Dean and Me

A Love Story

By: Jerry Lewis, James Kaplan

Narrated by: Gregory Jbara

They were the unlikeliest of pairs—a handsome crooner and a skinny monkey, an Italian from Steubenville, Ohio, and a Jew from Newark, N.J.. Before they teamed up, Dean Martin seemed destined for a mediocre career as a nightclub singer, and Jerry Lewis was dressing up as Carmen Miranda and miming records on stage. But the moment they got together, something clicked—something miraculous—and audiences saw it at once.
Before long, they were as big as Elvis or the Beatles would be after them, creating hysteria wherever they went and grabbing an unprecedented hold over every entertainment outlet of the era: radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution. The millions (and the women) flowed in, seemingly without end—and then, on July 24, 1956, ten years from the day when the two men joined forces, it all ended.
After that traumatic day, the two wouldn’t speak again for twenty years. And while both went on to forge triumphant individual careers—Martin as a movie and television star, recording artist, and nightclub luminary (and charter member of the Rat Pack); Lewis as the groundbreaking writer, producer, director, and star of a series of hugely successful movie comedies—their parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each man’s heart.
In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of a fifty-year friendship, from the springtime, 1945 afternoon when the two vibrant young performers destined to conquer the world together met on Broadway and Fifty-fourth Street, to their tragic final encounter in the 1990s, when Lewis and his wife ran into Dean Martin, a broken and haunted old man.
In Dean & Me, Jerry Lewis makes a convincing case for Dean Martin as one of the great—and most underrated—comic talents of our era. But what comes across most powerfully in this definitive memoir is the depth of love Lewis felt, and still feels, for his partner, and which his partner felt for him: truly a love to last for all time.©2005 Jerry Lewis; (P)2005 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is a wild, joyous book, but also a heartbreaking one. In some ways, friendships between men can be more fragile than those between women, something Lewis grasps intuitively. What kind of guy laughs when you upstage his crooning with a piece of raw meat on a fork? Whoever he is, you’d better hang onto him: he’s probably the best friend you’ll ever have.”
—Stephanie Zacharek, The New York Times

“A perceptive and entertaining showbiz memoir that should become a classic of its kind...”
—Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair

Great Story

awesome story could not stop listening till I was done the reader was AWESOME .

Wonderful book

I really enjoyed this book. The voices of each character made it fun and easy to listen.

Loved this book, so interesting.

Would you listen to Dean and Me again? Why?

Yes, I just loved the way he presented it and I love both Dean and Jerry. Great book, and so true to life. LOVED IT>

What did you like best about this story?

down to earth and true.

Which scene was your favorite?

When they got together while Jerry was performing, the surprise visit from Dean. Made me cry then and again while listening to this audiobook, like I was there with them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Get the book. If you liked Dean and Jerry, you'll love them now.

loved it

Loved it, laughed at it an even cried.... It was a beautiful story. I loved there movies an my son love them too. It gose to show how timeless their work was.... Now I passed it on to a new generation an he will know their names.