Monday, April 11, 2011

Tough without a Gun -- Stefan Kanfer

I'm a Bogart fan, so naturally I wanted to have a look at this new biography. It was fun, and I enjoyed the discussions of Bogart's movies and personal life, but I didn't learn anything new.

It was the little things about the book that bothered me. Why would someone like Kanfer, who's written a number of movie star bios, spell Joel McCrea's name wrong? Doesn't he know who McCrea is?

Why does he consistently call The Maltese Falcon a "novella." Hasn't he ever seen a copy?

Perhaps you think I'm being picky because Kanfer doesn't mention We'll Always Have Murder in his bibliography in the "novels featuring or about Humphrey Bogart" section. You could be right.

4 comments:

Bud said...

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a mediocre Bogart Bio. Think I'll pass.

Vince said...

You're right about the little errors -- is it me or do they crop up in everything these days? -- but I enjoyed this book. Especially the focus on Bogart's lasting impact.

mybillcrider said...

I liked that, too, Vince. (But he should've mentioned me.)

Max Allan Collins said...

I decided to skip this when -- thumbing through it at Barnes & Nobel -- I came upon the fascinating fact that Raymond Chandler didn't care for Elliot Gould's portrayal of Phillip Marlowe in THE LONG GOODBYE....