It's a great, great book, which I define in part by the surprises it has, such as the segment in which the reader dreads that Francie is about to be raped, but the young man turns out to have no ulterior motive, after all.
Anytime anyone mentions that book, good citizenship and a love of art ( 99% the latter ) obligates me to mention that the book was turned into a musical by Arthur Schwartz and Dorothy Fields in 1951. As one Broadway historian has said, it's a canonical cast album, and it's unfortunate that the show itself was not a success. The producers had the coup of getting the great actress, Shirley Booth, to play Aunt Cissy. Things would have been fine if this hadn't prompted a rewrite ( not at Shirley Booth's request ) to enable Miss Booth to show off more of her delightful and unique persona. This unbalanced the show, which twenty years earlier wouldn't have been a problem, but the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution of the completely integrated musical ( each of the elements - cast, scenario, songs, dancing - serving the whole ) had spoiled critics if not audiences. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" wasn't a glaring critical failure as a musical. I'd call it a modest unsuccess with a lot of great songs and a peerless star. One of the songs written for Shirley Booth, "He Had Refinement," is one of the funniest and cleverest songs in Broadway history.
Dec 4, 2023·edited Dec 4, 2023Liked by Joel J Miller
Arthur Schwartz is generally considered a just below The Pantheon level song composer. Between 1930 - 1935, he and his primary lyricist, the great Howard Dietz, dominated the Broadway musical. Dorothy Fields is considered the greatest American female lyricist, and it isn't even close. As one critic wrote of the Schwartz/Fields songs for the musical, it's too bad such canonical work got lost because the songwriters didn't have a "book" ( the text of the play ) which was good enough to make the show a hit.
I'm not sure why Dorothy Fields, not Howard Dietz, got the job to write the lyrics. Schwartz and Dietz hadn't had a rift, and would write great things in the future.
A Broadway anecdote for the ages: when Schwartz and Dietz started to write a new show, they'd take sabbaticals from their families, get adjoining hotel rooms, move a piano in, and have at it. They probably had an "old reliable," which, once when they were preparing to write a new show, they learned was booked solid. It led to the following.
Schwartz and Dietz worked at night. After their first night at the new hotel, they had noise complaints from management, which suggested a move to another floor. They moved. The same thing happened. The manager suggested a room which was said to be almost soundproof. They moved. Management still had noise complaints. The exasperated, apologetic hotel manager told Schwartz and Dietz they would have to leave.
Schwartz and Dietz were sitting together silently, watching luggage and finally the piano being moved from their rooms. Dietz turned to Schwartz:
"You know, Arthur, nobody ever complains about the lyrics."
I read this when I was 12. It's funny, I neither loved or hated it, but there are sure a number of things from this book that have stuck in my memory much more than any of the many, many other books I read when I was 12!
Joel - great writeup as always. Appreciate how you incorporate some of the author's history with a narrative synopsis of the book. Very compelling. This one has been on my list for awhile. May need to move it up in priority. I have really gotten into some classic novels in the last few years and been really impressed.
When I set this classic novel goal, I knew I’d read some good stuff but I don’t think I had any idea how much fun I’d have with (a) the books themselves and (b) learning more about their authors. Discovering and sharing some of author’s history ends up being one of my favorite parts of the reviews!
I've read a lot of your list, except for the Smith, Achebe, Hurston, and Endo. I have Kristin Lavransdatter on my to read pile. My Christmas book list is getting longer and longer.
I read it before after being enchanted with the credible movie version. Re-reading again will be better. I am sad that our country lost its innocence that made this book such a hit.
Added this to my list and looked over your list of recommendations. I read half of them but added 2/3 to my weekend reading and have some real work to do. Thanks for the ideas .
I just loaned my copy to a friend or I would start reading it immediately. I've read and re-read that book so many times since we rec'd our first copy from BOM (I think) when I was a teenager. I am just finishing Samurai, which I love, thanks for the recommendation, Silence is next on my list. Have a glorious advent - my devotions this year are from the Chesterton readings you recommended, can't think of the author.
I bet A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a fantastic book to re-read since you’d pick up new thoughts and angles on the characters on successive trips through the book.
I hadn’t thought of it this way initially, but The Samurai and Silence would make a good pairing for Advent. Naturally, so does Chesterton.
Thank you for reading and sharing your enthusiasm for the classics! As I'm currently teaching Lord of the Flies, I'm an avowed classics lover. Pop fiction just doesn't compare. Thanks, Joel!
I’d never read it before, though I’ve heard about it most of my life because it was so popular in its day and ends up being taught in school. Very glad I finally put it on my list.
Also read it this year, and what a read it was! Francie made me think of Anne Shirley and Frank McCourt and their common love for books 📚 Thank you for this article (newsletter, post? still haven't figured out what one writes on Substack)!
Thanks for reading! Glad to have triggered some additional memories. And thanks also for the prompt to clarify terms; I suppose this review is an article or post and larger entity (Miller’s Book Review) is the newsletter. At least that’s how I think about it :)
This is one of those books that has meaning at all stages of the reader's life, at least for me. I read it for the first time when I was 13 or 14 and have read it again every 4-5 year since. It's perennially comforting and thought-provoking.
I like to use some of the schoolroom scenes in my history of U.S. education class, too.
It's a great, great book, which I define in part by the surprises it has, such as the segment in which the reader dreads that Francie is about to be raped, but the young man turns out to have no ulterior motive, after all.
