores the fragile structures that underlie love affairs and friendships, partnerships and families.
An elegiac and uniquely American novel, Niagara Falls All Over Again is storytelling at its finest — and powerful proof that Elizabeth McCracken is one of the most dynamic and wholly original voices of her generation.
308 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
47 people are currently reading
1592 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth McCracken
46 books955 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is married to the novelist Edward Carey, with whom she has two children - August George Carey Harvey and Matilda Libby Mary Harvey. An earlier child died before birth, an experience which formed the basis for McCracken's memoir, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination.
McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, and holds a degree in library science from Simmons College, a women's college in Boston. McCracken currently lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she is an artist-in-residence at Skidmore College. She is the sister of PC World magazine editor-in-chief Harry McCracken.
Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is married to the novelist Edward Carey, with whom she has two children - August George Carey Harvey and Matilda Libby Mary Harvey. An earlier child died before birth, an experience which formed the basis for McCracken's memoir, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination.
McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, and holds a degree in library science from Simmons College, a women's college in Boston. McCracken currently lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she is an artist-in-residence at Skidmore College. She is the sister of PC World magazine editor-in-chief Harry McCracken.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
November 28, 2010
I came to this book at exactly the right time; I needed a book I could sink into. It's not radical or experimental, it won't change the direction of modern fiction or transform your view of the possibilities of narrative. But it's really, really good. It was a pure pleasure to read. The characterisation was wonderfully convincing. It tells the story of Carter and Sharp, a comedy team like Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy, a fat funny man and skinny straight man. Mose (known as Mike professionally) Sharp, who supplies the first-person narrative, was the straight man. He tells the story of his life-- a childhood in a large Jewish family in a small town in Iowa, escape from smothering expectations to the vaudeville stage, and a long, successful career with Rocky Carter. He takes us to the worlds of vaudeville and mid-century Hollywood, through marriages and family and the strains and pleasures of his working and personal relationship with Rocky. I enjoyed every word of this book, even got teary towards the end. The most straightforward pleasure I've gotten from a book in ages.
July 25, 2008
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. This is the story of a mid-twentieth century comedy act, told by the straight man. They start out in vaudeville and we learn about the arc of their success.
It's a very tenderly told story of companionship and love, dependence and emancipation. It's marvelous, I highly recommend this book.
This would make a great reading trilogy combined with Carter Beats the Devil and Water for Elephants - all are about people who work in the "golden age" of entertainment, and all have warm, rich stories and deep, thoughtful characters.
It's a very tenderly told story of companionship and love, dependence and emancipation. It's marvelous, I highly recommend this book.
This would make a great reading trilogy combined with Carter Beats the Devil and Water for Elephants - all are about people who work in the "golden age" of entertainment, and all have warm, rich stories and deep, thoughtful characters.
July 1, 2020
A nice lite read to break up some of my more intense choices. McCracken brings the end of vaudeville and Hollywood's Golden Age to light in lovely detail. I don't often read about male friendships so that was also a treat for me.
April 28, 2010
Loved this book. I remember it had a great quote in it, about when you dream that a loved one who has died is alive, and then you wake up to and must realize all over again that the loved one is still dead: "I never know if it's the meanest trick God plays on us, or the purest form of his love."
October 1, 2019
I picked this up kinda hoping for a fiction version of Harpo Speaks or any number of other biographies I've read or meant to read on comedians from the golden age of Hollywood, and I must say, overall, it delivered.
Now, this will never be as brilliant as the real thing. It can't be. I'm well aware of the lives the real comedians of those times had. This is a great story though, and feels mostly authentic, name dropping when appropriate, but never to the point of riding on the talent associated with those names. The are mentioned mostly in passing to give a bit of context to whatever year or time period it happens to be in the life of the main character, Mose Sharp.
I will say that the story does stretch the limits of believability at times, especially near the end, but considering this is a story about comedians in the first half of the century, I can let a lot of it slide, much like I can some of the stories I've heard from real ones in books and interviews over the years. Besides, every single stretch suits the plot and the characters almost perfectly so who am I to complain.
