Ever wonder why this blogger goes by the name Hackenbush? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.
Oddly enough I think I saw my first Marx Brothers movie in school. I have no idea why but we got to see Duck Soup in my grammar school auditorium. It was 1973 and I was a callow lad of 14. The brothers' work was experiencing somewhat of a revival at the time, though alas, Harpo and Chico had passed on during the previous decade. I became hooked. This was in the pre-Netflix, pre-DVD, pre-VHS days but the movies were often on regular old television.
I'm not exactly sure how I found out about it but Why a Duck was the first Marx related book I ever bought. It would have been at Kroch's & Brentano's at 29 S. Wabash in downtown Chicago.
The price of this coffee table book was $8.50.
Since that day I've accumulated a nice shelf's worth of books by or about Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo (and Gummo.) I can quote lines from the movies and I raise my prominent eyebrows subconsciously in a Grouchoesque manner. (I'm doing it now.)
Books about the brothers and their movies in general.
Scripts
Books about Groucho
Books by Groucho
This is a First edition from 1959 (in poor condition).
I read Memoirs of a Mangy Lover a few months ago. Much of the humor holds up but his attitude toward women does not.
Chico was too busy gambling and running from gamblers to have written a book.
Harpo was universally thought of as the nicest of the brothers. I should read this one again.
Books by Marx children.
This is a fun series of mysteries featuring Groucho.
And there you have it. I don't have anything else like the book collection but I'll share some other Marx stuff another time. Do you follow me? Well, stop following me or I'll have you arrested.
