Reviews
""This is an excellent book. The research is meticulous, the narrative crisp, and the evalution of Berkeley's life and work informative. Buzz fills a major gap in the history of both cinema and musical theater and is must reading, especially for those interested in either."--King Features Syndicate" --, "Busby Berkeley's name conjures up kaleidoscopic images of women's body parts: crane shots of synchronized movement, collaged into design and pattern by distance and directorial oversight. Jeffrey Spivak aims to promote Berkeley... to the role of directorial creativity and originality."-- Times Literary Supplement, "Spivak... did an enormous amount of research for this biography. He even viewed the least notable of Berkeley's films and tracked unfinished projects." -- Choice, "Spivak's meticulous research magnifies the career and personal life of this beloved entertainer."--Turner Classic Movies, People today may remember Berkeley as the visionary behind those human geometric designs that beguiled Hollywood audiences during the 1930s and 40s, but Jeffrey Spivak's new biography Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley paints a deeper portrait of a true artistic innovator and an often troubled human being., ""A gifted storyteller and historian, Jeffrey Spivak paints a finely detailed portrait of dance director Busby Berkeley and his doting actress mother Gertrude. It is a lullaby of Broadway and Holylwood as improbable as any of Berkeley's fantastical musical numbers."--Miles Kreuger, President, The Institute of the American Musical, Inc." --, Spivak's biography perfectly captures Buzz's spirit as well as the legend, all rolled into one. Spivak covers the man from his humble beginnings, cowering under his brother's wardrobe as he first makes an 'appearance' on stage, through to his Broadway successes and failures, and on to the peaks and nadirs he experienced in Hollywood. An even-handed tribute all around., "Spivak's well-written biography of the Hollywood choreographer and director, famous for the complicated, kaleidoscopic dances he choreographed for such films as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 , has scholarly depth yet is gracefully accessible."-- Booklist, Spivak shows a keen understanding of Berkeley's talents but does not ignore his flaws. His biography illuminates a fertile period in American film history., "Read this book cover to cover, the first attempt at a full-blown biography of the innovative choreographer and director whose kaleidoscopic musical numbers of the 1930s have never been equaled. Spivak has done his homework in terms of interviews and archival research--including a discovery of Berkeley's unpublished memoir."-- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, "Spivak's meticulous research magnifies the career and personal life of this beloved entertainer." -- Turner Classic Movies, "Spivak has the biographer's sine qua non: a sense of his subject's uniqueness on this Earth." --Page Laws, dean of the Honors College, Norfolk State University, ""Berkeley was a choreographer extraordinaire. Who else could handle 150 dancers in one number? I can't think of anyone, and Berkeley was doing this in the 1920s and 1930s."-- California Chronicle " --, ""[Having] rescued [Berkeley's own memoirs] from a garbage clearance... Spivak recounts [Berkeley's] tales of relentless retakes, schedule-skimming night shoots, and crack-ups, whether emotional... or spinal."--Sight & Sound" --, Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley is a pick for film and biography holdings alike, covering the career and personal life of film director and choreography Busby Berkeley, whose films changed the nature of the musical film itself and saved Warner Bros. studio. Berkeley's own unpublished memoirs, personal letters, legal documents, and more [complimentary] interviews with those who worked with him for a wide-ranging survey to any serious film or biography library. The Midwest Book Review, Read this book cover to cover, the first attempt at a full-blown biography of the innovative choreographer and director whose kaleidoscopic musical numbers of the 1930s have never been equaled. Spivak has done his homework in terms of interviews and archival research--including a discovery of Berkeley's unpublished memoir., "At the time, movie musicals were stale and outdated, but with a touch of the Buzz magic, they came alive. Most credit Berkeley with saving and then recreating a whole new genre of the movie musical.... If you are a lover of musicals, this is the book for you."-- Chew & Digest Books, " Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley is a pick for film and biography holdings alike, covering the career and personal life of film director and choreography Busby Berkeley, whose films changed the nature of the musical film itself and saved Warner Bros. studio. Berkeley's own unpublished memoirs, personal letters, legal documents, and more [complimentary] interviews with those who worked with him for a wide-ranging survey to any serious film or biography library."-- The Midwest Book Review, ""Busby Berkeley's name conjures up kaleidoscopic images of women's body parts: crane shots of synchronized movement, collaged into design and pattern by distance and directorial oversight. Jeffrey Spivak aims to promote Berkeley... to the role of directorial creativity and originality."