Dean and Me

A Love Story

De: Jerry Lewis

Narrado por: Stephen Hoye

In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of his fifty-year friendship with Dean Martin.

They were the unlikeliest of pairs—a handsome crooner and a skinny monkey, an Italian from Steubenville, Ohio, and a Jew from Newark, N.J.. Before they teamed up, Dean Martin seemed destined for a mediocre career as a nightclub singer, and Jerry Lewis was dressing up as Carmen Miranda and miming records on stage. But the moment they got together, something clicked—something miraculous—and audiences saw it at once.

Before long, they were as big as Elvis or the Beatles would be after them, creating hysteria wherever they went and grabbing an unprecedented hold over every entertainment outlet of the era: radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution. The millions flowed in, seemingly without end—and then, on July 24, 1956, ten years after it all started, it ended suddenly. After that traumatic day, the two wouldn’t speak again for twenty years. And while both went on to forge triumphant individual careers—Martin as a movie and television star, recording artist, and nightclub luminary (and charter member of the Rat Pack); Lewis as the groundbreaking writer, producer, director, and star of a series of hugely successful movie comedies—their parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each man’s heart.

In Dean & Me, Lewis makes a convincing case for Martin as one of the great—and most underrated—comic talents of our era. But what comes across most powerfully in this definitive memoir is the depth of love Lewis felt for his partner, and which his partner felt for him: truly a love to last for all time.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This is a wild, joyous book, but also a heartbreaking one. In some ways, friendships between men can be more fragile than those between women, something Lewis grasps intuitively. What kind of guy laughs when you upstage his crooning with a piece of raw meat on a fork? Whoever he is, you’d better hang onto him: he’s probably the best friend you’ll ever have.”
—Stephanie Zacharek, The New York Times

“A perceptive and entertaining showbiz memoir that should become a classic of its kind...”
—Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair

A Must Listen !

I had reservations about listening to Jerry's perspective on the events that happened to his and Dean's relationship. I find Jerry's kind of humor grating after awhile so I couldn't understand how Dean put up with Jerry for 10 years. But Jerry draws you into the heart of their story and you gain a much clearer insight of their electrifying chemistry and love for each other. I now have a new found respect for Jerry and his genius and can see him now as a gifted flawed unique being. The narrator is amazing, seamlessly capturing Dean's soft sexy tone and Jerry's voice in all it's crazy nuances. This is one book I think is better to listen to than read as the narrator brings layers that I don't think I would have picked up from reading the book.

Maybe is should be called ME and dean....

good read. Not GREAT but good. You understand why Dean and Jerry did go there own ways, even in this book it will always be all about Jerry :)

Remembrances of a nine-year-old

Even though I was only nine years old when their break-up was first announced, I remember how sad I was. For the next few years I got very excited whenever I heard the false rumor that they were not going to break up after all.
I saw their movie “Jumping jacks” In the movie theater five times. To this day it’s still the only movie I’ve ever seen more than three times.

Phenomenal all-around

The only one slightly disappointed a little was my wife because she thought the narrator, as indicated on the cover, was Gregory Jbara from one of her TV shows. It’s not, but that is no problem at all because Stephen Hoye, who is the actual narrator, is amazing. Some narrators try to mimic voices with disastrous results, but Mr. Hoye adds to an already excellent book with his wonderful reading. He captures the essence of the writer and the other main character of the tale in such a way that you become immersed in the story.
And what a story! The deep, abiding love Jerry Lewis has for Dean Martin shines out of every page. His understanding of what made Dean tick is handled appropriately and with tremendous compassion by Jerry, even when he was clearly hurt by Dean’s words or actions. And Jerry does not shy away from speaking to the times he was less than a perfect human being, either. The book is extremely honest without being gratuitous or salacious. It made me like two people I had already really liked all the more.
It was a different time, so some of the events and attitudes have not aged well, but that’s life, and it’s covered here, too, as it should be.
If you are a fan of Martin & Lewis, loved the era written about and are a sucker for a classic love story, this is your book.
Do yourself a favor, and pause the book when they start playing the Copa. Find the full show of theirs at the Copa on YouTube, watch it, then hit play again. You’ll be very glad you did.

Great Love Story about a great team!

Jerry Lewis was a hero of mine and I always loved watching old films of him and Dean.
This book shows his vulnerability and how much he really loves Dean though the good times and the bad.
The reader is just great as well.