A Book
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A Book
Narrated by:
Juan Pablo Di Pace
Buy Now for £21.99
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Narrated by:
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Juan Pablo Di Pace
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By:
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Desi Arnaz
About this listen
Desi Arnaz’s incredible life story - in his own words.
Desi Arnaz’s memoir tells the story of how a kid from Cuba hit the big time in the United States. It’s all here - the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the lucky breaks, and the heartbreaking failures.
©1976 Desi Arnaz (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reservedListeners also enjoyed...
One thing that makes this book so compelling is the evidence it provides for well-known minutiae about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz; it was a lovely thing, to hear Arnaz's famous line, "'I Love Lucy' was never just a title" as one example. The genuine affection and respect between these two star-crossed lovers makes for a wonderful romantic drama, and is likely the reason that people keep making documentaries and biopics about them. As someone who's watched a fair few of those, I suspect this book provided considerable, unflinching source material for many.
One of the hard truths that Arnaz never shies away from is that he's a philanderer and liar. You can hear exactly how he got away with it--his charm is palpable even in written form, and must have been lethal face to face. The humour in him saying that he'd have pretended not to know how a girl got in his bed unless he was caught literally in the middle of having sex with her is matched only by the poignancy of the admission; in the end, he drank too much and charmed too many girls and even in this funny, moving book, it seems clear that he ruined the great love not only of his life, but of Lucille Ball's. He was an intelligent, talented, business-savvy, hard-working man who wasn't afraid to take risks, and to most people of my mother's generation and beyond, he's just the bandleader who broke Lucy's heart.
If you're old enough to have seen and enjoyed any of Lucille Ball's work, this book will be interesting, entertaining, and a little irritating as Desi makes excuses for himself... but through it all, I liked him (the scoundrel). His prose was funny and he seemed generally humble, he seemed generous about other people's talents (especially Lucy, but he was effusive throughout the book) and the narrator definitely reads in the speech style of Arnaz without imitating him outright, making the book feel more authentic. This is an accessible book suitable for any readers who don't mind swear words (I don't) and overall, an enjoyable read with many laughs and more unexpectedly emotional moments.
Oddly Compelling Love Story
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lovely interesting story
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Utterly brilliant….
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Desi
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I loved A Book
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