Book shines light on fun, fragile times of Bob Hope

At one time, Bob Hope was the hottest thing in comedy, a fresh face with a fresh delivery. Really.

He was cutting edge in the 1930s, practically inventing the monologue as a delivery system for jokes. Hope went on to reach the top of every entertainment medium he tried - vaudeville, theater, movies, radio and TV - and became omnipresent in American life.

One thing Hope couldn't do was walk away from the limelight. Long before he died in 2003, at the age of 100, he became the symbol of a bygone era of entertainment, a beloved relic for those who bothered to notice. Such is the danger of one curtain call too many.