For awhile there, I thought I wanted to be a comedy screenwriter. And so I watched a lot of comedic movies. Not one contemporary comedy can hold a candle to the films of The Marx Brothers. Their zany, frenetic, witty, wacky comedy is unequaled. Their own brand of comedy genius has not and can not be replicated.

And here's how that happened . . .

In Four of the Three Musketeers: The Max Brothers on Stage, author Robert S. Bader takes an in-depth look at every step of the Marx Brothers' vaudeville career, starting from Harpo's early days playing the piano in whorehouses and Groucho's first time on a stage. As the years of their lives go by, the brothers grow and sing, travel and pay piano, and most of all, they learn to hone their comedic chops. Spending weeks and months on the road at a time, working every day, sometimes several shows a day, the Marx Brothers learn from experience what it takes to survive in show business, and (eventually) how to make it to the top of the game.

Meticulously researched (literally! this is a 500-plus-page volume), this book takes you through the journey of the early careers of Julius (Groucho), Adolph (Harpo), Leonard (Chico), and Milton (Gummo). Managed by their mother and occasionally helped along with gifts of their father's cooking to booking agents, the brothers took to the stage and never stopped entertaining us. Filled with stories that no one else has been able to dig up, all the dates and places that could be found, and never-before seen photos of the family, this is the ultimate book for anyone who wants to know everything there is to know about the Marx Brothers.

Galleys for Four of the Three Musketeers were provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com.