Mario Lanza: Tenor in Exile

I enjoyed this book very much. I thought it was well-researched and well-written. To me it seemed that Bessette was a big fan who loved Mario and his music, and wanted to find out the true story behind the myth and secrecy which has always surrounded this great tenor. Since I grew up listeneing to such beautiful songs as "Be My Love" and "The Loveliest Night of the Year" (my sister was a particularly devoted fan), I found it interesting to see what really went on behind the scenes. Yes, Mario was a man of huge appetites and outrageous behavior, often out of his control, but I appreciated Bessette's sympathetic view--that had he lived today, a much more enlightened era about mental illness and drug addition--he most likely would have received the help he needed.

Lanza led a difficult life. This book does not hide from that. It tells you the highs and lows of his life. It is a great read. Well researched.

Authorative, well-written and nicely packaged, it is a book for Lanza and non-Lanza fans to enjoy.

I could not put this book down. It is smoothly written, well researched and brilliant in its perspective. A great telling of an interesting but uneven life.

Through his films and records Mario Lanza did more to advance opera than all the hype of "The Three" combined. Yet Lanza wasn't an opera singer because his career was singing arias and duets from operas. He lacked the ability to study and work at learning roles. This well-written book is the story of a tenor with an undeniably beautiful voice who threw it away because of a fatally flawed personality. There have been other biographies about Lanza but this one is far and away the finest. Bessette's research explores - and explodes - myths that have settled around the tenor's fame in a highly readable style that moves like a fast- paced novel. Whether you love or loathe Lanza (or somewhere in between like myself) , the book is highly recommendable.