So yeah, it's a great book on it's own merits. Even better if you're a fan of golden age comedy, and especially if you want to feel that time period again and have already read all the biographies and autobiographies that are out there. This will never replace those, but it's the next best thing.
Now, this will never be as brilliant as the real thing. It can't be. I'm well aware of the lives the real comedians of those times had. This is a great story though, and feels mostly authentic, name dropping when appropriate, but never to the point of riding on the talent associated with those names. The are mentioned mostly in passing to give a bit of context to whatever year or time period it happens to be in the life of the main character, Mose Sharp.
I will say that the story does stretch the limits of believability at times, especially near the end, but considering this is a story about comedians in the first half of the century, I can let a lot of it slide, much like I can some of the stories I've heard from real ones in books and interviews over the years. Besides, every single stretch suits the plot and the characters almost perfectly so who am I to complain.
So yeah, it's a great book on it's own merits. Even better if you're a fan of golden age comedy, and especially if you want to feel that time period again and have already read all the biographies and autobiographies that are out there. This will never replace those, but it's the next best thing.
November 23, 2022
I kept putting off reading this one, but I finally got around to it because I'm getting rid of Scribd in a few days and I didn't want to waste the opportunity. I'm really glad I did! It was a great story about a fictional vaudeville act (think Laurel and Hardy) from their inception to well past their expiration date. If you have any interest in that era, definitely consider checking it out.
July 22, 2010
The Golden Age of Hollywood will always be lovingly remembered for the emergence of the comedy duo. Those were the days of Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and even the team of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. The formula for a good comedy duo was quite simple: one half of it was the buffoon, who delivered all the physical gags, and the remaining half was the straight man, who tried to remain unfazed by the former's antics. The formula worked so well that the trend even lasted through the sixties where the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ruled supreme.
Elizabeth McCracken gives a hilarious and touching story of such a pairing in Niagara Falls All Over Again. She generously serves a deliciously wicked and heart-warming memoir narrated by the straight half of a fictional comedy duo from that memorable Golden Era. It is a story of a professional partnership and an enduring friendship that started from their early days in vaudeville during the Great Depression, through their first taste of Hollywood during the Second World War, and onwards through America's journey into maturity as they decline into obscurity. I also like the way McCracken presents her characters with so much depth and dimension that it makes one realize that in life, one should look beyond stereotypes and that inconsistency in one's character is what makes us human after all.
Elizabeth McCracken gives a hilarious and touching story of such a pairing in Niagara Falls All Over Again. She generously serves a deliciously wicked and heart-warming memoir narrated by the straight half of a fictional comedy duo from that memorable Golden Era. It is a story of a professional partnership and an enduring friendship that started from their early days in vaudeville during the Great Depression, through their first taste of Hollywood during the Second World War, and onwards through America's journey into maturity as they decline into obscurity. I also like the way McCracken presents her characters with so much depth and dimension that it makes one realize that in life, one should look beyond stereotypes and that inconsistency in one's character is what makes us human after all.
November 7, 2007
I started this book several years ago, got sidetracked into other ventures and picked it up again last month. Elizabeth McCracken is another graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Ann Patchett is another, and the two are friends. I saw mention of McCracken in an interview of Ann Patchett some years ago, and read McCracken's novel, The Giant's House, as well as a collection of short stories, Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry? I recommend those books, as well as Niagara Falls.
McCracken works the inward lives of her characters in deceptively smooth and unhurried style. Much happens to her characters, all presented in careful detail, each fact and comment building the understanding of that character in the reader. Events happen, provoke reactions, life rolls along through disasters, marriages, tragedies large and small. The story is told from the point of view of Mose Sharp, the straight man to Rocky Carter in a vaudeville act strongly resembling Laurel and Hardy. Following the odd partnership and nearly familial relationship forged over a long career for the two men provides a story of the accumulated small facts and random chances that build two lives, and eventually separate them.
Read the book, you won't be sorry.
