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The Astaires: Fred & Adele (2012)

by Kathleen Riley(Favorite Author)

3.56 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0199738416 (ISBN13: 9780199738410)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

review 1: I enjoyed this book, which chronicles the early careers of Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. It's informative and contains some interesting details, unfortunately, it reads more like a book about Fred with Adele playing a more supporting role.Almost everyone knows Fred Astaire from his movie roles, and I am the first to admit that I am a huge fan of his, but while I knew he started his career with his sister as children, I didn't really know much about those days. They danced together much longer than I had originally realized, with the pair splitting upon Adele's marriage in the 30's.It also seemed that in both their early vaudeville days and on into the many shows they performed in musical theater, Adele was the darling of the audiences and critics. At that time, Fred a... moreppeared to be more supportive of his sister, even while his talent was acknowledged. In fact, when he first began to appear as a solo after Adele's retirement, critics were harsh in their belief that he should have hung up his dancing shoes, as well.I wish it had been a little more balanced, but still enjoyed reading about the theater in the 20's and 30's - names which are well-known now, but were just getting their starts back then (the Gershwins, Cole Porter, etc.)
review 2: I desperately WANTED to like this book because the subject matter is so interesting, but unfortunately this was a tough read. It's overwritten -- there was some truly outrageous vocabulary and on every other page there was a phrase or two that left me scratching my head.Also, there were far too many biographical details about a ton of extraneous people who were minor players in the Astaires' lives. Every co-star, director, producer, script doctor, etc. was mentioned along with a synopsis of their other Broadway projects/screen credits/professional highlights. I don't care! Tell me more about Fred and Adele! That was why I bought the book in the first place. There was a frustrating lack of in-depth insight about the pair who are ostensibly the subjects of this book. This book reads more like a history of vaudeville & Broadway than a biography of two siblings.Major life events are dutifully mentioned, but I was also secretly hoping for mundane details of everyday life as well as a bit more about interpersonal relationships with each other, close friends, and their individual habits, quirks, thoughts, and opinions. Supposedly Fred & Adele wrote each other a lot of letters and I don't think the author used them as much as she could have. Adele's post-marriage life was so sad, but readers don't get a sense for what must have been her profound frustration and despair. Adele plugged on courageously and no insight was given into her indomitable spirit. Fred's state of mind during his rise to film stardom wasn't even mentioned at all. There was a surprising amount of ink devoted to their mother, Ann, but she too was a bit of a flat, underdeveloped character, and I was left curious. There was a lot of untapped potential in this book. less

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