Merman

It's as if Ethel is sitting there telling you her life story. It's a bright lively read and if she fudges a few details and glosses over some of the seamier stuff it is certainly more open and honest that most stars' autobiographies. This was released in 1978 - 6 years before her death so it does cover most of her life. Fill in the rest with Bob Thomas' I GOT RHYTHM: THE ETHEL MERMAN STORY.

I'm nearly embarrassed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography, largely because its details (particularly regarding Ethel's private life) are highly selective and sanitised. Still, as a long time fan of Ethel Merman's, I found it a very tasteful presentation, and a pleasant survey of her career, even if there is little detail about the shows themselves. Brassy though Ethel was known to be, I truly believe she sought both to present her life in excellent taste (that is putting it mildly - she gives the impression she was a virgin at 30) and to reminisce with warmth (making her marriage to the volatile Bob Levitt seem so rosy that one wonders why they ever divorced.) It is a pleasant 'read,' and has a nice flavour of an elderly lady with an exciting life presenting the details as she would have liked the public to know them.