About
Author: Deana Martin (USA)
Genre: Biographical
Setting
Place: USA
Time: 1930s-1980s
My Rating (see what this means)
My Subjective Rating: 2
My ‘Objective’ Rating: 1.52
Introduction
Within the first few chapters of her book ‘Memories are Made of This’, the author Deana Martin confesses of her father Dean Martin –
I began to make excuses for him
— something I have continued to do throughout my life.
This book seems an exercise in excuses – not only for the father but also for the mother – both extremely flawed individuals –
- Without Gail (elder brother), we’d never have held it together. And sometimes, late at night, during Mother’s more raucous parties, Gail would lock us in the closet to keep us safe.
Mother was tremendous fun. - I was very grateful for this morsel of his (father – Dean Martin) time, even though I’d had to work so hard for it. Knowing how difficult it seemed to be for him to give of himself, I realized what a generous thing it was for him to do.
Had I not received this book as a gift, it is unlikely that I would have read about the life of a Hollywood Star – howsoever much I enjoy some of their songs. Reading it was informative in a way – at how real some over the top movie drama can be. What I also know is that I am even more unlikely to pick up such a book again.
Review
For such an emotionally engaged work of biography/autobiography – the book is still subjectively honest. But subjective honesty is a poor substitute for factual reliability.
For instance, assuming that the drama is worth reading about, Deana, who remembers a happy-ish childhood with her father and step-mom is surprised by their divorce. The surprise and her lack of awareness of the situation may be honest – but that’s not exactly the point of biography!
Being a non-fictional – the book fails. It is insufficiently factual. Moreover there doesn’t seem to be much structure to the book which seems a collection of anecdotes and not much else. There is a chronological flow to the story but it is not clean.
Arguably, biographies need not always be works of non-fiction and I have rarely come across a completely detached work. However, despite zero attempts at detachment, the author fails to make a novel-like connection between the reader and the protagonist. That can be because Dean Martin, the first protagonist, was a supremely flawed character, empathize-able only fleetingly. However, even the second protagonist Deana herself, with much more room to make a connection with the reader – with her difficult childhood, the challenges of having flawed parents, etc. fails to seem relatable. That perhaps is because of a certain tone-deafness which comes from very high privilege.
That makes me wonder what a point of biographies/autobiographies is. On paper, Dean Martin ‘The King of Cool’ seems important enough to be a subject. However, much of the life captured in the book – with it needless drama, pointless pettiness, the infidelities, the carelessness certainly doesn’t seem worth reading about. All I can say about the my opinion of the books can be summarized in this perfect little piece I came across in a random review of a different book –
Did I think this was any good? Well, you know, some people like Albert Ayler, some people like Jeff Koons, some people even profess to like the films of Eric Rohmer. What is Art? Rock Hudson said Art is a boy’s name.
Maybe we could rephrase that question then. Did I like it?
No.