Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Prospecta Press (2014), Edition: 1St Edition, 416 pages
Description
Features more than 90 beautiful color and 120 black and white period illustrations. Part fairy tale, part crime novel, part rags to riches Hollywood myth,I Am Sophie Tucker tells the outrageous story of one of showbiz's biggest personalities. From 1906 through the beginning of television, Sophie Tucker and her bawdy, brash, and risqué songs paved the way for performers such as West, Monroe, Midler, Cher, Madonna, and Gaga. "Sophie was like the Forrest Gump of the first half of the 1900s," says co-author Susan Ecker. "She was close friends with seven presidents, King George VI, young Queen Elizabeth, Chaplin, J. Edgar, Capone, Garland, Jerry Lewis, Sinatra and every other notable of her era." Tucker tried to get her story published for nine years, without success. Undaunted, Sophie hired half a dozen ghostwriters, but she still had no takers for her no holds barred autobiography. Eventually, Doubleday published a sanitized version in 1945. "After immersing ourselves in Sophie's papers and surviving friends," says co-author Lloyd Ecker, "this initial volume is what should have been the actual autobiography of Tucker." Though she obsessively documented her life, Sophie loved to exaggerate for dramatic effect. Over the years, she told multiple versions of each important event. At the end, not even Sophie knew the difference between truth and tall tale. "This volume is 85% fact," Lloyd explains. "The other 15% ...who knows?" I Am Sophie Tucker puts back all of the delicious bits nixed by Doubleday's lawyers and throws in other Tucker show business dirt, intrigue, arrests, romance, murder, gangsters, and scandals. Now you can read it for yourself.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member pixiedark
Sophie was like the Forrest Gump of the first half of the 1900s,” says co-author Susan Ecker. “She was close friends with seven presidents, King George VI, young Queen Elizabeth, Chaplin, J. Edgar, Capone, Garland, Jerry Lewis, Sinatra and every other notable of her era.”
I am Sophie Tucker is
Tucker tried to get her story published for nine years, without success. Undaunted, Sophie hired half a dozen ghostwriters, but she still had no takers for her no holds barred autobiography. Eventually, Doubleday published a sanitized version in 1945.
“After immersing ourselves in Sophie’s papers and surviving friends,” says co-author Lloyd Ecker, “this initial volume is what should have been the actual autobiography of Tucker.”
Though she obsessively documented her life, Sophie loved to exaggerate for dramatic effect. Over the years, she told multiple versions of each important event. At the end, not even Sophie knew the difference between truth and tall tale.
“This volume is 85% fact,” Lloyd explains. “The other 15% …who knows?”
I Am Sophie Tucker puts back all of the delicious bits nixed by Doubleday’s lawyers and throws in other Tucker show business dirt, intrigue, arrests, romance, murder, gangsters, and scandals. Now you can read it for yourself.
This book is the first in a trilogy about Sophie Tucker. I can't wait to read more of Sophie's amazing tales!
I received an ARC of this volume through NetGalley.
I am Sophie Tucker is
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a timeless memoir on a entertainment icon. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this awesome autobiography. Her life was amazing!Tucker tried to get her story published for nine years, without success. Undaunted, Sophie hired half a dozen ghostwriters, but she still had no takers for her no holds barred autobiography. Eventually, Doubleday published a sanitized version in 1945.
“After immersing ourselves in Sophie’s papers and surviving friends,” says co-author Lloyd Ecker, “this initial volume is what should have been the actual autobiography of Tucker.”
Though she obsessively documented her life, Sophie loved to exaggerate for dramatic effect. Over the years, she told multiple versions of each important event. At the end, not even Sophie knew the difference between truth and tall tale.
“This volume is 85% fact,” Lloyd explains. “The other 15% …who knows?”
I Am Sophie Tucker puts back all of the delicious bits nixed by Doubleday’s lawyers and throws in other Tucker show business dirt, intrigue, arrests, romance, murder, gangsters, and scandals. Now you can read it for yourself.
This book is the first in a trilogy about Sophie Tucker. I can't wait to read more of Sophie's amazing tales!
I received an ARC of this volume through NetGalley.
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LibraryThing member avanders
Review based on ARC.
Sophie Tucker was undoubtably a fascinating person. She seemed to know anyone who was anyone... from Al Pacino to Arthur Conan Doyle to ... well, herself! And this fictional memoir seemed intriguing. I didn't know much about Tucker going into it -- more a recognition of the name
And... it delivered. to some degree. So, fictional memoir. What was I expecting? I don't know, something more akin to Devil in the White City, I guess... a sort of novelization of real events. An adding of thoughts and emotions -- a researcher's best guess -- and maybe that's what this was. But it seemed a lot more fictional than that. It *felt* like someone was creating a whole persona for a real person. Which just felt weird. It felt like someone had decided THIS must be Sophie Tucker's *real* personality -- her behind-the-scenes personality. And.... it was unsettling to me.
It felt surface. It felt false. It felt over-simplified. Like, rather two-dimensional. And, I understand the authors did an inordinate amount of research, and had scrapbooks and many items of Sophie's own words to pull from... so perhaps Sophie was really just a two-dimensional person? Seems far-fetched. Much more far-fetched than the so-called "life and times of Sophie Tucker."
And that was my other complaint. Eyebrow-raising, inward gasping, behind-the-scenes reveals? meh. I get that this was a long time ago, and our standards are different now... but it still felt like this fictional character was going from "hey hey, listen to this CRaaaaay-zee story about me!" to yet another and another... nothing felt organic or ... well, real.
Buuut.... It was Interesting. It was somewhat satisfying to read about that time from a so-called insider's perspective. It was ok. I didn't love Sophie; I didn't hate her. I didn't really feel that particularly strongly about anyone except for her first husband.
As for the others... were they husbands? It felt like a lot was left out. How did she meet her 3rd husband? What happened? How did they break? What about the 2nd .... how did that become, er, formal? (did I just miss that altogether?) So yeah, it was the organization. The organization needed work. And as a result, the story suffered.
But it was ok. And if you're really interested in Sophie Tucker's life, from an arguably inside perspective... check it out. The memoir is pretty consistent from beginning to end, so if you don't like the first few chapters, then you won't like it. If you do, you will.
Overall, three of five stars.
Sophie Tucker was undoubtably a fascinating person. She seemed to know anyone who was anyone... from Al Pacino to Arthur Conan Doyle to ... well, herself! And this fictional memoir seemed intriguing. I didn't know much about Tucker going into it -- more a recognition of the name
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than anything else. But I thought it sounded intriguing... a murder mystery, an insider's look at early Hollywood (or, at least, earlier...), the world of Vaudeville.... ok, sign me up!And... it delivered. to some degree. So, fictional memoir. What was I expecting? I don't know, something more akin to Devil in the White City, I guess... a sort of novelization of real events. An adding of thoughts and emotions -- a researcher's best guess -- and maybe that's what this was. But it seemed a lot more fictional than that. It *felt* like someone was creating a whole persona for a real person. Which just felt weird. It felt like someone had decided THIS must be Sophie Tucker's *real* personality -- her behind-the-scenes personality. And.... it was unsettling to me.
It felt surface. It felt false. It felt over-simplified. Like, rather two-dimensional. And, I understand the authors did an inordinate amount of research, and had scrapbooks and many items of Sophie's own words to pull from... so perhaps Sophie was really just a two-dimensional person? Seems far-fetched. Much more far-fetched than the so-called "life and times of Sophie Tucker."
And that was my other complaint. Eyebrow-raising, inward gasping, behind-the-scenes reveals? meh. I get that this was a long time ago, and our standards are different now... but it still felt like this fictional character was going from "hey hey, listen to this CRaaaaay-zee story about me!" to yet another and another... nothing felt organic or ... well, real.
Buuut.... It was Interesting. It was somewhat satisfying to read about that time from a so-called insider's perspective. It was ok. I didn't love Sophie; I didn't hate her. I didn't really feel that particularly strongly about anyone except for her first husband.
As for the others... were they husbands? It felt like a lot was left out. How did she meet her 3rd husband? What happened? How did they break? What about the 2nd .... how did that become, er, formal? (did I just miss that altogether?) So yeah, it was the organization. The organization needed work. And as a result, the story suffered.
But it was ok. And if you're really interested in Sophie Tucker's life, from an arguably inside perspective... check it out. The memoir is pretty consistent from beginning to end, so if you don't like the first few chapters, then you won't like it. If you do, you will.
Overall, three of five stars.
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LibraryThing member busyreadin
I really liked this story. It was charming and entertaining.
What I knew previously about Sophie was that she was a singer with a big voice, similar to Ethel Merman. This memoir details her beginnings in a Jewish restaurant thru to about 80 years old. The people she encountered, and the
I don't know how much license is taken in a fictional memoir, but I would really like to have been friends with this woman. It would have been a fun ride!
What I knew previously about Sophie was that she was a singer with a big voice, similar to Ethel Merman. This memoir details her beginnings in a Jewish restaurant thru to about 80 years old. The people she encountered, and the
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coincidences in her life boarded on unbelievable. I also enjoyed seeing the photos of the people mentioned.I don't know how much license is taken in a fictional memoir, but I would really like to have been friends with this woman. It would have been a fun ride!