McCracken works the inward lives of her characters in deceptively smooth and unhurried style. Much happens to her characters, all presented in careful detail, each fact and comment building the understanding of that character in the reader. Events happen, provoke reactions, life rolls along through disasters, marriages, tragedies large and small. The story is told from the point of view of Mose Sharp, the straight man to Rocky Carter in a vaudeville act strongly resembling Laurel and Hardy. Following the odd partnership and nearly familial relationship forged over a long career for the two men provides a story of the accumulated small facts and random chances that build two lives, and eventually separate them.
Read the book, you won't be sorry.
August 4, 2020
I admired this book, was impressed with the detail and the research and the author’s depiction of a male friendship throughout a lifetime....but I wish she’d had a stricter editor as there many repeats and slow moments which left me not willing to put it down, but wanting it to be over. As with BOWLAWAY, I admired it, but was not fully engaged.
June 10, 2024
Elizabeth McCracken's prose style is clipped, confident, and full of wisdom; she's a pro. I loved The Giant's House, and I think I must share her fascinations—in this case, vaudeville and the early days of Hollywood. This is one of those stories that rambles over the course of many decades, narrated by Mose Sharp, the straight man of a famed comedy duo. Like many comics, his life is punctuated with tragedy: the untimely deaths of his mother, infant siblings, and his beloved older sister Hattie; later, his young daughter and his wife. His most complicated relationship is with his comedy partner, the lovable, chubby, hard-drinking Rocky Carter. I wasn't always sure what the book was getting at thematically—comedy vs. tragedy? Loyalty vs. betrayal? Partnerships? Loss? It examines all of those things with nuance, but feels very much like real life in its shrugging non-conclusions. Nevertheless, the ride was extremely enjoyable, and I shed some tears for Mose and for life's many unfair blows.
February 12, 2018
I just couldn’t finish it. I started this book, and while it was ok, it just wasn’t very compelling for me. I stopped to read another book for my book club which totally captivated me and I thought - why finish a book just to finish it when when there are so many more enjoyable books to read? If you liked the book, good for you! That’s really the purpose for reading, isn’t it? Read what you enjoy, let the others go, don’t judge someone else’s taste!
July 2, 2022
One of the best novels about the ties that bind that I've ever read. The relationship between Mose and Rocky is complex and consuming. McCracken's narrator Mose feels so real that I almost don't believe I just read a work of fiction.
August 3, 2019
This book cast some kind of beautiful spell on me and I'm not mad about it at all. It's comic and tragic and realistic and charming as all get out. I feel the need to read every word written by this author now because she's a force.
June 30, 2024
It was a fun read-love and pathos behind a vaudeville comedy team, possibly Laurel & Hardy?
November 14, 2021
Stretching from the days of Vaudeville to early Hollywood, McCracken’s novel follows the lives of the comedy team Rocky Carter and Mose Sharp. I loved it. McCracken excels at storytelling and examining the grief we feel forever and can never escape.
January 2, 2013
Elizabeth McCracken's novel, Niagara Falls All Over Again, is the complete package: strong plot, well developed characters, and several story lines which tie together well. There are so many ways in which this novel could have gone wrong, the fact that MckCracken pulls it off is a testament to her skill.
The novel is told to us by Moses Sharp, and Midwestern Jewish boy from a small town, who grows up to be the straight man in a highly successful comedy team. From his time on the vaudeville circuit, where he meets Rocky Carter, the driving force in his life, to his retirement from the entertainment business after making countless B-grade movies, we follow Moses throughout. Moses comes from a large family of sisters, but none dearer than Hattie, with whom he plans to go into show business. When that is no longer possible, he faces the choice of taking over his father's clothing store (as expected), or heading out on his own.
He heads out and McCracken gives us a wonderful look at the vaudeville circuit as it was beginning to die. The hope and despair, the bizarre acts, the ability to improvise, and the dependence on each other, all show through. We follow Carter and Sharp, who resemble Laurel and Hardy in their descriptions (although they too are mentioned in the book), as they go to Hollywood and strike it rich. Professionally. Their personal lives are a different story and they take different directions, but to avoid giving away too much, I'll leave you to the novel.