--Times Literary Supplement" --, ""Spivak shows a keen understanding of Berkeley's talents but does not ignore his flaws. His biography illuminates a fertile period in American film history."--Library Journal" --, Berkeley was a choreographer extraordinaire. Who else could handle 150 dancers in one number? I can't think of anyone, and Berkeley was doing this in the 1920s and 1930s., ""[Berkeley] was destined for a life in show business. And that life,... was as full of dazzling highs and lurid lows as any melodrama could be."-- Barnes and Noble Review " --, ""Spivak's well-written biography of the Hollywood choreographer and director, famous for the complicated, kaleidoscopic dances he choreographed for such films as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 , has scholarly depth yet is gracefully accessible."-- Booklist " --, ""Spivak has the biographer's sine qua non: a sense of his subject's uniqueness on this Earth." -- Page Laws, dean of the Honors College, Norfolk State University" --, ""At the time, movie musicals were stale and outdated, but with a touch of the Buzz magic, they came alive. Most credit Berkeley with saving and then recreating a whole new genre of the movie musical. The book is heavy into his technique and art, but pretty light when it comes to fleshing out the picture of just who Busby Berkeley was as a man. If you are a lover of musicals, this is the book for you."--Chew & Digest Books" --, "[Berkeley] was destined for a life in show business. And that life,... was as full of dazzling highs and lurid lows as any melodrama could be."-- Barnes and Noble Review, ""Spivak shows a keen understanding of Berkeley's talents but does not ignore his flaws. His biography illuminates a fertile period in American film history."-- Library Journal " --, [Having] rescued [Berkeley's own memoirs] from a garbage clearance... Spivak recounts [Berkeley's] tales of relentless retakes, schedule-skimming night shoots, and crack-ups, whether emotional... or spinal., ""Jeffrey Spivak offers a detailed look into the life and career of one of American cinema's most influential dance directors"--Theater Mania" --, ""Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley is a pick for film and biography holdings alike, covering the career and personal life of film director and choreography Busby Berkeley, whose films changed the nature of the musical film itself and saved Warner Bros. studio. Berkeley's own unpublished memoirs, personal letters, legal documents, and more [complimentary] interviews with those who worked with him for a wide-ranging survey to any serious film or biography library."--The Midwest Book Review" --, "The man behind cinema's most complex dance numbers was as complex as his work."-- Los Angeles Magazine, "One could be excused for thinking that a book titled Buzz might be about Internet-based P.R. strategies for individuals or businesses, but it's actually a biography--the only one out there--of Busby Berkeley, the choreo-philosopher and one of the cinema's most original and distinctive creators."-- New Yorker, ""Spivak describes the entrepreneur's extraordinary career and catalogs his over-the-top life and similarly baroque song-and-dance numbers which featured ornate geometric patterns and influenced much that came after."-- Moving Picture Archives News " --, ""One could be excused for thinking that a book titled Buzz might be about Internet-based P.R. strategies for individuals or businesses, but it's actually a biography -- the only one out there -- of Busby Berkeley, the choreo-philosopher and one of the cinema's most original and distinctive creators."--New Yorker" --, ""People today may remember Berkeley as the visionary behind those human geometric designs that beguiled Hollywood audiences during the 1930s and 40s, but Jeffrey Spivak's new biography Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley paints a deeper portrait of a true artistic innovator and an often troubled human being."--Chicago Stage Style" --, ""[Having] rescued [Berkeley's own memoirs] from a garbage clearance... Spivak recounts [Berkeley's] tales of relentless retakes, schedule-skimming night shoots, and crack-ups, whether emotional... or spinal."-- Sight & Sound " --, Jeffrey Spivak offers a detailed look into the life and career of one of American cinema's most influential dance directors., ""One could be excused for thinking that a book titled Buzz might be about Internet-based P.R. strategies for individuals or businesses, but it's actually a biography -- the only one out there -- of Busby Berkeley, the choreo-philosopher and one of the cinema's most original and distinctive creators."-- New Yorker " --, [Spivak] writes the direct and concise... prose that makes for easy reading. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, ""The man behind cinema's most complex dance numbers was as complex as his work."-- Los Angeles Magazine " --, A gifted storyteller and historian, Jeffrey Spivak paints a finely detailed portrait of dance director Busby Berkeley and his doting actress mother Gertrude. It is a lullaby of Broadway and Hollywood as improbable as any of Berkeley's fantastical musical numbers., "This is an excellent book. The research is meticulous, the narrative crisp, and the evaluation of Berkeley's life and work informative. Buzz fills a major gap in the history of both cinema and musical theater and is must reading, especially for those interested in either."