In his preface to this book, Carl Van Doren refers to Norman Corwin as being to radio what Marlowe was to the Elizabethan stage. Published in 1942, this is a compilation of 13 radio dramas written by Corwin between 1938 and the publishing of the book. He was just beginning his illustrious radio career at that time.

Norman Corwin was without peer in radio writing. And this book shows you why. In stories ranging from fanciful to funny, with serious and moving falling somewhere between, Corwin shows his unique talent for producing plays especially for radio. These are not adaptations from other media.

Corwin's reputation was so respected that whenever he came up with a new script, CBS would just tell him to go ahead and produce it. They put him on the air without commercial interruptions, and he almost always directed his own scripts.

He is the only writer in radio history to have one his plays simultaneously aired on all three radio networks at one time.

Included in this collection is the delightful "Plot to Overthrow Christmas", his first radio production. And it is written in poem format, a very unusual style for radio. Often the rhyme for a line would be spoken by another character, such as this brief exchange between Nero and a courier sent by the devil inviting Nero to a meeting in Hades.

Courier: Oh, you will be sitting in Row A, center, 'Tween Ivan the Terrible, the tormentor, and Circe.

Nero: Mercy! Why, they're both deranged!

Courier: Do you wish me to see if your seat can be changed?

This entire 30-minute drama must be read (or heard) for full appreciation.

Other works in this volume include the fantasy "The Odyssey of Runyon Jones", in which a young boy searches Heaven and Hell for his deceased dog; the satirical "Radio Primer" which pokes fun at the practices of radio stations; and the strongly worded epitaph to the Spanish Republic in which dictator Franco was handed the rule of the land, "They Fly Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease."

Each of the thirteen stories is a delight and readers may have fun by gathering friends together for readings. Everyone will enjoy and perhaps be amazed by the versatility and literary quality.

Corwin will not disappoint. He never did in the 1940's heyday of radio, and his work is just as vibrant as it was back then.

Nice photos, but how much faith can you put into the text when simple errors stick out like sore thumbs

For instance:

Man Called X: Ken Thurston did not have a girlfriend and had nothing to do with the Cafe Tamborine (that was an entirely different program.)

Jack Moyles did NOT replace Frank Sinatra as Rocky Fortune. That series ended when Sinatra left it. Moyles DID star in Rocky Jordan, an entirely different show.

It is little things like this and make the book suspect for me. How many more errors are in this book? What can one take as fact and not with a grain of salt?

Excellent concept, faulty execution. I would not buy this book again and am considering returning my copy for credit. I do not consider this book to be a valuable reference item. Casual reading yes...reference work...no

This book, The Encyclopedia of American Radio, is an excellent, comprehensive compilation of facts and photos relating to radio shows and personalities of the past that were part of Radio's Golden Age...the thirties, forties and fifties. It is a very fond look back at those days when we all gathered around the family radio and listened to such great shows as The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, The Lux Radio Theater, Jack Benny, et al. The amount of information given in this book is vast and the Appendices, which lists hundreds of dramatic anthology shows and personalities not given separate entries in the book, is extensive. An amazing achievememnt and it is Fun to read and not dull, which is more than I can say for other less well written Radio Encyclopedias that have been published in the last few years. Congratulations, Mr. Lackmann, for a job well done.

Ron Lackmann's Encyclopedia of American Radio is a wonderfuul and useful book about Old Time Radio. It is the only book I have found on the subject that gives both show descriptions and biographies of many major radio personalities. I have found other books that are filled with far many more errors than are found in this book, and yet those books seem to get favorable reviews from certain somewhat bitter people. I have been told that authors writing for vanity publishers often write favorable reviews for their own books on similar sujects and nasty picky criticisms of other people's books on similar subjects in order to undermine work done by others. How awful. I found the illustrations in Lackmann's Radio Encyclopedia especially nostalgic and very provocative of a time gone by. I understand the bvook won the POpular Culture award as Best Reference book for 1997...which was well deserved. The extensive APPendices is also most impressive.