I had a feeling this "unauthorized autobiography" by Robert Bloch would be entertaining, and it certainly was. Bloch doesn't go in for depth, but he covers the breadth of his life in some detail. I learned quite a few things I didn't know. Having started reading Bloch's stories in the '50s in the SF digest, I'd always thought of him as a full-time writer. He wasn't. He worked for years in different jobs, primarily advertising and politics, until Hollywood work came along. I'd never realized how much TV and movie work he'd done. Quite possibly the success of Psycho had a lot to do with that. Bloch wrote for the shows you'd expect and for some so obscure that I have no memory of their existence. His stories of the fates of many movie and TV projects are among the most interesting in the book to me.
Bloch's Hollywood success led to some amazing friendships, including those with Boris Karloff, Buster Keaton, and Joan Crawford. His writing about the latter has changed my opinion of her.
The tone is breezy and light (Bloch can't resist puns), and although the book is long, it doesn't seem to be. Because I was fond of Bloch's work in the '50s, I wanted to know more about him, and I'm glad he left us this record of his life and work.
5 comments:
He was freelancing for a while primarily when young, but even as prolific as he was, the day gigs made a difference...particularly when he struck out on his own with a partner on their ad/consultancy business.
Feast your eyes on his IMDb listing, Bill, and consider how many unmade scripts and unscripted treatments he was paid for (one hopes, not too many he wasn't paid for).
The saddest thing about the book is that he hoped to do another volume that would've focused more on his prose literary career, but alas that didn't happen.
A Bloch without puns is a day without planetary rotation, to be sure...
Oh, and he knew Samuel Peeples from some time back (I forget how they met...Ziff Davis?), and it was Peeples who recruited him to come out and work on LOCK UP, the tv series, before PSYCHO was released...not that PSYCHO actually hurt his marketability, mind you...
A great talent and a nice guy.
I first read Robert Bloch's work in a Pyramid paperback collection of his work in the Sixties. Loved it! Then I went back to my favorite used bookstore and tracked down more of Bloch's work. Wonderful writer! I have a copy of ONCE AROUND THE BLOCH but haven't read it yet.
Gotta love that "unauthorized" title, too.
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