Author(s): Lewis, Jerry and Kaplan, James

Biography & Memoir

The No1 New York Times Bestseller Before the string of hit songs, the Rat Pack, and the stellar movie career, Dean Martin spent ten years partnering Jerry Lewis in one of the most successful double acts of show business history. In this wise-cracking yet candid memoir, Lewis recalls with crystal clarity the highs and lows of his relationship with Dean: remembering their first meeting on a New York street corner one spring afternoon, the early improvised performances in mob owned nightclubs, and the giddy days of Hollywood super-stardom, when it seemed the couples high-rolling lifestyle would last for ever. It didn't. On July 24th 1956, Dean and Jerry split and the two men weren't to speak to one another for twenty years. Jerry Lewis is one of the few surviving Hollywood legends from the period and he is a wonderful raconteur whose tales reveal much about Dean Martin's craftsmanship and enigmatic charm. In his own unique voice he evokes all the glamour of the era -- the casinos, the endless pranks, the cocktails, the mobsters, and the women. He writes movingly too of the thrill of the youthful duo's sudden, startling success, and the slow sad erosion of the fun that followed.