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Last Tango with Marlon: A Novella
By Fletcher Rhoden
ISBN-10: 1425152651
ISBN-13: 978-1425152659
Bravissimo! I swear this was one enjoyable read!
Fletcher Rhoden’s Last Tango with Marlon was entertaining and enlightening. When I read this book I not only felt that Fletcher knew these two men but that he knew them well.
The book opens with Marlon on the telephone trying to make arrangements to star in a film about the Dee Brown classic Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee. It is at this point where he first evokes the ghost of his childhood friend, fellow actor, Wally Cox.
The entire novella is a dialogue between Wally Cox and Marlon Brando about their highs and lows, their triumphs and defeats. I can certainly tell that the background research on both men was lengthy and thorough. The dialogue throughout is exceptionally believable. I didn’t know much about Wally Cox before but after reading the book I found some clips of him on YouTube and could see that character in Rhoden’s Last Tangon with Marlon was indeed a true to life portrayal. Wally Cox was just as I imagined him to be.
And the character for Marlon Brando was very telling as well. With Wally, he wore his shortcomings on his sleeve and Wally obliged the same. We learn at least what we imagine to be their deepest secrets and was also learned of their long standing regard for one another. And though Wally is just a ghost, like in the Dickens tale, he leaves Marlon Brando with the message that as bad as Brando may have mucked up his life, especially with his children, he can still change. The ball is in his court….
How true!
This short book is amazingly well written and henceforth I will read anything of
Fletcher Rhoden's that I get a chance
to.
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