While are there are many elements of the book to praise, McCracken's creation of Moses Sharp is the best. He is an intricately drawn person, especially tricky to do since he is the narrator. But he is an honest narrator and we see him for what he is -- a good man with a not always good life and not always exemplary behavior. In other words, he is real.
I've praised McCracken's novel, The Giant's House, in another post. It is clear that she is a voice to not only read more of, but one we can watch for as she continues to create.
The novel is told to us by Moses Sharp, and Midwestern Jewish boy from a small town, who grows up to be the straight man in a highly successful comedy team. From his time on the vaudeville circuit, where he meets Rocky Carter, the driving force in his life, to his retirement from the entertainment business after making countless B-grade movies, we follow Moses throughout. Moses comes from a large family of sisters, but none dearer than Hattie, with whom he plans to go into show business. When that is no longer possible, he faces the choice of taking over his father's clothing store (as expected), or heading out on his own.
He heads out and McCracken gives us a wonderful look at the vaudeville circuit as it was beginning to die. The hope and despair, the bizarre acts, the ability to improvise, and the dependence on each other, all show through. We follow Carter and Sharp, who resemble Laurel and Hardy in their descriptions (although they too are mentioned in the book), as they go to Hollywood and strike it rich. Professionally. Their personal lives are a different story and they take different directions, but to avoid giving away too much, I'll leave you to the novel.
While are there are many elements of the book to praise, McCracken's creation of Moses Sharp is the best. He is an intricately drawn person, especially tricky to do since he is the narrator. But he is an honest narrator and we see him for what he is -- a good man with a not always good life and not always exemplary behavior. In other words, he is real.
I've praised McCracken's novel, The Giant's House, in another post. It is clear that she is a voice to not only read more of, but one we can watch for as she continues to create.
January 13, 2015
Hmmm. This story is about a a couple of vaudeville guys who work together for over twenty years. They start out on the stage, moving from one small venue to the next. They move on to radio, then the movies, and finally television. As one can imagine, their relationship was complicated: part married couple part friends, part rivals (both loved attention). They fought, they didn't speak, they got back together.
The title comes from a skit the Three Stooges did. My brothers and I re-enacted that bit ad nauseum, but without the slapping. Ni-A-Gra Falls! I went online to watch it and I stumble upon a documentary on Abbott and Costello. Carter and Sharp were Abbott and Costello! McCracken does the standard disclaimer that any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,events, or locales is entirely coincidental. But...
Rocky Carter makes his voice higher because on the radio people couldn't differentiate them. Lou Costello did the same thing. Sure, she mixes it up a bit. In the book, Rocly Carter, the funny guy, has a drinking problem. In real life, Bud Abbott, the straight man had a drinking problem. This did not feel entirely coincidental to me. This really took away from my enjoyment of the book. When I thought it was all McCracken, I really liked what she did. After watching the documentary, I felt a little betrayed.
The title comes from a skit the Three Stooges did. My brothers and I re-enacted that bit ad nauseum, but without the slapping. Ni-A-Gra Falls! I went online to watch it and I stumble upon a documentary on Abbott and Costello. Carter and Sharp were Abbott and Costello! McCracken does the standard disclaimer that any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,events, or locales is entirely coincidental. But...
Rocky Carter makes his voice higher because on the radio people couldn't differentiate them. Lou Costello did the same thing. Sure, she mixes it up a bit. In the book, Rocly Carter, the funny guy, has a drinking problem. In real life, Bud Abbott, the straight man had a drinking problem. This did not feel entirely coincidental to me. This really took away from my enjoyment of the book. When I thought it was all McCracken, I really liked what she did. After watching the documentary, I felt a little betrayed.
May 8, 2009
While I didn't like this book as much as The Giant's House, I still really liked it. There's just something about McCracken's writing that lures me in every time, and keeps me reading.
I liked to see myself feeling compassionate for "the lady's man" and then seeing him turn into a family man, giving up his long-time partner and his stardom for what is really important--his family. There was something very touching about journeying through Mose Sharp's life. Despite his failures and inadequacies, you couldn't help but love this guy.
