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Bernstein: A Biography
by Joan Peyser
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Beech Tree Books (1987-05)
ISBN: 0688049184
EAN: 9780688049188
Dewy Decimal #: 780.924
Hardcover: 481 pages
Edition: 1st
SKU: 27997
Condition: Collectable Very Goo
Comments: THE HARDBACK BOOK! BEACH TREE, MORROW, 1987, THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION, STATED SO. WITH TERRFIFIC PHOTOGRAPHS! HARDCOVER W/GILT LETTERING, DUST JACKET AND PAGES ARE FINE! Rapid shipping w/FREE tracking. GREAT PACKAGING . Air Mail.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Published in nine countries and widely praised for its candid approach, the acclaimed biography of revered and controversial conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein is now revised to include a new chapter focusing on the artist's death and subsequent tributes. 36 illustrations.
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Customer Reviews
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I'm taking a middle of the road stand on Joan Peyser's BERNSTEIN: a biography
Rating  (3)
Date: 2005-11-11
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I'm taking a middle of the road stand on Joan Peyser's BERNSTEIN: a BIOGRAPHY. Some Bernstein fans hate this book, as they feel it villified Lenny, talking too much about his alleged homosexual feelings over the years. But there are many references to Bernstein concerts and recordings which are fascinating, discussion of his wife, Felicia Montealegre (who died in 1976), his 3 children; and Peyser's writing style kept my interest and attention to the point where I'd read several chapters at a time, and found it enjoyable.
I hero worshipped Lenny in the early 1970s (I was a teenager then)when first becoming acquainted with Classical music. I enjoyed many of his LPs, which belonged to our local library: Mendelssohn Symphony 5 + Schubert 5 (New York Philharmonic, Columbia); Berlioz Overtures (Columbia); Handel's MESSIAH (excerpts, Columbia); "The joy of Music", a collection of Rossini, Falla, Bernstein, Mendelssohn, Offenbach movements and overtures (Columbia) and checked them out again and again. I used to think Bernstein was the coolest, most classy musician anyone could imagine, and still do in a way. I was heartbroken on the news of Bernstein's death (October 14, 1990 - I was nearly 32 at that time) although I had read reports that he had been very sick about 2 years before his death.
So, is Joan Peyser's book a good book or a poor one? That's for you to decide. I found alot to enjoy in it, but thought she could have lightened up a bit on Lenny: her reports of his personal life made him sound worse than he was. I like to think of Bernstein's warm, humane qualities, and his artistic contributions over all else:Bernstein had great intelligence and a depth of feeling which made him special, plus the tremendous energy and talent to have so many recordings made over his 45 year career.
So, this is worth a read, but I wouldn't take everything in this book about Bernstein's personal life as Gospel.
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Biography as character assassination
Rating  (1)
Date: 2005-11-08
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
[...]At its release, the NY Times accused Ms. Peyser of inaugurating a new genre: biography as pornography. She misses no opportunity to characterize LB's homosexuality as a sordid, dishonest, manipulative affair. Of compassion she hasn't a drop. But Peyser is equally maliciious about admirable episodes like LB's glorious tenure at the NY Philharmonic or his famous Harvard lectures on music in 1971--nothing escape's her bilious outlook.
You would never know from this book that Bernstein was a beloved figure, or why. Peyser doesn't discuss Bernstein's music-making in any detail. She cannot even grant him his stature as a condcutor, and her overall lack of sympathy has given birth to pure character assassination. This is one of the few books, on music or any other subject, that made me want to take the author to court. The sad thing is that Peyser advanced her career substantially by "bringing down Leonard Bernstein." In a better world she would be deeply ashamed.
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Some clarity beneath the muck...
Rating (3)
Date: 2003-03-27
5 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
While this much maligned biography may indeed dwell a little too much on Bernstein's personal life (how many times do we really need to be told he was gay? this gets tiresome after awhile...) Peyser does include a wealth of competently researched background on the life of this most American of musicians. If you aren't offended by the cheap and trashy (but rarely explicit) parts, it's worth a read. Keep your nose in joint and take this biography for what it is and you'll probably learn a few things!
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This book is TRASH
Rating (1)
Date: 2000-10-08
3 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is one big gossip column about Bernstein 1) being bi-sexual or 2) Bernsteins apparent motivation to constantly undermind other people and turn the focus of anything to himself. Bernstein certianly had an ego, but this book is simply not accurate. In the introduction the author says, "The crevices of character have to e explored as fully as the peaks of achievements to understand...." She certianly explored the "crevices." Instead of spending $18 on this go buy the National Enquirer.
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I guess inquiring minds want to know
Rating (1)
Date: 2000-01-18
16 out of 20 customers found this reveiw helpful
The USA Today endorsement of this book neatly summarizes its raison d'etre: 'A spicy Bernstein bio.' If you are seeking all of the outrageous anecdotes, all of the juicy nitty gritty, all of the 'naughty bits' that make up the Bernstein story, then look no further: this book supplies these in abundance.If, however, you desire any kind of intelligent or intriguing assesment of Bernstien's musical legacy, any discussion whatsoever of Bernstein's music itself, or even any thoughtful, balanced, or interesting discussion of why Bernstein was the person that he was, then you will be sorely disappointed. This is truly a biography in the National Enquirer style. True, Leonard Bernstein was a self-serving, outrageously flambouyant personality. But so was Mozart, and, while interesting, I certainly want much more from a Mozart biography than explications of his obscene letters. On example: Chapter 34 ends in 1982, when Bernstein was at work on his last opera, 'A Quiet Place', as composer in residence at Indiana University. Ms. Peyser ends the entire chapter by fully quoting a bawdy limerick that Bernstein apparently sang to the Dean of the School of Music at a party. The limerick, dealing with the size of genitalia, ends: But you're a goy, And boy oh boy! I'll just betcha it's built for two! End of chapter. No comment from Peyser. Apparently, the wisdom that she wants to impart to the ages regarding Leonard Bernstein in 1982 was that, at a certain party, he sang a song about the Dean's ying-yang. This is about as significant (and interesting) as ending a chapter in a Mozart biography by quoting a letter in which Mozart jokes about defecation. Bernstein and penies. Mozart and ca-ca. Musicians writing about music?
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