Raised on Radio

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Good overview of old time radio but with many errors - Rated
Although Gerald Nachmann presents a good overview of the golden age of radio, the book is riddled with errors, a clear indication of faulty research.

For instance, he indicates that Mary Jane Croft portrayed the Southern belle, Leila Ransom on the Great Gildersleeve show, when in fact the character was played by Shirley Mitchell. Nachmann also states that Harold Peary portrayed George Gildersleeve who owned a girdle factory on the Fibber McGee and Molly program. Harold Peary did portray a wide array of stooge characters on the show, many of whom shared the Gildersleeve name. However, it was Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve who owned the girdle works, not George.

For the beginner the book provides a good introduction to old time radio, but beware of quoting the the many errors as facts.

I was transported back to those thrilling days of yesteryear - Rated
While reading this book, I was once again 9 years old, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of our old Philco, slurping Cheerioats all over my school clothes, but determined not to miss Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders or the Lone Ranger. With just the quote of a jingle or a telling announcer's phrase, Gerald Nachman evokes a whole era and and important segment of our social history. It's a complete history, from crystal sets to Don Imus, with tremendous good stuff in between, especially juicy tidbits about Red Skelton and Arthur Godfrey. To the other reviewer who quibbled with Nachman's accuracy regarding Adlai Stevenson in 1960--he WAS a presidential candidate during the convention, just not on the national ticket. Picky-picky! I heartily recommend this wonderful book to everyone, but especially to those aging nostalgiacs like me who love getting back to their childhood if just for a few hours. Don't touch that dial!

Brings you back to those thrilling days of yesteryear. - Rated
I laughed out load during many passages of this exceedingly well written book about the "good old days of radio." It's a balanced mixture of behind the scenes info, warm rememberances and hilarious author comments on the glory days of radio. Chapters are divided by types of shows. There's even a chapter on sound effects. I wished it could have been twice as long.

Episodic and discontinuous - Rated
There's disappointingly little narrative or historical continuity to tie together the anecdotes that make up "Raised on Radio". If you have a room in your house where you read for only five minutes a day, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a real history (or even a continuous memoire) of an important cultural phenomenon, look elsewhere. On a story-by-story basis, it's often a delight, but it's flawed by those errors cited by others and by an amazing editing gaff in which Adlai Stevenson is cited as a 1960 presidential candidate.

There's something wrong here. - Rated
There's something wrong here. This is not a well written book. The writing lacks music, it does not flow, and I have the feeling that the author was uncomfortable writing. He cannot seem to convert his love of radio into words. BUT...He loves the medium. He loves the people, and He loves the memory. That comes through.So, ultimately, this is a great book, because in the end, the small errors, the lack of poetry, don't matter. What does is the sound of the broken topped radio that brought the world into his home and into his head.For that, the sound of a world fading into silence, we should thank him.