Me and Orson Welles

The Washington Post

Kaplow keeps all the proceedings clipping along, but what sets his book apart is its historical texture -- the chance to see real-life figures like Brooks Atkinson and Wolcott Gibbs and John Houseman and George Coulouris popping off the page. Me and Orson Welles, in short, is best enjoyed by people who get jazzed imagining conversations between Joseph Cotten and Norman Lloyd. If you have to ask who Joseph Cotten or Norman Lloyd was, you may be less beguiled, but you're still likely to recognize the behemoth who gives the book its title. — Louis Bayard

Publishers Weekly

"This is the story of one week in my life. I was seventeen. It was the week I slept in Orson Welles's pajamas. It was the week I fell in love. It was the week I fell out of love." Thus does the precocious protagonist of Kaplow's first adult novel summarize his adventures as a bit-part player in the landmark 1937 Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar that helped catapult the 22-year-old Welles to the top of the entertainment world. Kaplow wastes no time setting up his unlikely scenario; after an impromptu sidewalk audition, Richard Samuels, a New Jersey high school student, lands the part of Lucius, a minor character. The conceit forms a nice counterpoint to the coming-of-age material, as Kaplow alternates scenes about Samuels's high school and home life with a series of rehearsal passages that bring the brilliant but mercurial Welles to life. Samuels falls in love more than once: first with fellow high school actress Caroline, then with a lovely, flighty production assistant named Sonja who is also involved with Welles, and finally with Gretta, an aspiring writer. The climax features a colorful showdown between Samuels and Welles after the boy confronts the married Welles about his affair with Sonja. Kaplow doesn't quite capture the dark side of the enigmatic Welles, but his bright, enthusiastic writing about Samuels's introduction to the world of high-stakes theater makes this an entertaining offering. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

Richard Samuels, the seventeen-year-old narrator of this tale, recounts the week in 1937 that he met Orson Welles, played a minor role in Welles's production of Julius Caesar at the new Mercury Theater, and fell in love. Through a twist of fate, Richard happens to be standing outside the Mercury, watching workers hoist the marquee, when Welles appears and taps him to play the role of Lucius, a part just opened by the firing of the previous actor. Richard jumps at the opportunity and is soon caught up in the egomaniacal frenzy that seems to surround Welles wherever he goes. To top it off, Richard lies to his parents and travels from the New Jersey suburbs to make his Broadway debut. After Richard has a fling with an up-and-coming production assistant, he clashes with Welles, and Richard's dreams of the stage are dashed. Kaplow creates a genuinely timeless character in Richard. Although the story takes place in the mid-1900s, many teens will recognize their own aspirations and desires. Richard's voice is clear and strong as he muddles his way through Welles's rants and requirements, and his desire for something more than life in suburbia is often reflected in today's youth. Besides Richard, Kaplow lends pre-war, Depression-era New York City a definitive character, giving it a vitality and glimmer to which anyone who has been there or hopes to visit will respond. Better readers and those involved in the stage will be drawn to this book, and teachers might use it for its detailed description of Welles's staging of one of Shakespeare's great plays. VOYA Codes: 4Q 2P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High,defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2003, MacAdam/Cage, 269p., Ages 15 to Adult.
—Lynn Evarts

Library Journal

A theater-mad New Jersey teen, Richard has his world turned upside down when he meets the young Orson Welles, currently preparing his Broadway production of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theatre. Richard is given the small role of lute-playing Lucius and plunges into the life of an actor. Working with Welles, Joseph Cotten, John Housman, and other luminaries of the period, Richard learns all about outsize egos and talent, sex and romance, and careerism and cruelty. What results is a strong coming-of-age story, with an atmospheric grasp of 1930s New York and a brilliant portrait of the brilliant Welles. A fun read, this is recommended for most fiction collections and is mandatory for theater collections that include fiction. It is also suitable for YA collections (the author has written successful YA books), although some of the language and situations may be a bit saucy for more conservative readers.-Judith Kicinski, Sarah Lawrence Coll. Lib., Bronxville, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-In November, 1937, Richard Samuels, 17, a high school senior drifting relatively painlessly through school and relationships, feels there might be more to life. The New Jerseyite spends weekends wandering in Manhattan looking for a connection, preferably theatrical, that would excite him. He happens upon the yet to open Mercury Theatre and is noticed by its mercurial muse, Orson Welles. He is given a small part in Julius Caesar, which is ultimately a grand success, and spends a week in a fantastic whirl as part of the troupe. The following few days are exciting, frustrating, and, finally, both triumphant and devastating to the would-be thespian. Kaplow brings the New York of the late 1930s vividly to life, especially the theatrical world. The novel is fast paced and very funny, and the brilliant but unpredictable Welles is a perfect foil for the sardonic but inexperienced young man. Welles at 22 is close to Richard's age, but far from the center of his moral compass. Incidents of anti-Semitism and misogyny distress the teen, yet the actor/producer's brilliance and daring are like a magnet. Richard's dreams of a Broadway career soon fade, but he emerges from the experience with a desire to write, possibly a new romance, and certainly an important new friendship. This unusual coming-of-age story will intrigue teens; while the circumstances and time are very different from today, the feelings and ideas are universal.-Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The luckiest kid in the world gets a shot at appearing in an Orson Welles play-and falls in love, to boot. It's a pity that Kaplow appears to be aiming for the grown-up market in this adult outing, because, as a YA author, he has crafted one of the best depictions of male adolescent yearning ever to hit the page-though one that few adolescents are likely to read. It's 1937, and Richard Samuels is a 17-year-old Jewish kid living in Dullsville, New Jersey. Bright but not too nerdy, with a pretty but somewhat cool-to-the-touch girlfriend, Richard is swimming along the high-school current without a lot effort. Desperate for more, he prowls the libraries and museums of Manhattan, dreaming of poetry, art, and the theater, until one Saturday he spies "a little action down beyond Bryant Park" and goes to see what the fuss is about. It turns out to be the Mercury Theatre troupe mounting their theater's sign and putting the final touches on their inaugural play: Orson Welles's modern-dress Julius Caesar, opening the following Thursday. A stroke of luck makes Richard catch the eye of Welles himself, and within minutes Richard has been given a small role in the play, which he has mere hours to learn. Within a couple of days, Richard is in the thick of the final stages of one of the century's most exciting theatricals and has fallen desperately in love with a woman who has also caught Welles's eye. It's all paced at break-neck speed, with Kaplow whipping everyone who's in the orbit of Welles-that cold-blooded, hot-tempered, and phenomenally gifted wunderkind only five years older than Richard-into a manic fury of creative euphoria and despair. By the time opening night comes around, it's as though ayear has passed, yet this is a tale that reads like the wind. Joyful and alive, crackling with wonder. Agent: Stephen Ruwe/Literary & Creative Artists