FROM THE PUBLISHER

For more than fifty years Lucille Ball has been television's most recognizable and beloved face. As Lucy Ricardo she was the ultimate screwball housewife, getting herself into and out of scrapes with unmatched comic finesse. Indeed, she was so funny, and so central to the cultural landscape, that we often overlook Ball's role in shaping that turf: as producer of her own show and a cofounder of a major studio, she was a pioneer, rewriting the rules and forging new paths for women in the boardroom and on the soundstage. In Ball of Fire, Stefan Kanfer goes beyond the icon to examine the difficult life and enduring work of the most influential woman in modern American comedy.

FROM THE CRITICS

USA Today

This is one of those rare show-business biographies that fills readers with admiration for what actors, scriptwriters and producers do for a living. Entertainment is hard work, and the cloud of public humiliation is always near. Although there were some occasional missteps, Ball transformed herself from a hick to a low-voltage star to a brilliant comedian. — Deirdre Donahue

The New York Times

Although neither [Lucille Ball] nor her biographer can quite account for her comic gift -- it's a mystery, as talent always is -- Ball of Fire does convey a vivid sense of her fearlessness. — Terrence Rafferty

The Washington Post

The story of Lucille Ball's rise from Hollywood's "Queen of the Bs" to empress of TV is well known, but in Ball of Fire, Stefan Kanfer has retold it smartly and colorfully … he is a fine narrator, and Ball of Fire is a memorable portrait of its subject in all her gifted weirdness. — Dennis Drabelle

David Thomson - The New Republic

This is a wonderful and poignant book about one of life's perfect storms: the collision, the marriage, and the consequent art of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz... I'm not sure that anyone will do better at capturing the lasting appeal of I Love Lucy.

The New Yorker