Thank you Mr. Stefan Kanfer for tackling the project on the diamond empire. The subject matter is not easy to write, but Mr. Kanfer managed to tell a story in a way that portrays a business biography in an academic yet exciting tone. "The Last Empire" is a very thoroughly researched and extremely well written book. I've learnt so much about the history of the most powerful diamond organization in the world (The DeBeers), its operation, structures, system, human interaction and the people behind the industry. Lots of great pictures and the stories of old Africa is filled with romantic images it makes reading a pleasure. Truly inspiring!

Kanfer has done an outstanding job of making the past come to life. The book is an excellent study of a country, a company and the uneasy relationship between government and the people. A wonderful combination of history, biography, and business.

I thought this book was very informative and one of the easiest reading non-fiction books out there. I was surprised to find out just how many different people were involved with the diamond trade in South Africa: Cecil Rhodes (the only person to have a country named directly after him), Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill...the list goes on. This book is one I had to add to my own shelf.

My interest in Jewish history was borne from my love of the Catskills in New York. Having grown up in a Jewish community provided me with a background that prompted many questions for which I never quite found answers. As a young person my favorite comedians were all Jewish-their sense of humor and timing was uncomparable. I could laugh and cry at the same time and it felt good. Upon venturing into the local library in my town upstate in the quest for answers to the whys and wherefores of the names around the Catskills and the pockets of Hasidic communities around my little town, I spotted Stefan Kanfer's hardbound book. A quick glance at the title and the jacket was all I needed to decide this was must reading. From the first few pages my fascination began with the accounts of the immigrants at the turn of the century from Russia settling in New York City and their reasons for looking for 'a land flowing with milk and honey'; their determination to make a living as peddlars of assorted wares; their 'at odds' relationship with other incoming Jewish immigrants; the origin of many of the words we use today; the notoriety of the little towns along Route 17 and the 'not-so-nice' goings on; the rise of the empires of the many Catskill hotels that started out as places for immigrants seeking a 'cure' from TB; the true (and perhaps unknown to many) story of the Grossinger family and others; how many famous comedians got their start in these hotels, (Daniel David Kaminsky for one) and learning the real names of these men and women was a pleasant surprise; and, finally, the sad decline of the summer exodus to the catskills by the succeeding generations as times changed. I would venture to say that the Catskills were "made" by these Jewish immigrants and the knowledge I gained from this book was worth its weight in gold. I cannot imagine it absent from my bookshelf and know that is truly one of the finest books I have ever read. This is a 'must read' publication for any Catskill dweller. Thank you Mr. Kanfer.

Mr. Kanfer makes a point late in this book that once he was pushed into show business at an early age, Julius Henry Marx ceased his existence, eternally replaced by the acerbic, wisecracking, iconoclastic character "Groucho". The man no long was; only the persona remained. The detailing of this problem -- which ruined Milos Forman's recent Andy Kaufman biopic, i.e. the examination of the man where the public persona is omnipotent -- is the real strength of this book. Kanfer does a great job showing how Groucho could never escape being Groucho; he was either the funny little man with the greasepaint moustache, cutting people down with his razor sharp wit, or he was nothing. It's a great psychological portrait.

The vaudeville sections are bright and lively, really capturing the anarchic spirit that the brothers held. Kanfer does a good job showing the transition from vaudeville to movies, including the fears and trepidations of those involved, especially Groucho's. Even though we know that worldwide fame would eventually come, the road traveled to get there is filled with much tangible drama.

Groucho's later years are done particularly well. They're especially effective when the reader gets an indication of how far Groucho has fallen: a man who once verbally terrorized all the women in his life gets his karmic retribution. It's quite a sad chapter; I as a reader couldn't wait to read of Groucho's death, just to put the old man out of his misery. Very powerful.

Unfortunately, the book is weak in several other areas.

The sections dealing with Julius' childhood needed a deeper biographical sketch of his mother Minnie Marx. We are told repeatedly of her great will and dominance over the boys, but we only see glimpses of that. Kanfer does yeomen's work researching the other areas of Groucho's life, so why skimp out on the beginnings?

Later, when dealing with the heyday of the Marx Brothers movies, it is apt to re-quote a criticism Groucho himself makes on page 380: "[Critics] do a new kind of writing. They rent our movies, tape-record them and write down all the good jokes in their books. Quite a writing feat!" He's talking about the glut of criticism following the Brothers' renewed popularity in the 1960s, and Kanfer uses the quotation wisely to that extent. Unfortunately, he himself uses that very same hackneyed technique! There are transcriptions of scenes from 'Duck Soup' and 'Horse Feathers' that run for pages. Granted, they are almost as entertaining on paper as they are on screen, but they serve little purpose in a biography. Kanfer tries to tie the scenes into the narrative of Groucho's life, but he generally fails to do so effectively.

When Groucho has his popular rebirth, with the television show 'You Bet Your Life', what should be an important time in contributing to the enduring appeal of the comedian is glossed over. A period of ten years feels like just two, before we are thrust into Groucho's twilight. I would have loved more anecdotes and analysis from this era.

