Even This I Get To Experience (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Even This I Get to Experience, the biography of TV titan Norman Lear, is a lot like his career. The first two acts are terrific ... the third act not so much.Lear is one of the most influential people in TV history. His TV breakthrough was All in the Family, which alone would be enough for most any TV creator. But Lear at his peak ruled network TV, with an unheard of nine shows on the air at one time in the 1970s, including Maude, Good Times, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood 2Night. They weren't all gems — hell, some of them were wretched, particularly by today's standards — but they defined the 1970s. Before his fame, he wrote or produced TV for the likes of Martin and Lewis and many other greats from TV's early days. A good two-thirds of Even This I Get to Experience is an enjoyable, showbiz bio kind of book, a genre for which I am a bit of a sucker. Bu the back third, where Lear's TV career is in decline and his progressive political activism takes over his life, the book gets, quite frankly, skipable. I would have liked a lot more on his TV career (he does spend a lot of time on Archie Bunker himself, Carroll O'Connor) and a lot less on his post-TV career. I suppose two-thirds good is not bad, but overall a bit of a missed opportunity. What a fascinating life. I wanted to hear more about what went into the tv shows that I watched as a child. This is the man that opened up TV to the social issues going on and still made you laugh. He broke ground and wasn't afraid to say f you to the censors over the stupidest things they quibbled over and he created the most memorable characters from the 70's. I think I heard the theme song to Maude in my head. It was great to see how his life growing up and his marriages were interwoven into the stories that were played out on TV. I had no idea he was involved with Spinal Tap!
What do You think about Even This I Get To Experience (2014)?
He's led a very interesting life and has the gift for sharing it with the reader.
—Siti
Lots of Hollywood history here. Norman Lear has all ten "fingers in many pies"!
—Lbuettner
