Bestselling author Roy Blount Jr. tells the story of theclassic Marx Brothers wartime satire Duck Soup. As always, Blount isinformed yet informal, tongue-in-cheek yet tempered, providing the perfectvoice to recount the irreverent antics of Harpo, Chico, Groucho, and Zeppo. Readers of HarpoSpeaks, The Essential Groucho,and Monkey Business and fans of Animal Crackers, A Night at the Opera and the … the Marx Brothers’ other timelesscomedies—as well as all fans of Blount’s witty and insightful books like Alphabet Juice and Feet on the Street and listeners to NPR’s weekly news quiz, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me—will becaptivated by the lyrical humorist’s compelling, behind-the-scenes storytellingof the 1933 classic film.
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I’ve been a Marx Brothers fan for as long as I can remember. Groucho is the first one I saw in early childhood on “You Bet Your Life,” his quiz show which started on radio and later aired on television. My maternal grandmother, who lived with us, preferred listening to radio rather than watching television programs, and I have a vague memory of …