Underfoot In Show Business (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road is one of my all time favourite reads, and I have toyed with the idea of reading it's successor,The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street,from time to time,but have never come across a copy. Following my belated conversion to the internet,I was reminded of this recently and decided to see if it was available on Amazon. The only way it was obtainable,was to buy The Helene Hanff Omnibus,which contains five of her books, and when I received my copy, I decided to read them in chronological order, starting with "Underfoot".Underfoot in Show Business is the humorous story of Helene's early days as a struggling writer in New York going through the treadmill of publisher's rejections and occasional magazine acceptances.Struggling to make a living and living in a succession of furnished bedsits,Helene eventually joins a travelling theatre company as a general dogsbody,and her experiences there contain many amusing episodes.Her big breakthrough comes with the advent of television, when there is a sudden demand for screenwriters, and big paychecks to be earned. She gets regular work adapting The Ellery Queen mysteries and writing about historical figures,which she loves,for her Hallmark sponsors.This is a fascinating account of life on the edge of show business in the early fifties, and has lots of amusing anecdotes, which are wittily told. A joy.
As usual I had a great time reading about Helene Hanff's life. This time she chronicled her failure to make her mark on Broadway. Her Oklahoma! and Lord of the Rings anecdotes alone make this worth the read but there is something romantic about her devotion to the theatre that draws you in. As well as being a Theatre Guild intern she worked as an assistant press agent, prop girl, outside reader and lots more. The stories of Helene and her actress best friend Maxine blagging their way into Broadway shows are endearing and you find yourself cheering for her when she finally earns enough money to move out of residences and garrets and manages to lease her own one and a half room apartment which she blows her savings decorating. I am immeasurably sad that I don't have anymore books by Miss Hanff to look forward to. She has been an interesting companion over the past few months.
What do You think about Underfoot In Show Business (2007)?
The problem with finding a new author you love who happens to be deceased is that you know he or she won't be producing any more books for you to read. The problem if that author is Helene Hanff is that she only wrote five memoir books, and another book that collects the transcripts of some radio program she did. Totally unfair, I say. I only discovered Hanff a few weeks ago and have already sped through three of her six books, and it makes me sad to think there are only three more left to go. This was a delight. Hanff really brought to life what being an out-of-worked, unknown, starving playwright in the 40s and 50s was like. I know that I wouldn't have lasted a month in that life, but she made it sound so fun that I was half tempted to give it a try myself.
—Debbie
Excellent, I am truly captivated by dear Helene. These memoirs of her writing career were such a pleasure to read. I laughed, and laughed again, how did she do it? Well, this book highlights the genuine struggle she had in her chosen field, but she never seemed down. She saw humour in all situations and had the right response for any situation. Oh, how I wish she had written more books. There are some lovely anecdotes in here, and I will see Oklahoma! in a whole new light now. Thoroughly recommended to all.
—David Crosby
Hanff is a gifted memoirist. This book includes the timeline of 84, Charing Cross Road, which makes the story seem even more personal–as though the author is a friend writing you letters from an apartment smack in the middle of the NY writing scene. She never gets a play produced, but she tells us about the journey without bitterness, happy to be writing, even if it is for television for a few years. The chapter that reveals how she and her actress friend Maxine get into movies and plays for free is funny. "Meet me in front of Sardi's and don't wear a coat." Hanff wrote this first long book because a Harper's editor asked if she could/would, so she did. Made me nostalgic for more memoir that shares the excitement and gratitude for a life that gets close to living the dream, and reminds us that mostly that's what we all do.
—Linda Robinson
