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Groucho and Me - by Groucho Marx - foreword by James Thurber
A very entertaining autobiography of Groucho Marx, written by Julius Marx (Groucho’s real name). Witty and entertaining, with piles of anecdotes, it’s well worth reading if your a fan of Groucho Marx — but not if you’re looking for accuracy or detail of life behind the scenes for the Marx Brothers. For example, Groucho’s version of the story behind why Harpo never spoke on screen is hilariously funny; but totally inaccurate.

If you’re looking for detail or accuracy, you’ll have to look elsewhere; but if you’re looking for an entertaining read directly from the fingers of Groucho himself, look no further. A recommended read. For a taste, feel free to check out funny quotes from Groucho and Me.

Table of Contents - Groucho and Me

Why Write When You Can Telegraph Your Punches?
Who Needs Money? (We Did)
Home Is Where You Hang Your Head
Out on a Limb of My Family Tree
My Youth — and You Can Have It
Have Nothing, Will Travel
The First Act Is The Hardest
A Wand’ring Minstrel, I
A Slight Case of Auto-eroticism
Tank Towns, Ptomaine, and Tomfoolery
A Homey Essay on Housemanship
Some Clowning that Wasn’t in the Act
Out of Little Minds and Into the Big Time
Rich is Better
How I Starred in the Follies of 1929
White Nights, Why Are You Blue?
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch House
They Call It the Golden State
Inside Hollywood
The Patient’s Dilemna
Why Do They Call It Love When They Mean Sex?
Melinda and Me
My Personal Decathlon
Yo Heave Ho, and Over the Rail
Go Fish
Foot in Mouth Disease
What Price Pumpernickel?
You Bet My Life

Groucho and Me, by Groucho Marx - from the back cover

The "Me" in the title is a comparatively unknown Marx named Julius (1895-1977) who, under the nom de plume of Groucho enjoyed a sensational career on Broadway and in Hollywood with such comedy classics as Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races . His solo career included work as a film actor, television game emcee, and author of The Groucho Letters (availabe from Da Capo Press), Memoirs of a Mangy Lover, and his classic autobiography Groucho and Me.

With impeccable timing, outrageous humor and irreverant wit, and a superb sense of the ridiculous, Groucho tells the saga of the Marx Brothers: the poverty of their childhood in New York’s Upper East Side; the crooked world of small-time vaudeville (where they learned to carry blackjacks); how a pretzel magnate and the graceless dancer of his dreams led to the Marx Brothers’ first Broadway hit, I’ll Say She Is!; how the stock market crash in 1929 proved a godsend for Groucho (even though he lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars); the adventures of the Marx Brothers in Hollywood, the making of their hilarious films, and Groucho’s triumphant television series, You Bet Your Life!. Here is the life and lunatic times of the great eccentric genius, Groucho a.k.a. Julius Marx.