--King Features Syndicate, ""Spivak describes the entrepreneur's extraordinary career and catalogs his over-the-top life and similarly baroque song-and-dance numbers which featured ornate geometric patterns and influenced much that came after."--Moving Picture Archives News" --, ""Read this book cover to cover, the first attempt at a full-blown biography of the innovative choreographer and director whose kaleidoscopic musical numbers of the 1930s have never been equaled. Spivak has done his homework in terms of interviews and archival research--including a discovery of Berkeley's unpublished memoir."--Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy" --, ""Spivak's text is undoubtedly praiseworthy for utilizing resources...to produce this substantial work."--Cambridge Journals" --, Not only is Buzz the source material for [an] upcoming movie, but it's an invaluable resource on the ups and downs of Berkeley's life., "[Having] rescued [Berkeley's own memoirs] from a garbage clearance... Spivak recounts [Berkeley's] tales of relentless retakes, schedule-skimming night shoots, and crack-ups, whether emotional... or spinal."-- Sight & Sound, ""[Spivak] writes the direct and concise... prose that makes for easy reading."-- Quarterly Review of Film and Video " --, "People today may remember Berkeley as the visionary behind those human geometric designs that beguiled Hollywood audiences during the 1930s and 40s, but Jeffrey Spivak's new biography Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley paints a deeper portrait of a true artistic innovator and an often troubled human being."-- Chicago Stage Style, Spivak describes the entrepreneur's extraordinary career and catalogs his over-the-top life and similarly baroque song-and-dance numbers which featured ornate geometric patterns and influenced much that came after., "A gifted storyteller and historian, Jeffrey Spivak paints a finely detailed portrait of dance director Busby Berkeley and his doting actress mother Gertrude. It is a lullaby of Broadway and Holylwood as improbable as any of Berkeley's fantastical musical numbers."--Miles Kreuger, President, The Institute of the American Musical, Inc., "Not only is Buzz the source material for [an] upcoming movie, but it's an invaluable resource on the ups and downs of Berkeley's life." -- Journeys In Classic Film, Spivak's text is undoubtedly praiseworthy for utilizing resources...to produce this substantial work., "Spivak shows a keen understanding of Berkeley's talents but does not ignore his flaws. His biography illuminates a fertile period in American film history."-- Library Journal, Spivak... did an enormous amount of research for this biography. He even viewed the least notable of Berkeley's films and tracked unfinished projects., ""Busby Berkeley's name conjures up kaleidoscopic images of women's body parts: crane shots of synchronized movement, collaged into design and pattern by distance and directorial oversight. Jeffrey Spivak aims to promote Berkeley... to the role of directorial creativity and originality."-- Times Literary Supplement " --, ""The man behind cinema's most complex dance numbers was as complex as his work."--Los Angeles Magazine" --, "Spivak's biography perfectly captures Buzz's spirit as well as the legend, all rolled into one. Spivak covers the man from his humble beginnings, cowering under his brother's wardrobe as he first makes an "appearance" on stage, through to his Broadway successes and failures, and on to the peaks and nadirs he experienced in Hollywood. An even-handed tribute all around." -- Broadway World, ""The man behind ciniema's most complex dance numbers was as complex as his work."--Los Angeles Magazine" --, ""Berkeley was a choreographer extraordinaire. Who else could handle 150 dancers in one number? I can't think of anyone, and Berkeley was doing this in the 1920s and 1930s."--California Chronicle" --, ""Spivak's biography perfectly captures Buzz's spirit as well as the legend, all rolled into one. Spivak covers the man from his humble beginnings, cowering under his brother's wardrobe as he first makes an "appearance" on stage, through to his Broadway successes and failures, and on to the peaks and nadirs he experienced in Hollywood. An even-handed tribute all around." -- Broadway World" --, "Spivak describes the entrepreneur's extraordinary career and catalogs his over-the-top life and similarly baroque song-and-dance numbers which featured ornate geometric patterns and influenced much that came after."-- Moving Picture Archives News, ""[Spivak] writes the direct and concise... prose that makes for easy reading."--Quarterly Review of Film and Video" --, ""Spivak's meticulous research magnifies the career and personal life of this beloved entertainer."--Turner Classic Movies" --, "Jeffrey Spivak offers a detailed look into the life and career of one of American cinema's most influential dance directors"--Theater Mania, "Berkeley was a choreographer extraordinaire. Who else could handle 150 dancers in one number? I can't think of anyone, and Berkeley was doing this in the 1920s and 1930s."-- California Chronicle, "" Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley is a pick for film and biography holdings alike, covering the career and personal life of film director and choreography Busby Berkeley, whose films changed the nature of the musical film itself and saved Warner Bros. studio. Berkeley's own unpublished memoirs, personal letters, legal documents, and more [complimentary] interviews with those who worked with him for a wide-ranging survey to any serious film or biography library."