Brief review of "Memoirs of an Amnesiac" by Oscar Levant

Earlier this summer I read the mid-1960s Memoirs of an Amnesiac by Oscar Levant. This brief review is my contribution to the Classic Film Reading Challenge, run by Raquel Stecher of the Out of the Past blog. (I originally posted a variant of this on Goodreads.)

This is an invaluable window into the life and times of a fascinating, but very troubled, man. The writing is excellent, if a bit scattershot. But that’s Levant's style, and his acerbic yet hilarious personality shines through. To get the most out of this book, it helps to have a passing familiarity with or interest in the Hollywood and classical music scene of the 1920s-1950s, and perhaps the television scene of the 1960s. If you do have any interest in those scenes, read this book!

Comments

[RaquelStecher]

I've never heard of this memoir! That cover wow! Thanks for the review.