Reviews of the Original Edition of The Lucky Strike Papers:
The following review appeared in April of 2010 on the television history website “Television Obscurities" (www.tvobscurities.com).
It says, in part:
“I had no expectations prior to starting [the book], and no real idea of who Sue Bennett was, but after finishing it in late March I can say without hyperbole it was one of the best works on early television I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Fielding has done a remarkable job capturing a time period when television was new, broadcasts were live and those working in the medium were learning on their feet."
The review also says: “The Lucky Strike Papers is not a biography of Sue Bennett. At times, her name may not be mentioned for dozens of pages as Fielding delves into the production of Your Hit Parade. While this might seem somewhat curious, recall that the subtitle to Fielding’s work is not 'Journeys Through My Mother’s Past' but 'Journeys Through My Mother’s Television Past.' What he has accomplished with The Lucky Strike Papers is something more than a biography. Fielding has crafted a narrative unlike any other I have read, one that uses his mother’s television career as a focal point for a fascinating examination of the medium, one that relies on first-hand accounts, reviews, photographs and viewings of kinescopes.”
The full review can be found here:
http://www.tvobscurities.com/2010/04/bookshelf-the-lucky-strike-papers/
In January, 2013, novelist, playwright, and non-fiction writer Jacqueline T. Lynch reviewed the book on "New England Travels," one of her blogs.
Ms. Lynch wrote: "It’s a splendid book, sensitively written, that chronicles the phenomenon of live TV, and the musical variety type programs which are no longer with us."
She also wrote: "Mr. Fielding manages to write a very personal memoir about a story that was not his own, and that is something wondrous."
The full review can be read here:
http://newenglandtravels.blogspot.com/2013/01/sue-bennett-on-live-tv-in-boston-and.html
A review of The Lucky Strike Papers was posted in November, 2008, on Michael Coston’s nostalgia-oriented blog, “Master of My Public Domain.”
The blog focuses on “Public Domain Movies, TV Shows, and Old Time Radio shows available for free download off the Internet.”
Mr. Coston wrote, in part:
“For anyone curious at all about the early days of live television, and the transition from radio to TV as being the dominant form of home entertainment, this book is a delight...
“It makes a worthy addition to anyone's library, and would make a terrific Christmas gift for anyone with a love of nostalgia…"
http://masterofmypublicdomain.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-now-lucky-strike-extra.html
An April, 2008 review, on the "Geezer Music Club" blog , called The Lucky Strike Papers "an outstanding new book." (The review, by writer "Big Geez," also appeared on the Blogcritics.org website). The book, Big Geez wrote, "is a rich history of the early days of TV, complete with lots of pictures and trivia, and a number of delicious inside stories--some that will surprise you, even if you think you might remember a lot about an era when DuMont was both a TV network and a manufacturer of television sets..." He wrote: "Early TV was a fascinating world, and reading about it is the next best thing to having been there."
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