-- The Midwest Book Review " --, ""Looking for a gift for a movie lover? Consider Jeffrey Spivak's new book, Buzz ."-- New York Post " --, One could be excused for thinking that a book titled Buzz might be about Internet-based P.R. strategies for individuals or businesses, but it's actually a biography--the only one out there--of Busby Berkeley, the choreo-philosopher and one of the cinema's most original and distinctive creators., This is an excellent book. The research is meticulous, the narrative crisp, and the evaluation of Berkeley's life and work informative. Buzz fills a major gap in the history of both cinema and musical theater and is must reading, especially for those interested in either., ""Spivak's biography perfectly captures Buzz's spirit as well as the legend, all rolled into one. Spivak covers the man from his humble beginnings, cowering under his brother's wardrobe as he first makes an "appearance" on stage, through to his Broadway successes and failures, and on to the peaks and nadirs he experienced in Hollywood. An even-handed tribute all around." -- Broadway World " --, ""At the time, movie musicals were stale and outdated, but with a touch of the Buzz magic, they came alive. Most credit Berkeley with saving and then recreating a whole new genre of the movie musical. The book is heavy into his technique and art, but pretty light when it comes to fleshing out the picture of just who Busby Berkeley was as a man. If you are a lover of musicals, this is the book for you."-- Chew & Digest Books " --, ""Looking for a gift for a movie lover? Consider Jeffrey Spivak's new book, Buzz."--New York Post" --, ""Buzz: The Life & Times of Busby Berkeley is a pick for film and biography holdings alike, covering the career and personal life of film director and choreography Busby Berkeley, whose films changed the nature of the musical film itself and saved Warner Bros. studio. Berkeley's own unpublished memoirs, personal letters, legal documents, and more [complimentary] interviews with those who worked with him for a wide-ranging survey to any serious film or biography library."--The Midwest Book Review" --, Busby Berkeley's name conjures up kaleidoscopic images of women's body parts: crane shots of synchronized movement, collaged into design and pattern by distance and directorial oversight. Jeffrey Spivak aims to promote Berkeley... to the role of directorial creativity and originality., ""Spivak... did an enormous amount of research for this biography. He even viewed the least notable of Berkeley's films and tracked unfinished projects." -- Choice" --, Spivak's well-written biography of the Hollywood choreographer and director, famous for the complicated, kaleidoscopic dances he choreographed for such films as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 , has scholarly depth yet is gracefully accessible., At the time, movie musicals were stale and outdated, but with a touch of the Buzz magic, they came alive. Most credit Berkeley with saving and then recreating a whole new genre of the movie musical.... If you are a lover of musicals, this is the book for you., ""People today may remember Berkeley as the visionary behind those human geometric designs that beguiled Hollywood audiences during the 1930s and 40s, but Jeffrey Spivak's new biography Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley paints a deeper portrait of a true artistic innovator and an often troubled human being."-- Chicago Stage Style " --, ""Read this book cover to cover, the first attempt at a full-blown biography of the innovative choreographer and director whose kaleidoscopic musical numbers of the 1930s have never been equaled. Spivak has done his homework in terms of interviews and archival research--including a discovery of Berkeley's unpublished memoir."-- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy " --, ""[Berkeley] was destined for a life in show business. And that life,... was as full of dazzling highs and lurid lows as any melodrama could be."--Barnes and Noble Review" --, "[Spivak] writes the direct and concise... prose that makes for easy reading."-- Quarterly Review of Film and Video, [Berkeley] was destined for a life in show business. And that life,... was as full of dazzling highs and lurid lows as any melodrama could be., ""Spivak... did an enormous amount of research for this biography. He even viewed the least notable of Berkeley's films and tracked unfinished projects." -- Choice " --, "Spivak's text is undoubtedly praiseworthy for utilizing resources...to produce this substantial work."--Cambridge Journals, ""Spivak's well-written biography of the Hollywood choreographer and director, famous for the complicated, kaleidoscopic dances he choreographed for such films as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933, has scholarly depth yet is gracefully accessible."--Booklist" --, ""At the time, movie musicals were stale and outdated, but with a touch of the Buzz magic, they came alive. Most credit Berkeley with saving and then recreating a whole new genre of the movie musical.... If you are a lover of musicals, this is the book for you."-- Chew & Digest Books " --
