Even This I Get to Experience

September 15, 2014
The television producer whose controversial sit-com hitsâAll In The Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, One Day at a Timeâvirtually defined the culture of the 1970s looks back on his triumphs and vexations in this feisty, thoughtful autobiography. Lear vents sharply conflicted feelings about nearly everyone and everything: his father, a charismatic con-man; his mother, a sour woman who constantly disparaged him (when he made Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans she noted he was near the bottom of the list); Carroll O'Connor, a sublime Archie Bunker but also a megalomaniac forever threatening to shut down the show over script complaints; the United States, which, as founder of the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way, Lear celebrated in patriotic extravaganzas while deploring patriotic excesses. Lear pens sharply observed studies of the creative process on his many iconic productions and bares plenty of raucous, sometimes bawdy anecdotesâreaders get to experience a nude and lewd Jerry Lewisâbefore the narrative peters out in a third-act haze of nostalgic testimonial and light spiritual rumination. Still, in keeping with the bigoted, mouthy, complex and loveable characters he created, Lear's knack for sizing up a flawed humanity makes for an absorbing read.

Narrating his own memoir, Lear looks back on his long life mostly with wry amusement and humane acceptance, but he also expresses a range of other emotions--from exasperation to wonder and grief. His voice sounds, understandably, a bit creaky but engaging and expressive as well. His pacing and timing are excellent as he keeps the material fresh, his tone reflecting his memories as he recounts them. It's a remarkable life filled with accomplishment in television, film, and political activism, and his accounts are moving and revealing. Anyone with an interest in the past 60 years of entertainment should be absorbed and may find that, like life itself, the book goes by too quickly. W.M. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine