"The Autograph Hound"

(Posted by Judi Clark MAR 23, 1998)

For some reason, I relate this book to A Confederacy of Dunces, even though it takes place in New York and is not at all similar. Maybe it's the way the book makes you laugh even though it's really sad.

It's about people who make it the focus of their whole life to hang out at the back door to get autographs from celebrities. I know it sounds strange, but Lahr introduces us to a world in which signatures are currency. I think if you've ever collected anything, you'll enjoy this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

Fiction:

• The Autograph Hound (1973)
• Hot to Trot (1974)

Some of his Non-Fiction:

• Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr (1969)
• Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton (1978)
• Diary of a Somebody (1989)
• Coward, the Playwright (1992)
• Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilisation: Backstage With Barry Humphries (1992)
• Light Fantastic: Adventures in Theater (1996)
• Sinatra: The Artist and the Man (1998)
• Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles (September 2000)
• Honky Tonk Parade (2005)

 

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Book Marks:

• Official website for John Lahr
• The Lives of Autograph Collectors
• Salon review of The Light Fantastic: Adventures in Theatre

 

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About the Author:

John Lahr was born in Los Angeles, California in 1941 and holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Master's degree from Worcester College, Oxford.

He is America’s most celebrated drama critic and the author of more than fifteen books. Among them are his best-selling biographies of his father, Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion) and Sinatra: The Artist and the Man.

He has won the George Jean Nathan award for Dramatic Criticism twice, once when he was drama critic for The Village Voice and Evergreen Review and again in 1995 for his work in The New Yorker.  He has a reputation for always telling the story behind the story.

He is married to actress Connie Booth and they divide their time between London and New York.