Book Review: "Bogart" by A.M Sperber and Eric Lax

The first thing that this book points out in its opening is that the two writers have never met each other in person. However, the seek to write a biography about one of the greatest figures of 20th Century Cinema - Humphrey Bogart. It is going to be an interesting experience to say the least because after reading that they had never met, I was initially holding some cynicism about the book being any good. But it not only subverted my expectations, but it wholeheartedly made me disagree with my initial opinion. I personally adore Humphrey Bogart's movies and when reading something about him, I want it to be incredibly informative. This was exactly that. From his parents to his upbringing, from his early failures to his great successes and even afterwards up to his death - this book covers everything that could possibly be researched about Humphrey Bogart's interesting and often turbulent life.

When we look at the beginnings of the book we see two professionals: his mother and father. Both were well educated and his father was a doctor of some kind. But, both had a dark side. Whilst the father was addicted to morphine, the mother refused to allow her children to call her 'mother' and instead they had to call her 'Maud' - which was her name. There was something brilliant about being able to relate the back and forth notion in Humphrey Bogart's life to things that he had grown up with. For example: what it really was that resulted in his abuse of alcohol.

As the book continues, we take a look at the beginnings of Humphrey Bogart as Humphrey Bogart. He was made fun of by his school friends, he was ignored or scolded by his parents, he got low grades and had to repeat a grade at school - eventually he gave up and when he left, he wanted to set himself on something he could actually do and so he went into vaudeville and theatre. This too, failed miserably. Humphrey Bogart developed a heavy drinking problem, found himself in an untidy marriage and was found at one point sleeping at a bar. This part is really written in a way that makes you see how Humphrey Bogart became such an incredible actor with such a driving force. Even though he came from a lot of money, he had absolutely no privilege whatsoever - he was beaten, battered and bruised up wherever he went both physically and mentally. He suffered such ongoing abuse that a normal person may not be as resilient. This book also makes a reference to Humphrey Bogart wanting to kill himself. It is just so incredibly upsetting to see him like this and thankfully, we know how the story goes afterwards.

As Humphrey Bogart was put into acting roles in film, he gained a similar name as the gangsters who were disaffected by society: James Cagney and the legendary Edward G. Robinson. The book seems to go on an up and even though there are harsh marks along the way, Humphrey Bogart seems to be able to deal with them a little bit better though still turning to the bottle. He makes friends in high places, married Lauren Bacall and when he finally dies we are all saddened. But at least he made a name for himself as being one of the greatest actors who ever lived. I think Humphrey Bogart would be really happy to see that people are still very interested in his career.

The book is a great testament to the legend of Humphrey Bogart. It picks apart the story, goes through the gritty stuff that we normally do not hear of him and with its well-researched content, we see a side to him we have hardly ever seen before. It is something which brings this legendary man back to earth for us and he becomes one of the people again.