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Rating:  -
A nicely packaged book. If you're new to Stooge fandom, then this is a good book for you. But, if you're a longtime fan who wants to read and learn...
MOE HOWARD AND THE THREE STOOGES (by Moe Howard himself) *
THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
CURLY (again, co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
THE COMPLETE THREE STOOGES (by Dr. Jon Solomon)...
Those are the books you should buy!
If you decide otherwise, this book is a nice simple read, with nothing new to offer. There are better ways to learn about the Three Stooges.
Rating:  -
This book is a history of the Three Stooges that is literally without peer. It does an excellent job of covering the history of the Stooges, from their births through their marvelous careers, and on to their final curtain calls. After the history, there is a very nice look at the legacy of the Stooges, and the many modern comedians and actors that they influenced.
The final chapter of the book is an excellent chronologically organized list of the Stooge's shorts, complete with credits, summary, review, and list of number of Stooges moves (e.g. "Slap Count: 9, Eye Pokes: 1, Conking Heads: 1"). Throughout the whole book, there is a sprinkling of many excellent black-and-white photos.
As I hope the summary above shows, this is an excellent book on the Stooges, one that any Stooge fan (such as myself) would be glad to own. It is a must-have!
Rating: -
Fleming's illustrated history isn't much more than a glorified magazine article. There's a factoid here and a factoid there: Moe was a Shakespearean actor on the Mississippi river boats. Larry could've been a concert violinist. Curly had four wives. Shemp was a hypochondriac. The Stooges' father, Solomon, had a bit part in one of their shorts.
The truly interesting stuff--Ted Healy's murder, Curly's stroke, Shemp's sudden death--is given short shrift. The Stooges were in their thirties when they began to make the shorts. I would have liked to know more about their vaudeville careers. Moe's daughter is still alive. I don't think Fleming made full use of her as a source.
Fleming spends a chapter trying to explain why men and boys love the Stooges; whereas, women seem to hate them. Guys like violence. Slapping people is funny. "The Stooges were a beacon of hope to the average underachieving male who could watch a trio of homely midgets with comical haircuts romance stunningly beautiful platinum blondes a foot taller than they, even though they were either unemployed or absolutely incompetent in menial jobs."
Mel Gibson wrote the foreward for the book and Mel Brooks tries to explain Stooge appeal, as does Danny Jacobson, co-creator of MAD ABOUT YOU. The text is complete by page 138. Part three is a capsulization of the 190 shorts the Stooges made. They don't make a whole lot of sense; I don't know if that's Felming's fault or the cobbled together plot lines. All I know is they were really hard to read.
As the title indicates, this is an illustrated history; unfortunately, the illustrations are mainly professional. There is one nice one of the Horwitz brothers' parents, Jennie and Solomon (She looks like Curly, he resembles Moe), but not much else.
Rating: -
A thoughtful and thoroughly researched work, Fleming has taken on the difficult task of detailing the history of the Stooges in a serious manner, no simple feat considering the public perception of these performers. His considered development of their individual, as well as group evolvement, in addition to the detailed episode guide, makes this the definitive Stooges treatment. A first rate book.
Rating: -
My stepson is a Stooge fan and he refers to this book constantly.
It is a great history of the 5 men who appeared as the 3 Stooges.
They were great comedy and ahead of their time.
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