|
Treadmill to Oblivion: My Days in Radio | 
| Author: Fred Allen
Publisher: Wildside Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.63
You Save: $7.32 (37%)
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 106908
Media: Paperback
Pages: 248
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 1434401421
Dewey Decimal Number: 791
EAN: 9781434401427
ASIN: 1434401421
Publication Date: September 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Fans of classic comedy and Old Time Radio will be enthralled by Fred Allen's autobiographical tale of his early days in radio. From the host of a small comedy-variety show to national fame with Allen's Alley, here is the story of his trials, tribulations, and ultimate successes as one of the great radio comedians -- not to mention one of the great wits -- of the 20th century!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Treadmill to Oblivion November 27, 2008
G. S. Augustas (Garland, Texas)
Devotees of Fred Allen's radio show will enjoy this book, but others will not relate to the characters depicted. One complaint: In this reprint (evidently scanned from an original printing), the first page of each chapter was overscanned, so that the text is cut off at the margins.
a classic book disrespected by this reprint March 3, 2008
W. G. Wetstein (Suffern, NY)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
i rarely write reviews unless i'm ticked off.
i own a used copy of the original hardcover, back in the days before amazon.com, when it was a real accomplishment to find a rare used book. fred allen has been a favorite of mine since i was 12 years old and discovered old time radio. in fact, it's in hommage to f.a. that i have always typed in all lower case, as he did in his letters (see the other great book in the allen trio, "fred allen's letters". "much ado about me" is also wonderful, but unfortunately not quite finished when allen passed away.)
so my criticism is painful. . . i was so excited to see this book reprinted that i actually posted an announcement to the old time radio internet digest, encouraging folks to check it out. i ordered a copy myself, even though i own the original, just to throw a teeny bit of financial support at such a surprising endeavor. it seems quite unlikely to me that enough folks have even heard of fred allen these days to make this reprint a financial success (which would then, hopefully, spur more of this material to surface).
as i paged through the book i've read 100 times already, i could tell that the reprint was made from the original plates. the ink bleeds badly on many pages, and one page (which i can't seem to find now) was even printed slanted. the front cover is acceptable, even if as minimalist as one could make it given that it features a hirshfeld drawing. the back cover looks just awful, a plain white page with a bar code at the bottom and a small paragraph describing the book.
it's just simply a very cheap affair, despite the quality of the writing itself.
one other note: be aware that at least 50% of the book consists of script excerpts. when the book was published in 1953, no one had even conceived of the idea that one day people would be listening to these shows on reel to reel tapes, then lps, then cassettes, then mp3s. so to give the reader a sampling of the flavor of the show with these excerpts made sense.
now, however, anyone with enough interest in f.a. to buy this book most likely has had access to the shows one way or another. having a large collection myself, i was disappointed that i had heard many of the shows excerpted already.
but this is a minor reservation on a truly delightful, honest, witty, and funny account of allen's days in radio.
Fred Allen (only two books) July 1, 2000
Audrey Lewis (WV USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Have owned & loaned both.In Treadmill To OblivionFred tells of his greedyagent booking him into themuddiest place in AustraliaHis early bookings & dealings with this agentare an Allen gem. All About Me was mostly hisradio scripts. Finished byhis daughter. Excellent forwriters of comedy. Successto all that follow in hissteps.
INSIDE THE BRILLIANT, WITTY, HILARIOUS MIND OF FRED ALLEN!! April 15, 1999
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Treadmill To Oblivion" is the definitive book of Fred Allen's wit, humor, and charm. It traces his adventures in radio from 1932 to 1949. Within, we get samples of rountines, brilliantly funny jabs (Bewtween he and Jack Benny) and insight into the comic, concentrated mind of Fred Allen; one of America's greatests comedians. Also, there are sevral humorous observations, asides, and quips that reveal Allen's biting ever-throbbing wit. A MUST-READ for any lover of wit, wisdom, and humor. A good companion to this book is the honestly warm "Much Ado About Me", Fred Allen's subsequent book, telling the tale of his life before radio. Regardless, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
INSIDE THE BRILLIANT, WITTY, HILARIOUS MIND OF FRED ALLEN!! April 15, 1999
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
"Treadmill To Oblivion" is the definitive book of Fred Allen's wit, humor, and charm. It traces his adventures in radio from 1932 to 1949. Within, we get samples of rountines, brilliantly funny jabs (Bewtween he and Jack Benny) and insight into the comic, concentrated mind of Fred Allen; one of America's greatests comedians. Also, there are sevral humorous observations, asides, and quips that reveal Allen's biting ever-throbbing wit. A MUST-READ for any lover of wit, wisdom, and humor. A good companion to this book is the honestly warm "Much Ado About Me", Fred Allen's subsequent book, telling the tale of his life before radio. Regardless, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
|
|
|
Can't find the right gift? Try a Gift Certificate
| |
