cover image Lucy in the Afternoon: An Intimate Memoir of Lucille Ball

Lucy in the Afternoon: An Intimate Memoir of Lucille Ball

Jim Brochu. William Morrow & Company, $18.95 (271pp) ISBN 978-0-688-08646-6

In the late 1980s, screenwriter and admitted Lucille Ball ``freak'' Brochu wrote a play he had envisioned as a vehicle for his idol. Though she turned down the part, he found himself drawn into the commedienne's inner circle. Ball's last months serve as a backdrop for this abbreviated, unrevealing biography, which retraces familiar ground with an emphasis on the star's wisecracks. Brochu chronicles his infatuation with Ball; after meeting her, he virtually rearranged his life to accommodate a daily rendezvous. Brochu succeeds in capturing the star's high spirits, yet, disappointingly, the book is little more than a collection of remembrances of days passed pleasantly, with backgammon and easy banter, in each other's company. Photos not seen by PW. Literary Guild selection; author tour. (May)