The world of vaudeville isn't something I knew much about before reading this. My only comparison is Abbott & Costello (which my dad adored), so that's how I pictured Rocky and Mose, as Abbott and Costello, and if I must add, I read this with an emotional attachment: I can still hear my dad laughing at the slapstick humor when he used to watch Abbott & Costello.
This vaudeville comedy seems so different from the comedy that we have now, but this is what people loved once upon a time, and I'm glad I got to enjoy a piece of it in this story.
I liked to see myself feeling compassionate for "the lady's man" and then seeing him turn into a family man, giving up his long-time partner and his stardom for what is really important--his family. There was something very touching about journeying through Mose Sharp's life. Despite his failures and inadequacies, you couldn't help but love this guy.
The world of vaudeville isn't something I knew much about before reading this. My only comparison is Abbott & Costello (which my dad adored), so that's how I pictured Rocky and Mose, as Abbott and Costello, and if I must add, I read this with an emotional attachment: I can still hear my dad laughing at the slapstick humor when he used to watch Abbott & Costello.
This vaudeville comedy seems so different from the comedy that we have now, but this is what people loved once upon a time, and I'm glad I got to enjoy a piece of it in this story.
February 2, 2013
Picked this up from the library after seeing Cranky's 4 star rating and seeing someone else comment "if you like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, you may like this".
Both novels follow the stories of two young men in the entertainment industry in the first half of the 20th century, but this novel is more concrete and a bit more humourous. Not surprising, as the main characters are a comedy duo (Carter and Sharp) who start their careers in vaudeville, then move on to radio, the movies and even television before their partnership unravels. The characters are incredibly well-drawn, with the story told mostly in flashbacks by Mose Sharp, the straightman of the duo. It's a moving story, with some gorgeous writing: "Love is an animal that can - with a great deal of patience - be taught to sleep in the house. That doesn't mean it won't kill you if you aren't careful." I'll keep an eye out for this in the Amazon Daily Deal, as well as used bookstores and may check out more of McCracken's work.
Both novels follow the stories of two young men in the entertainment industry in the first half of the 20th century, but this novel is more concrete and a bit more humourous. Not surprising, as the main characters are a comedy duo (Carter and Sharp) who start their careers in vaudeville, then move on to radio, the movies and even television before their partnership unravels. The characters are incredibly well-drawn, with the story told mostly in flashbacks by Mose Sharp, the straightman of the duo. It's a moving story, with some gorgeous writing: "Love is an animal that can - with a great deal of patience - be taught to sleep in the house. That doesn't mean it won't kill you if you aren't careful." I'll keep an eye out for this in the Amazon Daily Deal, as well as used bookstores and may check out more of McCracken's work.
October 28, 2022
This is the "memoir" of Mose Sharp, a Jewish boy from Iowa who decides to make it big in Vaudeville. He struggles for a while but then he becomes the straight man to Rocky Carter, a loveable overweight comedian and the two of them eventually hit it big.
While Rocky is the more popular one and the more funny one, Mose is the one who strikes it big off screen, getting married and finding stability. As their careers hit ups and downs and tragedies come and go in their personal lives, the friendship is tested.
This book is written from Mose's perspective so you have to remember that you're getting a flawed view, but I enjoyed it. I loved the characters and the descriptions of the tired clubs and the tired vaudeville performers. It was a very emotive story and one that left you wondering.
It's hard for me to like Rocky. Everyone seems to love him but he didn't strike me as particularly nice or kind. Again, this is from Sharp's perspective, but he even loved and defended Rocky when I found it difficult.
This is a drama about bromance before that was even a thing. It makes me curious about real life duos - such as Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello.
While Rocky is the more popular one and the more funny one, Mose is the one who strikes it big off screen, getting married and finding stability. As their careers hit ups and downs and tragedies come and go in their personal lives, the friendship is tested.
This book is written from Mose's perspective so you have to remember that you're getting a flawed view, but I enjoyed it. I loved the characters and the descriptions of the tired clubs and the tired vaudeville performers. It was a very emotive story and one that left you wondering.
