Título: Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother
Autor: Robert S. Bader
Sinopse: “Marx Brothers authority Bader has done a remarkable job successfully uncovering the story of the unknown brother, revealing a genuinely complex character. This book is revelatory not just about Zeppo but also about the rest of the Marx Brothers.” - Library Journal
Zeppo was the Marx Brother who didn’t want to go into the family business. A juvenile delinquent in his teen years, before joining his brothers on stage, Zeppo balanced two careers: auto mechanic and petty criminal. Even after getting dragged into the world of entertainment—for sixteen years, he did his familial duty as a vaudeville, Broadway, and movie star—he finally made his escape from the Four Marx Brothers. After failed attempts to find steady work in real estate, screenwriting, and the restaurant business, Zeppo finally hit it big as a Hollywood talent agent, representing stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Lana Turner. From there, he bred racehorses, owned a manufacturing plant, tried out citrus ranching and commercial fishing, and patented several new inventions. He was, in short, a complex character, and his own family never quite figured him out.
Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother gives a lively account of this checkered life and career. As Robert Bader recounts, Zeppo’s lifelong addiction to gambling led him into relationships with several notorious organized crime figures, and he would ultimately appear before grand juries more frequently than movie cameras. (He was certainly the only Marx Brother who saw the corpse of a friend in a newspaper crime scene photo.) Socially, he mixed as easily with mobsters like Mickey Cohen as he did with movie stars like Clark Gable. Comprehensively researched with the full cooperation of Zeppo’s estate, including the first-ever interviews with his two sons, this is a remarkable look at the many lives of Zeppo Marx—even the ones he did his best to keep secret.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother”, de Robert S. Bader, publicado pela editora Applause, em 2024 e com 368 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Applause
Páginas: 368
Ano: 2024-10-15
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 1493087967
ISBN13: 9781493087969
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Applause costumam oferecer uma experiência rica em imagens e contextos culturais ligados ao entretenimento popular, especialmente cinema, teatro e música. O catálogo reúne obras que exploram histórias por trás de fenômenos culturais, como monstros do cinema, musicais emblemáticos e movimentos artísticos, frequentemente com textos acessíveis e ilustrados com material visual raro e detalhado. A narrativa varia entre análises críticas, relatos históricos e guias visuais, com ritmo que pode ser tanto denso e informativo quanto leve e envolvente. Há títulos que se aprofundam em temas específicos como horror, zumbis e teatro musical, mostrando um interesse por contar histórias que dialogam com fãs e estudiosos. A edição costuma valorizar imagens e documentos inéditos, conferindo um aspecto quase colecionável às publicações da Applause.