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LibraryThing member Rumeur8
This book is categorized as a fictional biography. I'm assuming the major reason for that is since it's told by Sophie Tucker, who has been dead many years now. It's a great biography of the life & times of Sophie & her family with many old photographs of her playbills, family portraits & places
PART 1--this part Sophie tells about growing up in the Abruza household with her parents & an older brother & younger sister. She tells about the family restaurant business which was run by her mother. She made the best goulash in CT!! Her early years were spent helping out in the restaurant along with her siblings & starts to tell about her early start in vaudeville. She was the first woman to be in the friar's club & although she wasn't a headliner at the time, she was becoming more & more popular. When first starting,she had to wear black make up & 1 of her goals was to some day be able to perform as herself without the black make up. While she was getting singing jobs, she also married for the first time to Louis Tuck. It is from his name & a misunderstanding while talking, that Sophie became famous for the name everyone knows her by : Sophie Tucker. At some point she realizes her husband is a deadbeat so she kicks him out but not before she gets pregnant & has her son, Albert. She becomes more & more known & busy with her career so she gives her son to her younger sister, Annie, who then raises Albert. Sophie sends money home to help her family & also for Albert
PART 2-- Sophie tells how her family arrives from Russia to USA via a long, long way. She was an infant at the time & it was her, her older brother & parents who traveled with a cart & their things all through Europe. She talks about the places & countries they went through & people they met along the way while trying to get on a boat to USA. This is when she tells how they got their new last name of Abruza. The day finally arrives but due to lack of communication only her father got on the boat to America. Sophie's mother works to get enough money so the rest of them can come over when she's put in jail!! This family goes through many hardships & many are from lack of communications & misunderstandings but the day arrives when the rest of the family gets to go on the boat & meet up with her father in America. They first settle in Boston & stay with a cousin & his family but eventually move to Hartford, CT where they open their restaurant
PART 3--now Sophie is telling more about her career, she's now a headliner, along with another woman friend of hers named Molly She's now considered a success in the show biz world & making good money considering the era She has become well known as the "fat woman" that sings loud. She's been married several times by now & a shocking revelation pops up at the end of the book. To tell it in my review, would definitely be a huge spoiler, so I won't mention what it pertains to. This is the ending of the book
I enjoyed reading it the way the authors chose to write it, as told by Sophie, because they were able to show us her comical personality & get a feel for this heavy set woman singer with a personality just as big as her. It made it more enjoyable & not as if you're reading a class text book that might be boring & in which you're expected to write an essay about for your teacher. I felt as if Sophie was still very much alive & I could hear her telling me these stories as I read
The authors did a wonderful job & were quite knowledgeable about the life & times of Sophie Tucker. The photographs provided, only added even more to their story
I'd highly recommend this book if you like reading biographies, are interested in the early 1900's & early years of show biz, vaudeville & singing
I got a copy of this book from Net Galley in return for an honest opinion. I'd like to thank the publisher & both the authors for allowing me the privilege of reading this book
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from her era The story doesn't include up to her death but she had many, many years in show biz PART 1--this part Sophie tells about growing up in the Abruza household with her parents & an older brother & younger sister. She tells about the family restaurant business which was run by her mother. She made the best goulash in CT!! Her early years were spent helping out in the restaurant along with her siblings & starts to tell about her early start in vaudeville. She was the first woman to be in the friar's club & although she wasn't a headliner at the time, she was becoming more & more popular. When first starting,she had to wear black make up & 1 of her goals was to some day be able to perform as herself without the black make up. While she was getting singing jobs, she also married for the first time to Louis Tuck. It is from his name & a misunderstanding while talking, that Sophie became famous for the name everyone knows her by : Sophie Tucker. At some point she realizes her husband is a deadbeat so she kicks him out but not before she gets pregnant & has her son, Albert. She becomes more & more known & busy with her career so she gives her son to her younger sister, Annie, who then raises Albert. Sophie sends money home to help her family & also for Albert
PART 2-- Sophie tells how her family arrives from Russia to USA via a long, long way. She was an infant at the time & it was her, her older brother & parents who traveled with a cart & their things all through Europe. She talks about the places & countries they went through & people they met along the way while trying to get on a boat to USA. This is when she tells how they got their new last name of Abruza. The day finally arrives but due to lack of communication only her father got on the boat to America. Sophie's mother works to get enough money so the rest of them can come over when she's put in jail!! This family goes through many hardships & many are from lack of communications & misunderstandings but the day arrives when the rest of the family gets to go on the boat & meet up with her father in America. They first settle in Boston & stay with a cousin & his family but eventually move to Hartford, CT where they open their restaurant
PART 3--now Sophie is telling more about her career, she's now a headliner, along with another woman friend of hers named Molly She's now considered a success in the show biz world & making good money considering the era She has become well known as the "fat woman" that sings loud. She's been married several times by now & a shocking revelation pops up at the end of the book. To tell it in my review, would definitely be a huge spoiler, so I won't mention what it pertains to. This is the ending of the book
I enjoyed reading it the way the authors chose to write it, as told by Sophie, because they were able to show us her comical personality & get a feel for this heavy set woman singer with a personality just as big as her. It made it more enjoyable & not as if you're reading a class text book that might be boring & in which you're expected to write an essay about for your teacher. I felt as if Sophie was still very much alive & I could hear her telling me these stories as I read
The authors did a wonderful job & were quite knowledgeable about the life & times of Sophie Tucker. The photographs provided, only added even more to their story
I'd highly recommend this book if you like reading biographies, are interested in the early 1900's & early years of show biz, vaudeville & singing
I got a copy of this book from Net Galley in return for an honest opinion. I'd like to thank the publisher & both the authors for allowing me the privilege of reading this book
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LibraryThing member hillmeredith
Possibly one of my favorite reads of the last year. I am Sophie Tucker is a fantastic, unique work. The author's write in "Sophie Tucker"'s voice and it is just a pleasure to read from start to finish. Through Sophie's quest to be the biggest thing on stage (nearly literally) we meet all kinds of
I received this copy via Netgalley and was not paid or perked for this review.
