Love, Lucy

Print was too small, but enjoyed story.

I had no idea Lucille wrote a book! When I found it I bought it. What a great story teller Lucy was.

I am 35 years old, and I grew up watching and loving "I Love Lucy." As a child, I was fixated on Ms. Ball, and I was disappointed during my adolescence to learn that she was known to be difficult and that she was unliked by many people in the television industry. According to a television movie I saw many years ago, Desi Arnaz was the comic genius, and Lucy was little more than an actress who made funny faces on camera and who bullied people around off camera.I started watching reruns of the show recently and was struck, now from an adult perspective with more experience behind me, at Ball's absolute brilliance as an actress. The "I Love Lucy" scripts often were nothing special, and in my opinion--although Arnaz, Frawley, and especially Vance were quite talented as well--the show really depended on Ball's performance and little else. I've always remembered the Vitameatavegamin episode as the funniest, and I remember laughing uproariously as a child at it, but having just rewatched it several times, I am astounded by Ball's absolutely true-to-life reactions that convey the taste and intoxicating effects of what was most likely just corn syrup.But that's all personal. The only point of the preceding information is to state that I was have had mixed feelings about Lucille Ball for much of my life due to rumors about her place within the entertainment business. "Love, Lucy," though...I mean, wow. Did she write this book herself? If so, Ball was far more than an actor; the back cover quotes someone as stating the memoir is "full of light and laughter," and it absolutely is--that's not just the effect on the reader, but also the tone of the language. Many celebrities hire ghost writers for their books, but if that was the case here, then that writer really captured what feels to be an authentic personal voice that conveys Ball's place in time and country. The stories meander in a way that can sometimes be a little irritating--you'll read one or two sentences that beg for greater detail, but then that's all Ball gives you--but also delightful; in fact, the prose reminds me of my own grandmother's stories, just moving along with the pull of Ball's memories. And what memories.If I ever had known, which I must have because of the aforementioned television biopic, how difficult Ball's upbringing was, then I'd completely forgotten. Ball tells us that she was passed around from mother and father (the latter of whom died tragically at too young an age) to grandparents (one of whom also died far too young, at age 56, I believe), to step grandparents, and then back again, and then about her adventures and struggles as an actress in New York, which failed, and her rheumatic arthritis (who knew?!) and "experimental horse shots" (!!!!!) that she received as treatments, and then her success as a model, etc., etc.As an aspiring writer, and not incidentally a gay man, rejection and hardship have been daily experiences for me, and at age 35 I already feel that I have become more bitter than Ball comes across in her book. I believe that her optimism and faith in herself, bestowed upon her by a loving mother and grandparents and her sheer talent and intelligence, carried her through her challenges, and who can blame this woman if she did become "difficult." She states in her memoir that she would not have hired the shy wallflower that she had been as a young Broadway starlet; she had to become harder and more assertive in order to make her talent known, and good for her. This book has absolutely returned me to Team Lucy, one hundred percent. I only wish she were still around to give us more. And my only complaint about the book is (sorry) its cover--the strange 70s/80s lighting and soft focus aren't the Lucy who we know and love from the "I Love Lucy" days, but more importantly they also suggest a woman who needs softening, who was afraid of her flaws, and that is not the woman who comes across through these pages.

Fair price and book in very good condition.

After reading Lucy's autobiography, I immediately think of words like resilient, hard working and adaptable. She really put the effort into learning her craft. I think her ups and downs as a child prepared Lucy for her career, marriage to Desi, miscarriages, motherhood and happiness with her second husband, Gary. I learned much about Desi's life as well. They really did make an amazing comedic duo. Maybe they were not meant to be romantically, but they were certainly meant to be professionally (and they really did love their fans).

I can't say enough about how much I loved this book, or how much I loved Lucy. Today, as I binge watch reruns of I Love Lucy again (thanks Hulu), years after my first encounter with the show, I get it now. And after reading this book I am much more enlightened about Lucy, Desi and show business in general. I now realize where my love for so many things came from - comedy, cities, laughter, the entertainment business, mid-century modern life and the people, places and things that made them what they are. A light bulb went on in my head over the course of reading this and watching the show again - the passions I have for these things came from watching Lucy live her life. Even if it was 30 or 40 years after she lived it.This is Lucille Ball's autobiography. It covers her life from the genealogy of her family before her, to about 1966. Lucy didn't write this, rather she saved the taped interviews that Betty Hannah Hoffman did and later transcribed into the manuscript for this book. That transcript, according to Lucie Arnaz, wound up in an old file box that Lucy's attorney, Ed Perlstein, found after her death as he was searching her boxes for any old contracts. Thanks to them, and to Lucie and Desi Jr., we have this book. A book of Lucy's life, in Lucy's words. It means a lot to a lifelong fan of hers, like me.Love, Lucy is written in the first person by Lucille Ball herself. It's a chronological narrative of Lucy's life and it's fascinating. As Lucie Arnaz says in the prologue, "Instead of overdramatizing what happened in her life, she seems to be trying to understand what her life was all about." Yes! That is exactly how this book reads and feels. It's an informal dialogue that feels like Lucy reciting her life back to herself that her fans will appreciate too.She doesn't go into great detail about everything but it gives us just enough for insight into how she felt as life trodded along for her in New York and California. Unlike today's "tell all" biographies, Lucy keeps the gory details of life out of it. Refreshing. She told her story here in a kind way. You do notice that she hops over things so as not to hurt anyone. Mainly Desi. I don't think she was thinking of the public backlash for anyone here, I think that was just Lucy. It was more important to leave the past behind her and go on living. I like that. And I believe it's a big reason she was so successful.It was inspiring for me to hear Lucy's own words. I hope she realized when she recorded the tapes for this book just how much hearing these things from her would mean to everyone who knew her, and to those of us that didn't. Her words about her need for independence, her need for love and her outlook on life and laughter are a treasure - to her kids, I'm sure, but also to her fans. They were to me.

thrilled with this book....arrived efficiently in excellent condition ...wonderful photos...can't wait to read

This book, without a ghost writer, was taken from a munuscript composed by Lucy herself in 1966 and not discovered until several years after her death. That's the best feature of the book - you feel as though Lucy is sitting in front of you, recounting her life. Those looking for juicy, dirty gossip had better look elsewhere; Lucy was far too classy for that. Without getting into unnecessarily sordid, perhaps lewd details, characterstic of many divorces, she reveals the causes of her divorce from her dreamboat, Desi Arnaz. Her use of the English language, including her vocabulary and grammar belie the image of the scatter brained, mischievous bubbleheaded characters portrayed during her tremendous career, especially the I Love Lucy show. Lucy was indeed a very astute, insightful lady, equally at home in a luxurious ballroom gown and a hobo's costume. She could certainly do it all. In her own words, she was not easily taken in by others. It showed in this book. I would heartily recommend to any fan of the great T.V. legend, Lucille Ball. A bargain at three times the price

Great book - very readable...I was impressed with Ms Ball's writing throughout, very professional ! Sad it didn't go further than 1964, but that can't be helped, and it's still a cracking read with lots of amzing Hollywood stars and anecdotes featured.

Amazing book

What more can one say about Lucy. Thoroughly enjoyed the read. An insight into the life of a woman who was probably the funniest commediene ever.