Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story

I really enjoyed this autobiography of Jack Benny. It is based on an unfinished manuscript that his daughter Joan found when she was going through her mother's house shortly after her death. Since it was incomplete, Joan contributes roughly half of the book's contents and Jack contributes the other half. There are also a few paragraphs written here and there by other people who knew Jack, including George Burns, his lifetime friend. Jack gives quite a bit of the details of his personal life from his childhood up until the beginning of his radio career. At that point, most of his comments concentrate on his comedy, how he built his radio show, the transition to television, and various anecdotes on how people often mistook the personality they saw on TV or heard on the radio with the real Jack Benny. Jack was always a generous fellow, so there is much information about the other performers on his show and what went into making each performance. Joan's half of the book fits nicely with Jack's since she gives many personal details of what it was like being Jack Benny's daughter and talks about the goings on in the Benny household in the years that Jack basically omits from his autobiography. The only thing that is a little off-track about the book is that Joan goes into considerable detail about the problems she had with her mother. From the book it appears she never talked to her father about these problems in much detail, so it really doesn't have much to do with Jack's story. This is a very detailed portrait - not from the standpoint of retracing every step Jack took, but from the standpoint of getting a real feel for the man in his own words. He was truly one the great comedians of the twentieth century and a genuinely nice guy. Highly recommended.

Wonderful book. I usually don't read star biographies, but I coulding resist this one. Sunday Nights at Seven reveals what's only hinted at on Jack's programs - that he was the opposite of his radio persona - warm, generous and the first to laugh heartily at another's jokes. Although too young to ever hear Jack on the radio (taped recordings are my only recourse) the book allowed me to learn much more--without getting taudry--about the funniest comedian of all.

Let me just say first of all, this book is wonderful.I have always looked up to Mr.Benny and this book just enhanced my adoration of him. I have read every book about him and the more I read the more of a saint he becomes. Jack's daughter, Joan does a wonderful job of upholding his legacy.After reading this book it almost made me glad I wasn't born until ten years after he died because I would have been heartbroken. Thank you Joan for writing this book

Jack Benny is a paradox, he was a man made famous a a vain miser who was constantly beseiged by the people closest to him, but to those who knew hime best, he was a kind generous man. This is the point of Sunday Nights At Seven, an interesting and funny account of the life of the comedian, written by both Jack and his daughter Joan. The book is not about a war hero, or a man who did great things, but rather it is about a man who became known as a comedic master who's timing is legendary. A man to whom the slow burn wasn't a prop, but a work of art. In the book you learn that the reason Benny was such a great comedian is because he refused to take life seriously, but rather because he rather seriously took ahold of life and refused to let go. Sunday Nights lets those of us who did not experience Benny's genius first hand, I was two when he died, experience the man. To those of you looking for a good time, I whole heartedly recomend this book, and if you have the time, pick up a recording of Jack's radio program, some of the jokes may be dated, but, unlike Seinfeld, Jack never had an off show.