DIG INFINITY! - Softcover

OLIVER TRAGER has for the past 17 years been an editor at Facts On File News Services, where he is currently editor-in-chief of Editorials On File, a semi-monthly journal which objectively surveys daily newspaper opinion of major news events. He produces and co-hosts an annual Lord Buckley radio show on WFMU, a free-form music station in New York City, and has produced, hosted and performed in "Dig and Thou Shall Be Dug," semi-annual group performances of Buckley’s material held in Greenwich Village.

Lord Buckley broke into show business with Red Skelton in the 1930s, but he is probably best known for the hip language routines he developed for his nightclub acts in the 1950s, the subjects of which ranged from Jesus Christ ("The Nazz") to the Marquis de Sade ("King of the Badcats"). Trager, the host of an annual radio show on Buckley and of a semiannual group performance of his material called "Dig and Thou Shall Be Dug," has produced a composite biography of the controversial hipster and stand-up comic, who influenced comedians as diverse as Lenny Bruce and Robin Williams. Weaving together Buckley's own writings, memories of friends and acquaintances, and news articles, reviews, and liner notes, Trager creates an impressionistic but detailed portrait of Buckley's life and times. Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, David Amram, and Buckley's wife, Elizabeth, are among those who reminisce. A comprehensive bibliography and discography, as well as a CD compilation of Buckley in performance (not heard), make this essential for all Buckley fans. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries. William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
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