A review by kmccubbin
A Talent for Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant by Sam Kashner, Nancy Schoenberger

4.0

At one point in this book, Levant's star threatens to eclipse Charlie Chaplin's triumphant return to the United States after exile. THAT is how big a star this self-destructive, neurotic, OCD-plagued, cynical, cruel drug addict was. This book does quite a fine job of explaining how it came to be, getting to the core of his undeniable genius and taking you on a tour of American entertainment from the 20s to the 70s to boot.
Maybe it struggles a little when it tries to wrap Levant up in a nice clean package, but then again, so did he.