If Charles Barr's book Laurel and Hardy is academic analysis that makes sense, this book (published by McFarland and Co., Inc.) is the antithesis. Despite the book's dedication "to all people who have laughed at a Laurel and Hardy film," and an attempt at legitimacy by sporting a foreward by seminal L&H biographer John McCabe, most of the book comes across as the same sort of literary pretentiousness that Laurel himself poo-poos in McCabe's foreward. It offers a few interesting insights, but not enough to actively seek out the book. Far from reflecting the author's admiration for L&H, the book seems mostly intent on showing its author in a bright academic light (Look, Ma! My own book!), and it mostly fails.
(C) 2002, Steven Bailey.
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