It's hard for me to like Rocky. Everyone seems to love him but he didn't strike me as particularly nice or kind. Again, this is from Sharp's perspective, but he even loved and defended Rocky when I found it difficult.
This is a drama about bromance before that was even a thing. It makes me curious about real life duos - such as Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello.
June 6, 2008
One of my all time favorite books. I've listened to the recorded version twice and own a copy, so I know I will again. It's a fictional story of a comedy team, Carter and Sharp (in the vein of Abbottt and Costello or Laurel & Hardy)written as a memoir by the straight man, Mose Sharp. McCracken knows her stuff - she throws in references to lots of comedy performers of the time, from the famous (Chaplin) to the obscure (Clark & McCullough.) George Guidall's narration felt like he was telling you the story while you sat on a park bench. The book felt so real and true that I was tempted to look in my Pictorial History of the Talkies for a picture of Carter & Sharp.
May 16, 2010
Niagara Falls All Over Again was a total surprise to me. I thought it would be about upstate New York because of its title, but it was set mostly in Iowa and Hollywood. I didn't expect to like this book, because I wasn't a fan of The Giant's House, and also because this one is about Vaudeville and I've always hated slapstick, Three Stooges, Stan and Ollie, clowns, etc. But I really loved it!
Elizabeth McCracken has such a way with creating living breathing characters, she made this Vaudeville duo Rocky Carter and Mose Sharp about so much more than just what they do for a living, I loved their back stories and family histories.
Elizabeth McCracken has such a way with creating living breathing characters, she made this Vaudeville duo Rocky Carter and Mose Sharp about so much more than just what they do for a living, I loved their back stories and family histories.
February 7, 2014
**** 1/2
I really loved this book and I wish more people knew Elizabeth McCracken. I found her by chance when I read The Giant's House several years ago, a book that has always stayed with me.
In Niagara Falls All Over Again, McCracken creates very real characters and I especially fell for Mike/Mose, the narrator of the story. The story of his relationships, especially the one with his partner Rocky, felt so real with all of the ups and downs real life relationships face. There is a lot of grief but also a lot of joy. Definitely recommended, especially if you like stories of vaudeville and old Hollywood.
I really loved this book and I wish more people knew Elizabeth McCracken. I found her by chance when I read The Giant's House several years ago, a book that has always stayed with me.
In Niagara Falls All Over Again, McCracken creates very real characters and I especially fell for Mike/Mose, the narrator of the story. The story of his relationships, especially the one with his partner Rocky, felt so real with all of the ups and downs real life relationships face. There is a lot of grief but also a lot of joy. Definitely recommended, especially if you like stories of vaudeville and old Hollywood.
June 7, 2007
This just happened to push all my story buttons - love and dysfunctional families, the thin to disappearing line between love and the closest partnerships/frienships, to name a few - and it was funny and amusing and yet broke my heart in several ways
January 2, 2009
If you liked The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, you'll enjoy this book. McCracken develops a complicated and wonderful relationship between the comedy duo of Carter and Sharp, and follows them as their lives unfold, while bringing you into the world of vaudeville.
January 19, 2019
Reading this book was a delight from beginning to end, like hearing tales of old vaudeville from a veteran hoofer. My friend Connie Ogle recommended this book, and I'm glad I listened to her.
The story is told by one half of a famous comedy duo clearly modeled on Abbott & Costello, with a touch of Laurel & Hardy thrown in. Our narrator is Moses "Mike" Sharp, a Midwestern Jew who plays the straight man in the team of Clark & Sharp. The other half is Rocky Clark, an Irish polymath, who will do nearly anything for a laugh.
McCracken begins the story with Mike describing an outlandish scene in one of the Clark and Sharp movies, slapstick and slapdash affairs that didn't shy away from pure silliness. Then he rewinds to tell us of his Iowa upbringing, the tragic event that pushed him to run away from home and try his luck at performing, his many misfires, his descriptions of some memorable vaude performers, and then his accidental but fateful meeting with Clark.
