Cosby
His Life and Times
Published on 25. September 2014
Book
Hardback
544 pages
978-1-4516-9797-1 (ISBN)
Description
In the 1960s, Bill Cosby revolutionized the world of comedy with his hilarious stand-up routines and became the first black star of a prime-time drama in I Spy. In the 1970s, he launched a Saturday morning children's cartoon show that ran for thirteen years. In the 1980s and '90s, he starred in one of the most ground-breaking shows in TV history. The Cosby Showtopped the ratings for five straight years and revived the sitcom format.
Raised in a housing project by a smart and energetic mother who worked as a housemaid, with a largely absent father, Cosby pulled himself together in the Navy after an aimless adolescence. He went on to early success in Greenwich Village clubs, on The Tonight Show, and with a string of Grammy-winning comedy albums.
Whitaker deals candidly with Cosby's private life, including romantic and business disputes. Cosby and his wife, now celebrating fifty years of marriage, fled Hollywood, raised five children, suffered through the murder of their only son and a temporary rebellion of one daughter. Today, he is still performing and making headlines with provocative stands on racial and political issues.
Whitaker has written a powerful biography of a man whose life itself is a fascinating story.
Raised in a housing project by a smart and energetic mother who worked as a housemaid, with a largely absent father, Cosby pulled himself together in the Navy after an aimless adolescence. He went on to early success in Greenwich Village clubs, on The Tonight Show, and with a string of Grammy-winning comedy albums.
Whitaker deals candidly with Cosby's private life, including romantic and business disputes. Cosby and his wife, now celebrating fifty years of marriage, fled Hollywood, raised five children, suffered through the murder of their only son and a temporary rebellion of one daughter. Today, he is still performing and making headlines with provocative stands on racial and political issues.
Whitaker has written a powerful biography of a man whose life itself is a fascinating story.
Reviews / Votes
"A smart, revealing biography of an iconic American funnyman. . . . A fascinating look at a complicated genius." * People * "Whitaker's wonderfully thorough biography of America's most accom-plished comedian provides context and depth as he analyzes Bill Cosby's work." * New York Times Book Review * Fluid, admiring, packed with detail and anecdotes." * Wall Street Journal * "Invaluable . . . Whitaker makes a convincing argument that issues of race and politics have preoccupied Cosby throughout his life." * New Yorker * "Whitaker's clear-eyed, fair-minded and deftly written book takes up all the momentous stops of Cosby's life's journey . . . by allowing us to see Cosby's tumultuous life in full, Whitaker's book makes it possible to imagine Bill Cosby being regarded as one of the first prophets of what optimists of all colors believe will someday be a "post-racial America." * USA TODAY * "Absorbing . . . makes a persuasive case for Cosby as a groundbreaking comic and a quiet but far-ranging pioneer of black advancement." * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * "Readable, thoughtful life of the brilliant comedian and . . . an eye-opening book and a pleasure to read." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * "Provides an in-depth look at the triumphs and tragedies of a man who has kept America laughing for decades." * New York Daily News * "This is a compelling look at a man who has had a major impact on American race relations and television and whose "Cosby effect" helped prime the nation for its first black president." * Booklist (starred review) * "An insightful, well-researched exploration . . . a generous portrayal of a complicated yet ultimately compassionate man." * Minneapolis Star Tribune * Editor's Picks * Ebony * "Written with the entertainer's cooperation, it is admiring but not fawning, honest but not lancing, with a narrative drive that matches the soaring arc of Cosby's career . . . [Whitaker] has a masterly command of detail . . . a must-read for the comedian's fans, and a book that will reward anyone interested in comedy, television or the wellsprings of popular culture." * Cleveland Plain Dealer * "A solid, well-researched reminder of Cosby's impact on the pop-culture landscape." * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel * "Cosby: His Life and Times tells a quintessentially American tale of adversity and triumph, influence, betrayal and-yes-lots and lots of laughter." * Boston Globe * "The book is at its strongest when the author puts Cosby's comedy and to education into a broad social and cultural context." * Washington Post * "The biography examines the non-comedic side of Bill Cosby, and features interviews with 60 of his closest friends and associates. The author calls Cosby 'entertainment's Jackie Robinson, smashing racial barriers and teaching hard truths to the black community.'" * Sacramento Bee *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
16-pp b&w insert of 30 images, rough front
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 167 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
877 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4516-9797-1 (9781451697971)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2014
1st Edition
Simon + Schuster LLC
€12.85
Available for download
Person
Mark Whitaker is the former editor of Newsweek and the first African American to lead a national newsweekly. He then served as Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide. Whitaker's memoir My Long Trip Home was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His social histories Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance and Saying it Loud: 1966-The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement were both named among the best nonfiction books of the year by The Washington Post.