Adapted and Illustrated by
Ian David Marsden
Synopsis
As only the second person in history to be awarded the PEGOT (Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), Marvin Hamlisch has quite an incredible story. This graphic novel adaptation of the biography of the renowned musician, composer, and conductor also includes his family’s flight from Nazi-occupied Austria and their immigration to the United States. Accepted into the prestigious Juilliard music school at age 6, Marvin had to work hard to overcome intense anxiety before every performance. Despite his struggles and his self-doubt, he celebrated his first radio hit in his teens, wrote songs for a young Liza Minelli, worked with Barbra Streisand on Funny Girl, and won his first major award before the age of 30.
Details
- Title Marvin: Based on The Way I Was by Marvin Hamlisch with Gerald Gardner
- Author/Illustrator Ian David Marsden
- Publisher Schiffer Kids
- Publication Date February 28, 2020
- Pages 64
My Thoughts
I used to read my comics until the pages were well worn. I loved them! But that was, well, some time ago. So I wasn’t sure what I’d think of Marvin, a book presented in graphic format. As I started reading, I quickly realized that this not only appealed to me but would surely meet the approval of many young readers.
I learned so much in such an entertaining way. If you read the synopsis above you saw that at the age of 6 Marvin was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard music school. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. And since I can’t, I’m grateful that the authors clued me in. Marvin was extremely anxious and insecure. He knew his scholarship was dependent on doing well on exams. And failing would mean he could no longer attend.
The more I read the more I fell in love with this book. It was interesting, humorous, and well written. While I was reading this, I couldn’t help but think this would be a perfect teaching aid for schools.
While I’m very familiar with Marvin’s music and have watched him perform, many who are younger won’t have heard of the man. However, this book does a marvelous job of introducing him as a child growing up. It covers historical events, dates, and places without ever making the story feel heavy with details.
Of course, the graphics add to the story in a very positive way. Plus the lighter moments are intermingled nicely with heavier information. All of this contributes toward making Marvin the perfect biography for young and old.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book and the ability to place a review of my personal opinion of the book.
What Concerned Me
Nothing at all.
What I Liked
Announcement:
To be honest I was completely surprised by how much I loved this book. It was such a fun way of learning. And if I had my say, I’d be contracting Ian David Marsden to create a series of biographies.
Rating
About the Author
Ian started drawing when he was very young. In Greenwich Village, the local butcher used to give him a pencil as a gift each time his mother visited the store with Ian. At age 7 the family moved from New York to Switzerland but Ian kept drawing. Luckily his parents supported him in this passion and bought him lots of paper and crayons and pens and also comic books, mainly the collections of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse which he pored over for hours. Later he would invest all his pocket money in pens and ink and paper as well and published several school newspapers.
At age 14 Ian started sending cartoons to newspapers and magazines in Switzerland and began his impressive collection of rejection slips. At age 16 he sold his first cartoons to the renowned Swiss Satire magazine “Nebelspalter” and thus became the youngest cartoonist in the over 100-year existence of the publication.
So when Ian was 18 he was an established cartoonist and illustrator with a regular strip in the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich, a drawn sequence in PlaySchool on Swiss television and even an advertising campaign for VISA card under his belt.
Many years of travel and studies followed as well as many more rejection slips, but finally in the year 1999 while living in Santa Monica, California, where Ian was the first artist to draw the “Google Doodles” for Google, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of selling cartoons to MAD Magazine and to The New Yorker. Ian also completed his studies in Computer Animation at AET The Academy of Entertainment Technology, Santa Monica College.
Married for over 20 years to Sheryl Marsden he is the highly proud father of 3 wonderful daughters. Ian now lives and works from his home studio in the Languedoc region of the south of France, in a picturesque village surrounded by vineyards not far from Montpellier.
Working as a designer, illustrator, cartoonist and animator with clients all over the world he also creates mascots such as the character “Smoony” for the 2003 FIS Ski World Championship in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a series of design objects for renowned German glass manufacturer RITZENHOFF, advertising campaigns, magazine and newspaper illustrations and even over 120 illustrations for the “Knigge” employee handbook for Daimler Mercedes-Benz, translated into many languages.
“Marvin: Based on the Way I Was by Marvin Hamlisch” published 2020 is Ian’s first graphic novel. He is currently working on several further graphic novels and also children’s books with his own characters and is still adding to his rejection slip collection.
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