From there the story really takes off as the pair take vaudeville by storm, get work in clubs and theaters across the country and then make the jump to Hollywood and radio show fame. Along the way they form a tight bond, although they clash some as well, just like the pairs they're modeled on. Although Mike's character is dubbed "The Professor," Rocky's usually the one instructing him on life and love and comic timing. The dialogue between the two is sparkling and funny, and the tone of the book offers, as Publishers Weekly put it, "a delicate balance of black humor, irony and pathos."
There were a couple of moments in the plot where I thought, "Oh, of course that happens now," but the climax of the story took me by surprise, and then the aftermath played out in a way I hadn't expected either. While I enjoyed the rollicking storyline a lot, I wondered afterward, though, if the book seemed so enjoyable because it didn't make me think too much between the laughs. Either way, I plan to track down her other, better known novel, "The Giant's House," and also check out her new one that's being published next month, "Bowlaway."
The story is told by one half of a famous comedy duo clearly modeled on Abbott & Costello, with a touch of Laurel & Hardy thrown in. Our narrator is Moses "Mike" Sharp, a Midwestern Jew who plays the straight man in the team of Clark & Sharp. The other half is Rocky Clark, an Irish polymath, who will do nearly anything for a laugh.
McCracken begins the story with Mike describing an outlandish scene in one of the Clark and Sharp movies, slapstick and slapdash affairs that didn't shy away from pure silliness. Then he rewinds to tell us of his Iowa upbringing, the tragic event that pushed him to run away from home and try his luck at performing, his many misfires, his descriptions of some memorable vaude performers, and then his accidental but fateful meeting with Clark.
From there the story really takes off as the pair take vaudeville by storm, get work in clubs and theaters across the country and then make the jump to Hollywood and radio show fame. Along the way they form a tight bond, although they clash some as well, just like the pairs they're modeled on. Although Mike's character is dubbed "The Professor," Rocky's usually the one instructing him on life and love and comic timing. The dialogue between the two is sparkling and funny, and the tone of the book offers, as Publishers Weekly put it, "a delicate balance of black humor, irony and pathos."
There were a couple of moments in the plot where I thought, "Oh, of course that happens now," but the climax of the story took me by surprise, and then the aftermath played out in a way I hadn't expected either. While I enjoyed the rollicking storyline a lot, I wondered afterward, though, if the book seemed so enjoyable because it didn't make me think too much between the laughs. Either way, I plan to track down her other, better known novel, "The Giant's House," and also check out her new one that's being published next month, "Bowlaway."
June 2, 2017
This book is not mindblowningly inventive or especially magical, but I had a great time reading it and it had a lot of touching moments. Glad I discovered it.
Niagara Falls All Over Again is about fictional comedy duo Carter and Sharp. The story is narrated by Mose Sharp---the "straight man" in the entertaining partnership--- who takes the reader from the days of vaudeville to Hollywood, radio, TV and their washed up years. Although this is about show business, it's more about Rocky Carter and Mose Sharp's long term partnership.
McCracken depicts their complicated and touching friendship with great characterization, nice details and enjoyable to read writing. This isn't a very plot heavy work. Instead it takes the pace of a fictional memoir. By the end I felt like I knew these characters and I was sad to turn the last page and have it all end.
My favorite sections were when she described Mose's sad feelings about the end of vaudeville. It reminded me a lot of how I feel currently working at a newspaper and feeling like the medium is dying despite all of my coworkers and I's best efforts.
This book won't change your life, but it made me happy in a way that wasn't all vapid nonsense.
Niagara Falls All Over Again is about fictional comedy duo Carter and Sharp. The story is narrated by Mose Sharp---the "straight man" in the entertaining partnership--- who takes the reader from the days of vaudeville to Hollywood, radio, TV and their washed up years. Although this is about show business, it's more about Rocky Carter and Mose Sharp's long term partnership.
McCracken depicts their complicated and touching friendship with great characterization, nice details and enjoyable to read writing. This isn't a very plot heavy work. Instead it takes the pace of a fictional memoir. By the end I felt like I knew these characters and I was sad to turn the last page and have it all end.
