[Poll Book Tally] The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King 3 stars

[Karin]

If I read it once, I must have read it a hundred times in this book, Mr. Rogers was the same man on and off screen and wasn't fake. That said, as one of his sons was quoted as saying, but I'm paraphrasing, he didn't talk to everyone as though they were three.

This book covers Rogers' life from early childhood on up, and covers more than just his television show and career, although, obviously, that is a gigantic portion of the book. There are interviews with a number of family, friends and guest performers, et al. Naturally, I was most impressed when it was names I know from their amazing musical talent. What I hadn't known was that Rogers' first degree was in music performance and that he wrote all of the music for his shows, although he allowed the highly talented jazz musicians make the accompaniment as sophisticated and challenging as they liked. I was very impressed with what YoYo Ma and Wynton Marsalis had to say, given that I have been well acquainted with their names and talent for many years.

I didn't love this book; at times I thought it rather longer than it needed to be. I may well see the movie, and will then be glad I read this since they will have to leave quite a bit out, but I suspect I'll like the film better.