Art Carney: A Biography (Applause Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)This might have been a wonderful, well-rounded chronicle of Art Carney's life, but it's rather disappointing because the author makes a dangerous assumption.

If you're looking for a "Honeymooners Companion," this isn't it. Although the front cover features a big mug shot of Carney as happy-go-lucky "Ed Norton," the actual text AVOIDS Norton in favor of Carney's overall career as a working actor. The author assumes that everybody knows Norton, and gives the character little more than casual mention and only one photograph. The author concedes that Norton was Art Carney's most famous character, but tells the reader nothing about what made him so special. No examples of Carney's comic cleverness and improvisations on the set, no descriptions of classic Norton bits, nothing about how the "Honeymooners" shows were staged. The entire life span of the series is introduced and then dismissed within only three paragraphs: it went on, it wasn't a huge hit first-run, it caught on in reruns. And that's all, because it is assumed that we know. Not one of the 39 episodes is described, or mentioned by title. Art Carney's pivotal character comes across as merely a footnote in his own biography.

Surprisingly for a comedian's story, there is little joy in the book. Most of the behind-the-scenes anecdotes dwell on Carney's problems with alcoholism and their effect on his personal and professional life. The author quotes many of Carney's colleagues, who offer their impressions of what went wrong. It is a measure of Carney's integrity that he always managed to pull himself back together and go from strength to strength. The reader admires how the actor battled his personal demons, but because the thrust of the book is distorted, the face of the subject is indistinct. We don't get to know him as well as we'd like. Many of his achievements and appearances are mentioned either in passing or not at all.

Carney's life story is interesting and the author doesn't sugar-coat the backstage drama, so "Art Carney: A Biography" is recommended with reservations. This reader likes Art Carney, as a comedian and as a dramatic actor, and it's good to see him recognized as a versatile performer. But the book might as well be titled "Where's Norton?"

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