Book Review: Desilu - The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz by Coyne Sanders and Tom Gilbert

Grade: B-

We're going to take a detour into nonfiction this week. This one's a few years old, but a new version is due later this year, so it seemed like a good time to give it a look.

How you're going to feel about "Desilu" depends on what you're looking for from the book. If you want to know about the inner workings of the Arnazes marriage, the ups and downs of their life together, you'll be happy with what you find here.

This is easily the most insightful look at their relationship, based on great interviews from the people who were there from the recently departed Madelyn Pugh to Jess Oppenheimer to Lucie and Desi Jr. At times it veers too much into the gossipy territory.

If, like me, you're not that interested in the gossip, there's still some things to like here. I picked up the book thinking it would be mostly about Desilu, the studio. While that's certainly not the case, there's plenty about the business in this tome. Be forewarned, though, you'll probably find yourself skipping big chunks of the book to get to the inside-the-industry good stuff. And it is good stuff -- plenty of things I didn't know about their careers beyond I Love Lucy. Definitely the best coverage I've seen of the post I Love Lucy shows (especially for Desi.)

So whether you want the relationship insight, the inside dope on the studio, or both, Desilu is worth checking out.

Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz by Coyne Sanders and Tom Gilbert
New edition available August 2/Two earlier editions available now