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great characters from her goulash slinging mother to Leonard Bernstein to Joe DiMaggio. There's a little something for any reader. Although younger readers may not know who Ms. Tucker was, it's a great way to connect with a family's history. I remember my grandparents talking about Sophie Tucker when I was a child and I delighted in discussing this with my mother. Even without that connection, this book is a grabber, hooking you from the very first pages. The authors skillfully weave in humor, poignancy, show business, the immigrant and Jewish experiences, creating a blend not unlike that famous goulash. As for whether these stories are true or made up out of whole cloth, if it isn't true, it ought to be. I highly recommend this.I received this copy via Netgalley and was not paid or perked for this review.
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LibraryThing member knahs
This was a fascinating read and something you felt that the real Sophie Tucker might have written. When she did her own autobiography back in the 1940's, it was sanitized, so the authors, who accessed Tucker's papers and scrapbooks and talked with those who knew and worked with her, wrote this as
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the first installment of a trilogy on Tucker - this part dealing with the young Sophie. I think they did a good job and interwove real events with what they perceived Tucker would have thought or said. Even if the book was not about a famous individual as Sophie Tucker, it was an interesting look at an immigrant's family struggle to get to America, make a living in America, and a young girl's defiance of her family to make a living in show business. The book also had numerous photographs of Sophie Tucker. It was a good read and very difficult to put down. Show Less
LibraryThing member ivydtruitt
3.5 stars
Sophie Tucker was unknown to me until I started I AM SOPHIE TUCKER. Starting the book spurred me to do a bit of looking into her and her life. There’s a lot to commend Sophie to readers. The Ecker’s have captured her boisterous and brazen voice perfectly. Sophie was a product of my
It’s my understanding there will be more Sophie in the future and I’m certainly on board for that. The ending isn’t exactly a cliff hanger but it certainly piqued my curiosity to know what comes next. However, while I enjoyed Sophie immensely, the same qualities that make her so interesting also make her a bit grating after a while. So, while I’ve every intention of following Sophie it will be in small doses.
Reviewed for Miss Ivy’s Book Nook Take II, Manic Readers, & Novels Alive TV
Sophie Tucker was unknown to me until I started I AM SOPHIE TUCKER. Starting the book spurred me to do a bit of looking into her and her life. There’s a lot to commend Sophie to readers. The Ecker’s have captured her boisterous and brazen voice perfectly. Sophie was a product of my
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favorite era in American history. The early 1900’s were a time of less stricture and regulation when the sky actually was the limit if you had the gumption to go for it. It’s an early who’s who of a time that produced some of our most memorable and notorious figures. With plenty of humor and a realistic look at exactly how hard people, regardless of age, worked just to survive; I AM SOPHIE TUCKER is a fascinating glimpse into the not so distant past.It’s my understanding there will be more Sophie in the future and I’m certainly on board for that. The ending isn’t exactly a cliff hanger but it certainly piqued my curiosity to know what comes next. However, while I enjoyed Sophie immensely, the same qualities that make her so interesting also make her a bit grating after a while. So, while I’ve every intention of following Sophie it will be in small doses.
Reviewed for Miss Ivy’s Book Nook Take II, Manic Readers, & Novels Alive TV
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LibraryThing member BevAsh
I really enjoyed this book. Sophie Tucker was a strong woman in a time that was hard on women. While the writing was well done and the story was interesting, the thing I liked best about the book was all the photos included. It helped to make the book and Sophie come alive. I received this book
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free from NetGalley for an honest review. Show Less
LibraryThing member BevAsh
I really enjoyed this book. Sophie Tucker was a strong woman in a time that was hard on women. While the writing was well done and the story was interesting, the thing I liked best about the book was all the photos included. It helped to make the book and Sophie come alive. I received this book
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free from NetGalley for an honest review. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014-11-04
ISBN
1632260069 / 9781632260062