• Lucy and Desi

  • The Legendary Love Story of Television's Most Famous Couple
  • By: Warren G. Harris
  • Narrated by: Jim Frangione
  • Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (588 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Lucy and Desi  By  cover art

Lucy and Desi

By: Warren G. Harris
Narrated by: Jim Frangione
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

After eight years on the air, Desi Arnaz did not love Lucy any more. On screen, they were dynamite, a comedy pairing more successful than any Hollywood had ever produced. But when the cameras stopped rolling, they fought, screamed and threatened each other more each season. Finally, an argument in Desi's production office turned violent. Lucy hurled a cocktail glass past his head, and Desi demanded a divorce. He moved out that night. After nearly 20 years, America's favorite couple was finished.

When they first got married, no one in Hollywood thought it would last six months. Lucille Ball's acting career was on the skids, and Arnaz was just another Cuban bandleader. But together, their irresistible chemistry produced one of the greatest television empires of all time, and a love story as passionate as it was explosive.

©1991 Warren G. Harris (P)2016 Graymalkin Media, LLC

What listeners say about Lucy and Desi

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    400
  • 4 Stars
    147
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    349
  • 4 Stars
    124
  • 3 Stars
    37
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    363
  • 4 Stars
    121
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it!!!

As a huge I love Lucy fan , I learned a lot of both Lucille Ball's and Desi Arnaz lives that I would never imagine. I will always be a Lucille Ball fan 😘

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hated for it to end. The narrator was wonderful, with his “on the mark” inflection and soothing voice.
I’ve read other books on Lucy & Desi, but this one is, beyond a doubt, the best.
I highly recommend!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Have always loved Lucy

What made the experience of listening to Lucy and Desi the most enjoyable?

I have always been a huge fan of the show and they in someways remind me of my parents. So I love learning about there history there ups and downs and how they made life work for them selfs. I love learning about the show and the fact that back then work was work u didn't need to like one another but u needed to make it work.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lucy hands down

Which character – as performed by Jim Frangione – was your favorite?

Lucy and I loved learning more about Vivian

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Oh ye many times I could feel there pain as well as there love

Any additional comments?

There is such a rich history with this iconic couple and I feel even after all these years we will never know the true depths of there connection what they truly met to one another.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I love Lucy and Desi too!

What did you love best about Lucy and Desi?

I own every episode of the original I Love Lucy show, along with its follow up specials. I've read several biographies of Lucille Ball. This one is my favorite because it gives a decent amount of attention to Desi Arnaz's story. The book is well written, nicely paced to hold a reader's interest, and contains info I hadn't found in the previous Lucy biographies of my collection. I listened to this book at every opportunity over the course of a few days. I regretted it when the book came to its ending. I wanted the story to go on and on.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sorry, Desi, but Lucy still comes out on top. She was fabulous. I've seen a few of the old Hollywood B movies in which Lucille Ball appeared. She was gorgeous, funny, smart and a good actress, too. I don't understand why her movie career didn't take off like a rocket back in the day. But if it had, it's likely we would never have enjoyed The Lucy Show, Desilu, Star Trek, The Untouchables and so many other TV classics. In the end, both Lucy and Desi achieved and contributed far more working in television than they would have if either had been more successful with their early show biz dreams.

Have you listened to any of Jim Frangione’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Can't say I've heard Mr. Frangione before, but he certainly was perfect for this Audible book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Love hurts, and yet endures.

Any additional comments?

Lucy, Rickie, Ethel and Fred were among my first babysitters. My harried parents would position my playpen in front of their 1952 model cabinet TV, so that the Ricardos and Mertzes could entertain me (and keep me quiet) as I watched I Love Lucy through the playpen's wooden slats. As I grew older, Lucy and company were always there for me through reruns. They lived in New York apartments nearly identical to those inhabited by my grandparents and great aunts, so even the sets and props were familiar and very real to me. But my parents and other relatives certainly did not have as much fun in their lives as did irrepressible Lucy, Rickie, Fred, and Ethel. I am eternally grateful to Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, and the fabulous writers of the I Love Lucy show. I am also grateful that Mr. Harris wrote this compassionate, respectful book about the Lucille/Desi story. Despite their flaws, those two shared a love that underscored their lives till the end. I am in awe of them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

We still love Lucy and Desi!

This was my second bio of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. Much of the information was a repeat for me, but I never tire of listening or reading about this dynamic couple. What I really liked about this book is that in spite of them not being able to stay married and though they married other people, you could sense that they both loved each other until the end. Despite Desi's behavior, I believed he really loved Lucy but just couldn't help himself. So sad. But we still have films of them making us laugh and that's a good thing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I Love Lucy!

I Love Lucy has been a part of my life since I was born. I loved this book and it's focus not only on Lucy and Desi as a couple but their lives apart from each other. Would definitely recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A rather flat account of a brilliant career

I found this book to be like a monologue of VIP names and events surrounding them narrated like a textbook account with little feeling. It was just a timeline of what happened to them in their career with some background, but no real insight,humor or imagination, just the facts like a history book. It could have been interesting, and if it hadn't been for Lucy and Desi's colorful personalities and impressive accomplishments, it would have been a complete waste of time. I really didn't care for the way their story was told in this rendition.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Only if youre NOT a Lucy fan

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Folks who enjoy sensationalism and gossip, similar to National Enquirer magazine.

Would you ever listen to anything by Warren G. Harris again?

Probably not.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jim Frangione?

Narration really wasn't the main problem.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

We were angry that these two people, one of whom I admire very much, are now having their darkest and most private moments not only exposed - but it is being done with leering and pettiness. It is as if the author enjoys airing this famous couple's dirty laundry. We were angry and felt misled by the title and cover photo. We were deeply saddened by what little we heard.

Any additional comments?

My cousin and I found this book completely un-listenable and I think the author should be ashamed. We were taking a cross-country road trip together and, both being lifelong Lucille Ball fans we thought it would be an enjoyable experience to listen to this book. We were horrified and bitterly disappointed, as well as being sad and angry for Lucy's legacy. There is no respect for these two people and what they were going through. There is no compassion for how terrible it is to be losing your marriage. Within the first few minutes, you hear things attributed to Lucy that I am fairly sure (as was my cousin) NO Lucy fan would want to know she said - even if these portrayals of them are true - which we had a good amount of doubt about. Even if the things attributed to her in this book are factual, nobody wants to be known for their worst moments or to have the awful things that are said behind closed doors revealed. This book has been written to sensationalize the falling apart of a marriage - the author lured us in with a misleading title and cover photo that made us think we were going to listen to a book that would take us behind the scenes of one of the most loved shows of all time, and maybe a bit of a peek into the private lives of someone we have idolized since we were girls. But this book is not for Lucy fans - it is not anything a real fan will want to hear because we want to stay fans. Everyone deserves privacy and not to have thier darkest parts of their lives revealed unless THEY do it themselves. We stopped listening after 10 minutes and have no plans to ever revisit this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very thorough and well written

This is a very thorough and well written story very interesting and shocking. The narrator also did a splendid job With his performance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lucy you have some splainin’ to do!!

An excellent biography of both Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Highly recommended. The full story of both of their lives with stringent detail. A great book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful