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| January 20, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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Bu Alan W. PefrucJi '
THE WRITE STUFF
Fire in the Grove:
The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy And Its Af termath
(Da Caw Press, $24)
John CEspositohas fashioned afascinating and horrific ac-
count of the fire that tore through Boston's Cocoanut Grove
nightclub. The fire that beganwhen an errant match touched
off animitationpalmtree whipped through the dine,drink and
dance emporiumknow as "The Rendezvous of the Elite" on a
cold November night in 1942, ultimately leaving close to five
hundred dead. There areheroes,such asthe tirelesslocal doc-
tors who pioneered new burn treatments, and villains,like the
headwaiterthat stood infront ofthe
doors declaring that no one would
leave until the bills were paid. The
author had access to the archives
of the Boston Fire Department, as
wellasoral and writtenexperiences
ofthe survivors;the descriptions of
the path and intensity ofthe fire, as
wellasthe scramble to place blame
inthe fire'saftermath, are disturb-
ing yet riveting. Perhaps not the
easiest or most comfortable read in
recent months,it is,nonetheless,a
gripping account of a terribly too-
human tragedy.
Ethel Merman: The Biggest
Star on Broadway (Barricade
Books, $24.95)
There is a distinction about this
book; it isn't the worst book we've
ever read in our lives, but awfully
close. Merman'slife has already been
revealed in several other times (most
notably her 1978 autobiography and
the Bob Thomas' solid 1984 7 Got
Rhythm) ; here author Geoffrey Mark
promises to tell the truth. Really?
Where? Merman's alleged lesbian love affair with Jacqueline
Susann has been documented already, as has the tragic death
of her daughter Ethel Jr.and her very brief marriage to Ernest
Borgnine.The book needs major editingand proofreading.Any
book boasting lines such as "Romantically, she thought with
her vagina" deserves to be slow-roasted, then spit out.
FOR THE RECORD
*
B^ich.Dog Opera Library (Black Dog &
fyyenthal)
*