Frank Lloyd Wright Remembered

If you could assemble a collection of writings, interviews and reminiscence dealing with any historic figure, such a collection would be invaluable as a reference for understanding who the person was and how the person lived. This is what Patrick J. Meehan has done in "Frank Lloyd Wright Remembered." Wright the person as well as Wright the architect is a multi-million dollar phenomenon that continues to grow by the minute. People seem to be unable to get enough about his architecture (when he was at his best no one could top him) and his character (when he was at his worst one wonders how he got away with it all). Meehan gives us a good bit of both from people who were related to him, worked alongside him, studied with him, interviewed him and befriended him. Many voices, many viewpoints--all presented in short chapters that make the book very easily digestible. While this book is unwaveringly complementary of Wright and his genius, it is interesting that even the most glowing reminiscences from some of the apprentices still do show a man who was always at the center of his own universe and often somewhat out of touch with the rest of the world. There are very few dissenting voices (one longs for an excerpt or two from Marion Mahony Griffin's "The Magic of America", for instance). Nonetheless, it is a valuable contribution to the reams of writings on Wright. Wright often said that the press never captured the twinkle in his eye when he made some of his more outlandish statements. Well, there is a bit of twinkle in this collection.

"Frank Lloyd Wright Remembered" is a collection of previously published (or sometimes previously broadcasted) material, spanning from the late 1940's to the early 1980's. The book is broken down into six sections: -In His Own Words: FLW's Public Persona -Architects -Clients -Apprentices -Friends and Acquaintances -Family Each section consists of 30 to 50 pages of interviews with people who knew Frank Lloyd Wright. These transcripts usually relate a few anectdotes which grant us a candid glimpse of the architect at work. The majority of these stories are affectionate, frequently using the term "genius." Negative comments are rare. The majority of the book concentrates on Wright's later career (after the creation of Taliesen West). In fact, the largest section of the book is devoted to talks with past assistants from Taliesen West. The big plus to this insightful book are the number of photos. Plenty of pictures, some multiple views of the same home, are placed throughout the book. Also, whenever a home is mentioned in the text - the editor kindly includes a page number footnote, so the reader can flip to the appropriate page, and see the structure the interviewee is talking about. "Frank Lloyd Wright Remembered" is an excellent introductory book to the noted architect. It consists of many anecdotes, some silly: (like Wright's habit of placing a grand piano in every living room design he made), and some quite serious: (Wright, when asked about the future of his work after his death - he thought a while and said 'I don't know. I really don't know.') Sometimes informative, always entertaining. This book's a fun, relatively quick read.