Oddly Compelling Love Story

I grew up watching "I Love Lucy" reruns and hearing my mother's continual, delighted praise of the comic and business genius of Lucille Ball. I was barely a teenager by the time I knew the basic story of Lucy and Desi, but this book added depth and context to a genuinely moving, incredibly human story. The characters are described beautifully by Arnaz, without losing any part of their humanity--they appear as gifted, and as flawed, as if we the readers really knew them.

One thing that makes this book so compelling is the evidence it provides for well-known minutiae about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz; it was a lovely thing, to hear Arnaz's famous line, "'I Love Lucy' was never just a title" as one example. The genuine affection and respect between these two star-crossed lovers makes for a wonderful romantic drama, and is likely the reason that people keep making documentaries and biopics about them. As someone who's watched a fair few of those, I suspect this book provided considerable, unflinching source material for many.

One of the hard truths that Arnaz never shies away from is that he's a philanderer and liar. You can hear exactly how he got away with it--his charm is palpable even in written form, and must have been lethal face to face. The humour in him saying that he'd have pretended not to know how a girl got in his bed unless he was caught literally in the middle of having sex with her is matched only by the poignancy of the admission; in the end, he drank too much and charmed too many girls and even in this funny, moving book, it seems clear that he ruined the great love not only of his life, but of Lucille Ball's. He was an intelligent, talented, business-savvy, hard-working man who wasn't afraid to take risks, and to most people of my mother's generation and beyond, he's just the bandleader who broke Lucy's heart.

If you're old enough to have seen and enjoyed any of Lucille Ball's work, this book will be interesting, entertaining, and a little irritating as Desi makes excuses for himself... but through it all, I liked him (the scoundrel). His prose was funny and he seemed generally humble, he seemed generous about other people's talents (especially Lucy, but he was effusive throughout the book) and the narrator definitely reads in the speech style of Arnaz without imitating him outright, making the book feel more authentic. This is an accessible book suitable for any readers who don't mind swear words (I don't) and overall, an enjoyable read with many laughs and more unexpectedly emotional moments.

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1 person found this helpful

lovely interesting story

beautiful narration, optimistic tales, would recommend, although it is told from 1970s it does not seem dated

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Utterly brilliant….

Loved this book so much, informative & touching moments in time, great narration & history of TV💫

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Desi

A wonderful story of a guy who came to a country and took up all the opportunities afforded to him. And was grateful for it.

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I loved A Book

Very interesting well written and read , I knew a very little bit about Desi and in listening I have grown to admire him . His rags to riches story is inspiring, and I shall now be seeking out “ The Long Long Trailer “ and episode of “ I love Lucy “ , I recommend this book .

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