My suggestion to those interested is that this is a good start to get an understanding of Groucho. For those already versed in Marx lore, this book will probably infuriate rather than enlighten you.

This book does a nice job of putting together bits of information and stories from a variety of sources into one volume. The author's style is strong and brisk and keeps you reading. The best parts of the book are his discussions of the plays and movies, although he pads things out with a few too many pages of direct film dialogue transcription. Even when the material was very funny on its own, the Marxes' delivery is what made their movies classics, and no amount of quoting can really bring Groucho's performances to life on the page. The first part of the book is, by necessity, also largely about Chico and Harpo, and Kanfer keeps all the brothers in focus as long as they remain important to Groucho; Kanfer also nicely charts the various rises and declines of Groucho's later life.

There are two main problems: one is that there are virtually no notes, despite the vast amount of direct quotes from various sources. There is a list of major published works on Groucho, with some given helpful annotation, but more detailed notes should have been present. The other problem is that, too often, Kanfer forgets to let us know what year he's talking about, or how much time is passing between sections. Several times, I found myself flipping back and forth, trying to place an incident in time. The book is strictly chronological, but the details get slippery. I would also have liked a few more photographs. Overall, recommended--almost certainly the best bio yet about a cherished and never to be forgotten man.

I have to start by saying that while I absolutely love the 4 or 5 Marx Brother's films that I've seen, I'm not a die hard fan in the sense that I'm not an expert on the Brothers, their careers or their lives, and this is the first book related to them that I've read.

That being said, I don't see many of the flaws in this book that some previous reviewers have mentioned, in that I can't really comment on the author's accuracy or lack of.

What I can say is that this is an interesting book, and certainly portrays Groucho in what is to me an unacustomed light, a far cry from the absolute character that he is in the films. Intead, we see a man who, because of the demands and treatment he received during his childhood, has difficulty dealing with women and children on many levels to the point where he seems to drive three of the most important women in his life (two wives and one of his daughters) into severe alchoholism.

What I found to be most interesting about this book (to its credit) is it portrays Groucho's fears and sensitivities, especially to critics reviews (although, in the end, for Groucho the bottom line was always the box office, and not the critics). Its ironic then that based on this book's descriptions of Groucho's reactions to things written about him, its quite clear that this book probably would have outraged Groucho since its overall depiction of him is far from flattering in many respects.

"Serious Business" is generally a good book, though with a few major flaws. It distinguishes itself by providing not only an overview of the history of cinematic animation in the US, but also places the rise and fall of animation in a historical and cultural context. It gives a clearer picture of how the politics and economics of the times influenced and steered not only the creation and content of animated pictures, but also the business aspects as well.

On the plus side, Kanfer does indeed delve beyond the standard name-and-dates syndrome of other animation histories. He attempts to provide a broad overview of the early years of animation and how non-Disney studios were to eventually fall to the Mouse. When focused, Kanfer's writing is extremely engaging and his accounts of the various political maneuverings are facsinating.

Unfortunately, Kanfer attempts to squeeze too much into to little space. One could easily see this book being twice the size it is now. As such, the very aspects one wants to explore most - how such things as economics, war, race and politics in America effected animation - are never really fleshed out for any given studio/cartoon beyond a few pages, or paragraphs. Significant space is given to Disney's story (perhaps deservedly so), but I would've liked to learn more about 'outsider' studios as well.

Kanfer also has a habit of not staying focused in his chapters and bouncing suddenly from place to place. It doesn't make the book unreadable by any means, but it does distract from the over-all flow of the narritave.

All in all though, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a general historical overview of animation.

A good read, but not the great book it could have been. It could easily have been twice as long. Early chapters are strongest. Strong on Disney. Would like to have seen more on Looney Tunes

Well written, concise survey of American animation history. The only slights are that he doesn't have much to say on non-Disney animated efforts of the past decade, especially television animation, and that too many pages praise the horrendous UPA 'toons. Otherwise, this is a great intro to a neglected sector of American culture. If you want to learn about cartoons without buying a separate book on each major company, this should be your choice

This book is like Richard Anobile's books but without the pictures. Not much effort/research went into the compilation of Groucho's writing and excerpts from films. Little, if anything, is new or hasn't been republished in the last 25 years. Much better is Robert Bader's compilation of Groucho's writing: Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales

This collection of movie dialogue (Only up to A Day at The Races) A few letters (Get The Groucho Letters, instead) and a few of Groucho's essays is haphazardly organized and only good for the new fan who might want to see what all the Groucho fanfare is about. This gets two stars from me only because I think it might get someone to check out the Marx brothers films. If you are familiar with their work this will add nothing new to your Marx collection.

I bought this book because I didn't know anything about the Marx Brothers, and I wanted to get a feel for who they were offstage. (I just saw "Duck Soup" for the first time, and now I just HAVE to get all of their movies! Absolute Genius!)

I read the other review, and wondered, but this book did just fine in giving me a look at who these wonderful entertainers when they weren't performing (well, mainly Groucho). Plus it has some transcripts form the movies and his show "You bet your life" ! All in all, a really easy and fun read. Enjoy!