Biography of Charlie Chaplin. Follows his life from the slums of London to his death at 88 in Switzerland. His life as a small child he was destitute, with an older brother and a mother who was in and out of asylums. His break into theater and coming to America. His move on to Hollywood thanks to an early version of the little tramp. Shows us that he was not only an actor but also the director, writer and producer of a number of his films. His two failed marriages and then his long term love. Lots of great information for someone that most of us only know from his films as the little tramp with the funny walk. ( )

The last book by the late, great Sid Fleischman and a superb swan song it is. I will miss Sid's lively, entertaining biographies. ( )

Hmm. I found this to be middling. I wonder if part of the problem is that movies and physical comedy are such visual mediums that they're simply difficult to transfer to the written format. The selected photos were excellent, but I didn't feel like I was ever able to get a real sense of the magic that Chaplin must have created on film to become so important historically. I think part of the problem here is that I wasn't overly interested in Chaplin to begin with; it's not a topic that I dislike, but not one I would actively seek out either. I did learn a lot about Chaplin which I didn't know before (I had no idea he'd been a victim of the Communist witch hunts in the 50s) and I always enjoy learning things I didn't know, but I just never really engaged which could be as much about my issues as a reader as it could be about the book. I do think after reading this that I would like to see one of Chaplin's movies soon as I've never had that honor. ( )