My favorite sections were when she described Mose's sad feelings about the end of vaudeville. It reminded me a lot of how I feel currently working at a newspaper and feeling like the medium is dying despite all of my coworkers and I's best efforts.
This book won't change your life, but it made me happy in a way that wasn't all vapid nonsense.
April 28, 2021
What a different book -- delightful, surprising, both funny and touching. Narrated by the main character, a charming vaudeville comedian who becomes a Hollywood movie star as part of comedy duo, it's a straight chronological story of his life, from his immigrant grandfather through his own old age. His life is a mix of luck and good fortune seasoned with a bit of tragedy.
A few things did strike me as odd and weakened the book for me. The plot twist at the book's end just didn't ring true for me. (We learn that the real reason Rocky has cut off Mose is because decades earlier Mose had slept with Rocky's wife.) This seemed far-fetched; nothing else in the book supports this.
I was also puzzled how one of the book's greatest tragedies -- the death of his toddler daughter -- carried so little emotional impact in the book. While the narrator/main character describes experiencing tremendous grief, the tragedy is just one of those things, eventually taken in stride, just one more thing that happens in a long life. I almost wonder why it's part of the plot at all; I guess to demonstrate that his family life had its challenges?
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and think McCracken is an excellent writer, especially in terms of character development
A few things did strike me as odd and weakened the book for me. The plot twist at the book's end just didn't ring true for me. (We learn that the real reason Rocky has cut off Mose is because decades earlier Mose had slept with Rocky's wife.) This seemed far-fetched; nothing else in the book supports this.
I was also puzzled how one of the book's greatest tragedies -- the death of his toddler daughter -- carried so little emotional impact in the book. While the narrator/main character describes experiencing tremendous grief, the tragedy is just one of those things, eventually taken in stride, just one more thing that happens in a long life. I almost wonder why it's part of the plot at all; I guess to demonstrate that his family life had its challenges?
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and think McCracken is an excellent writer, especially in terms of character development
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2019
I never thought I would enjoy a novel set in Vaudeville, but McCracken's "An Exact Replica" was life-changing and so well written that I wanted to give this a shot. And I'm glad I did.
Mose Sharp knows loss and grief. His mother died when he was a child (as did six of her babies). His favorite sister died when Mose was a teenager, so he left home, unable to face the family store and a settled Iowan life without her.
Vaudeville in the 1920s and 30s - fascinating. McCracken ties the country's woes to the need for entertainment, and then traces how that need changed with the growth of movies. Mose partners with Rocky Carter for a decades-long act in which Rocky was the first billed, better paid funnyman -- but Mose had the family and stability that go beyond performing.
The two are friends, but not. They need each other, but need their independence. And they define success differently, though alike.
This novel is funny, sad, touching, tender, and wistful -- and worth reading.
Mose Sharp knows loss and grief. His mother died when he was a child (as did six of her babies). His favorite sister died when Mose was a teenager, so he left home, unable to face the family store and a settled Iowan life without her.
Vaudeville in the 1920s and 30s - fascinating. McCracken ties the country's woes to the need for entertainment, and then traces how that need changed with the growth of movies. Mose partners with Rocky Carter for a decades-long act in which Rocky was the first billed, better paid funnyman -- but Mose had the family and stability that go beyond performing.
The two are friends, but not. They need each other, but need their independence. And they define success differently, though alike.
This novel is funny, sad, touching, tender, and wistful -- and worth reading.
January 12, 2019
This is the story of two vaudeville performers who become radio, movie, then TV stars. It is told by Mose, the straight man of the team. He relates his childhood, how he came to get involved in show business, how he met Rocky, the funny man of the team, and their relationship throughout their lives.
Well written, bittersweet book: lots of sadness, loss, and death.
It reads like an autobiography, even though it is fiction.
Good for people who are interested in show business, history of entertainment in the 20th century. Lots of name-dropping and references to movies & people I didn't know.
Well written, bittersweet book: lots of sadness, loss, and death.
It reads like an autobiography, even though it is fiction.
Good for people who are interested in show business, history of entertainment in the 20th century. Lots of name-dropping and references to movies & people I didn't know.
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