Anytime anyone mentions that book, good citizenship and a love of art ( 99% the latter ) obligates me to mention that the book was turned into a musical by Arthur Schwartz and Dorothy Fields in 1951. As one Broadway historian has said, it's a canonical cast album, and it's unfortunate that the show itself was not a success. The producers had the coup of getting the great actress, Shirley Booth, to play Aunt Cissy. Things would have been fine if this hadn't prompted a rewrite ( not at Shirley Booth's request ) to enable Miss Booth to show off more of her delightful and unique persona. This unbalanced the show, which twenty years earlier wouldn't have been a problem, but the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution of the completely integrated musical ( each of the elements - cast, scenario, songs, dancing - serving the whole ) had spoiled critics if not audiences. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" wasn't a glaring critical failure as a musical. I'd call it a modest unsuccess with a lot of great songs and a peerless star. One of the songs written for Shirley Booth, "He Had Refinement," is one of the funniest and cleverest songs in Broadway history.
I know next to nothing about the musical adaptation. Thanks for tossing that into the mix!
Arthur Schwartz is generally considered a just below The Pantheon level song composer. Between 1930 - 1935, he and his primary lyricist, the great Howard Dietz, dominated the Broadway musical. Dorothy Fields is considered the greatest American female lyricist, and it isn't even close. As one critic wrote of the Schwartz/Fields songs for the musical, it's too bad such canonical work got lost because the songwriters didn't have a "book" ( the text of the play ) which was good enough to make the show a hit.
I'm not sure why Dorothy Fields, not Howard Dietz, got the job to write the lyrics. Schwartz and Dietz hadn't had a rift, and would write great things in the future.
A Broadway anecdote for the ages: when Schwartz and Dietz started to write a new show, they'd take sabbaticals from their families, get adjoining hotel rooms, move a piano in, and have at it. They probably had an "old reliable," which, once when they were preparing to write a new show, they learned was booked solid. It led to the following.
Schwartz and Dietz worked at night. After their first night at the new hotel, they had noise complaints from management, which suggested a move to another floor. They moved. The same thing happened. The manager suggested a room which was said to be almost soundproof. They moved. Management still had noise complaints. The exasperated, apologetic hotel manager told Schwartz and Dietz they would have to leave.
Schwartz and Dietz were sitting together silently, watching luggage and finally the piano being moved from their rooms. Dietz turned to Schwartz:
"You know, Arthur, nobody ever complains about the lyrics."
I never knew anything about this book before, just the name. Definitely planning to read it in the coming year.
That was pretty much my status before a couple weeks ago! I’m glad I read it.
I read this when I was 12. It's funny, I neither loved or hated it, but there are sure a number of things from this book that have stuck in my memory much more than any of the many, many other books I read when I was 12!
I can imagine! The characters and situations are so vivid that they’re bound to stick with you.
Joel - great writeup as always. Appreciate how you incorporate some of the author's history with a narrative synopsis of the book. Very compelling. This one has been on my list for awhile. May need to move it up in priority. I have really gotten into some classic novels in the last few years and been really impressed.
When I set this classic novel goal, I knew I’d read some good stuff but I don’t think I had any idea how much fun I’d have with (a) the books themselves and (b) learning more about their authors. Discovering and sharing some of author’s history ends up being one of my favorite parts of the reviews!
Saving this for later! I want to read this book!!
It’s wonderful. I bet you’ll love it!
I've read a lot of your list, except for the Smith, Achebe, Hurston, and Endo. I have Kristin Lavransdatter on my to read pile. My Christmas book list is getting longer and longer.
You’ve got so much good stuff to look forward to!
I read it before after being enchanted with the credible movie version. Re-reading again will be better. I am sad that our country lost its innocence that made this book such a hit.
I haven’t see the movie but when I was working on this review, I ran into a lot about it. I should probably watch it over the holidays!
It is one of the few good book-to-movie adaptations.
Added this to my list and looked over your list of recommendations. I read half of them but added 2/3 to my weekend reading and have some real work to do. Thanks for the ideas .
I’m delighted to hear that! The great thing about a long TBR list is that it gives you options and keeps your imagination fresh.
I just loaned my copy to a friend or I would start reading it immediately. I've read and re-read that book so many times since we rec'd our first copy from BOM (I think) when I was a teenager. I am just finishing Samurai, which I love, thanks for the recommendation, Silence is next on my list. Have a glorious advent - my devotions this year are from the Chesterton readings you recommended, can't think of the author.
I bet A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a fantastic book to re-read since you’d pick up new thoughts and angles on the characters on successive trips through the book.
I hadn’t thought of it this way initially, but The Samurai and Silence would make a good pairing for Advent. Naturally, so does Chesterton.
Thank you for reading and sharing your enthusiasm for the classics! As I'm currently teaching Lord of the Flies, I'm an avowed classics lover. Pop fiction just doesn't compare. Thanks, Joel!
Thanks for reading, Sue! Lord of the Flies is another one I should put on my list!
You've made me want to read it again. It's been years.
I’d never read it before, though I’ve heard about it most of my life because it was so popular in its day and ends up being taught in school. Very glad I finally put it on my list.
Also read it this year, and what a read it was! Francie made me think of Anne Shirley and Frank McCourt and their common love for books 📚 Thank you for this article (newsletter, post? still haven't figured out what one writes on Substack)!
Thanks for reading! Glad to have triggered some additional memories. And thanks also for the prompt to clarify terms; I suppose this review is an article or post and larger entity (Miller’s Book Review) is the newsletter. At least that’s how I think about it :)
This is one of those books that has meaning at all stages of the reader's life, at least for me. I read it for the first time when I was 13 or 14 and have read it again every 4-5 year since. It's perennially comforting and thought-provoking.
I like to use some of the schoolroom scenes in my history of U.S. education class, too.