Harpo Speaks by Harpo Marx
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE this book of the one, the only, Harpo!

I first became a fan of the Marx Brothers when i was about 9 years old being able to watch their films on television. It was also at this time that our weekly trips to the library had me shifting from the cartoon section to the section beside it, the written humor section. In the written section I found books of the writers of these Marx Brothers films and books of the Brothers, themselves. Book store trips had me purchasing with birthday and allowance money books of the Brothers. It was the perfect time as the 1970s was finding a resurgence of the Brother’s films and books to go with it! I have continued to build to my Marx Brothers library ever since.

One book i couldn’t find was ‘Harpo Speaks’. I finally found the book .at a library book sale in the early 1980s. I’ve saved it all this time to read in later life. With this year bringing the death of my father and health scares for me, I realized “Later in life” was now!

The wait was worth it! This is an incredible book about an incredible person and the people in his life. Harpo does an outstanding job covering his entire life up to publication of his book in 1961. The story gets very personal and easier for the reader to follow than other works of the Marx Brothers story. Especially well portrayed is the Marx Brothers parents and how strongly tied they were to the very existence of the team.

Other stories range from tales of his family, friends and a whole series of encounters with complete strangers that are funny and touching. His trek into Russa has as much intrigue as humor. His encounter of Hitler’s Germany comes back later in the book and is likey to stay with you beyond the book.

There are drawbacks to the book. Though there are many, many fun and happy stories. With the exception to the death of Alec Woollcott, no sadder stories are told. Many of Harpo’s friends died or had their lives drastically altered due to events. These are not mentioned at all. It would take knowing the larger story to know all that harpo leaves out.

Something hardly touched on are the movies and television Harpo and his brothers made. I know Harpo had many, many stories of film making. But that is not to be found in his book. He doesn’t explain why he leaves out the wrenching of their career with the loss of Irving Thalberg or the well known story of the Brothers having to reunite because “Chico needed the money”. Those stories were more told after Harpo’s death, so repetition wouldn’t have been a reason. Though, it turns out it would’ve been.

That’s what makes this tale unique. ‘Harpo Speaks’ is actually about the person of Adolph Marx – his love of fun, friends and hijinks – than a chronological logging in of Hollywood fables.

Bottom line: i highly recommend this book. 10 of 10 points.

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