The Anatomy of Harpo Marx. Wayne Koestenbaum. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Wayne Koestenbaum
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Кинематограф, театр
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9780520951983
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      The ANATOMY of

      HARPO MARX

      The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Ahmanson Foundation Humanities Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation.

      The ANATOMY of

      HARPO MARX

      WAYNE KOESTENBAUM

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      University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

      University of California Press

      Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

      University of California Press, Ltd.

      London, England

      © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Koestenbaum, Wayne.

      The anatomy of Harpo Marx / Wayne Koestenbaum.

      p. cm.

      ISBN 978-0-520-26900-2 (cloth : alk. paper)

      ISBN 978-0-520-26901-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      1. Marx, Harpo, 1888–1964. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. 3. Comedians—United States—Biography. I. Title.

      PN2287.M54K84 2012

      792.702´8092–dc23

      [B]

      2011024490

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

      Any classification you read provokes a desire in you to put yourself into it somewhere: where is your place? At first you think you have found it; but gradually, like a disintegrating statue or an eroding relief, its shape blurs and fades, or better still, like Harpo Marx losing his artificial beard in the glass of water he is drinking out of, you are no longer classifiable. — ROLAND BARTHES, Roland Barthes

      CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
I EARLY ECSTATIC EMPTINESS
The Holy Fool Flees Language’s Stink Bomb: The Cocoanuts (1929)
Pinky, the Pointing Scapegoat, Lags Behind: Duck Soup (1933)
The Mad Mohel’s Goo-Goo Eyes of Monomaniacal Attunement: A Night at the Opera (1935)
Poppy Power; or, The Thick-Enough Art of Zombie Dumbfoundment: Animal Crackers (1930)
II LATER ASTONISHMENTS
Fake Dead Jew as Cute Zoo-Idiot: Room Service (1938)
Passé Punchy’s Humiliated Buddy Huddle: At the Circus (1939)
Freeze Rusty’s Anal Rage in a Cozy Void: Go West (1940)
Lonely Wacky’s Incremental Lines of Flight: The Big Store (1941)
The Bubble-Blowing Demarcator Tickles Totality: A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Bulge, Glaze, Pause, Shock; or, The Bushy-Haired Ragpicker’s Burnt Offering: Love Happy (1949)
III THE IDIOT TUMBLES BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME
The Undeliverable Ice of Pinky’s Mom-Mouth: Horse Feathers (1932)
The Kippering, Bopping, Shushing, Bear-Hugging, Beard-Pulling Bustle: Monkey Business (1931)
The Pretzel Glimmer-Eye of Stuffy’s Stuttering Surge: A Day at the Races (1937)

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      My gratitude and affection go to Mary Francis and Ira Silverberg, and to my treasured collaborators in California, especially Rachel Berchten, Nicole Hayward, and Joe Abbott.

      Remarkable friends encouraged this adventure: Robert Boyers, Clifford Chase, Harry Dodge, Andy Fitch, Peter Halley, Christian Hawkey, Paul Holdengräber, Myung Mi Kim, Rachel Kushner, Rebecca Mead, Nancy K. Miller, Maggie Nelson, Jacqueline Osherow, Alexandra Penney, George Prochnik, Jonathan Rabinowitz, Lisa Rubinstein, David Shields, Lynne Tillman, and Benjamin Weissman. Sina Najafi kindly published an excerpt, “Harpo’s Bubbles,” in Cabinet.

      Glenn Mitchell’s The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia was a trusted guide.

      Bruce Hainley understands everything.

      Steven Marchetti welcomed Harpo into our household as an intimate, permanent guest.

      I