1 to 10 of 10
Review Date: 6/25/2010
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book and learned much about this lady I didn't I know. In a lot of ways she was very revealing and also very secretive. I am an Elvis Presley fan and I had hoped for some details and they were there and they weren't, did they or didn't they....which really isn't any of our business is it? I was as you might imagine anxious to read of Ann-Margret's romance with Elvis but she has had quite a life and career before and after being labeled the female Elvis Presley. I hate to see "stars" who have no talent and I am ashamed this is so true today: back in the day lots of people took lessons, had ambitions, and honed their talent from a young, young age. This is true of Ann-Margret whose parents supported her dreams and her talent. I could feel the warmth of Ann-Margret's love for her parents and her desire for stardom and her love for Roger Smith, her husband. She shines the ugly light on herself (like mine is my failed marriage and how it almost undone me) she was a drinker. I am glad to say we both overcame our obstacles. Ann-Margret takes you through her life, her culture, her travels, her climb to stardom, and her fall from the stage, the long recuperation, the fight for her life, and her shared struggle in helping her husband Roger with his illness. It is heartbreaking reading about her desire to have a baby and the loss of her father. When Ann-Margret fell off the stage in the 70s she shares this story as she has been told it- all she remembers is falling. ALL I could think of as this point in the story wraps up and bless her heart she starts to recover and remembering what I have read so far, the handling of her career by Roger, the rush to get her to a doctor who agreed to save her face ALL I could think when I finished this book is Ann-Margret should thank her lucky stars she didn't wind up with Elvis Presley.
Review Date: 11/16/2009
Helpful Score: 1
This a very interesting book a real bird's eye view of this failed mission. I did get lost from time to time because of the technical jargon and honestly I had to reread just a little before where I left off at times to essentially pick things back up, to refresh things in my mind. It is told from the ship's point of view and the people on the ground and the family of the men up above the earth. It is very thorough. The events are not glossed over which I really appreciate and the book tells just what did happen to start this collision course. I do have to tell here that when the astronauts were trying to determine just where they were-upside down or sideways or what I thought well why don't they locate the sun? Much to my delight this is described next using the sun to get their bearings. This books holds you at the edge of your seat and is straightforward without leaving out the big and little details to get these people back to earth. The story of how Lovell gets into the space program and how the space program in general is started is very enlightening. A good read, try it.
Review Date: 8/6/2011
Helpful Score: 2
When I was reading this book and I read one thing after the other (about Bill's dalliances) I thought well when did he have time to govern? Truly, it made me wonder- this book read like "As The Bill Clinton Turns"-with that being said I couldn't stop reading it. When I got to the end or honestly before then long before the end I wondered just what would Hillary Rodham have become if she had not met Bill Clinton. It is interesting to me to ponder what this woman would have done if her heart had not been captured by Bill Clinton. Sure she may have married someone else but maybe she would have been one hell of a mover and a shaker in the front not the force behind the man. Her political life, her desires, the firsts I'm sure she would have accomplished would have been something to see. But marry Clinton she did and she made lemonade out of her lemons. Now I don't profess to be a head over heels Hillary Clinton fan. Not with the I don't know blind eye she applied to Bill and his extracurricular activities I mean how much is too much. One could make the argument there was Chelsea to think about but he was BUSY long before Chelsea showed up on the scene. In those days people stayed together longer through thick and thin and sometimes it would have been better to split the blanket. I mean why put up with a philandering husband when you are a bright, intelligent, resourceful, under 30 woman like Hillary Clinton? Why after so many times of coming to your husband's rescue against these "untrue" charges time after time do you not wonder if may be these charges are true? Do you sweep it under the rug over and over again? Do you turn your political and legal mind to destroying these women- I guess if you are Hillary you do. But what if she had been able to turn her sharp legal, political mind to her own ambitions, to follow her dreams. She would have been something. In the end Hillary LOVES Bill and I have always believed he loved her. Yes, even being the heel he was and hopefully not anymore. The marriage of these two is an interesting story but to me the story of Hillary Clinton sans Bill would have been to me monumental.
Review Date: 11/8/2009
Helpful Score: 1
This book is written before Shirley was writing about her past lives. Not to say she wasn't in to that then but it is NOT in that vein. It also is NOT heavily dealing in Hollywood. It is an autobiography of her life as she lived it. We are taken along with Shirley from her uptight childhood home life. Her early start on stage and then to screen. Her inspiration for her role in Irma La Douce . She travels plenty and she makes you feel that you are right there with her as she sees the world. She delves into the costumes, surroundings, lores, and food and describes in detail what she lives. She speaks of her famous brother Warren Beatty and some co-stars and film projects but it is her story of her living and striving to learn about the world around her (that her chosen profession lets her do by financing it) and it is most interesting. The title is advice from her husband when she communicates to him, touches base with him from some far flung place in the world and gives him details what she intends to do next. You, reader are taken along with Shirley. It is a cringe worthy read when she tells what she is eating or seeing and humorous when she runs into things she didn't expect. If you aren't into reading or learning about Shirley's past lives but would like to learn about the lady on a first account basis this book is for you.
Review Date: 5/11/2013
I can hardly believe I am writing a review for this book other than the fact it is a book that a movie is based upon it is so far removed from my usual scope of interest. I loved it! I bought my paperback copy at my local library for 50 cent for future reading you know one of those days. Well I finished The Caine Mutiny and decided to leaf through it and I couldn't put it down. It's just masterful storytelling amid murder, mayhem, violence, love, sex, politics, Hollywood, crime and what binds us all together family. It is an excellent book. I have not seen the movie. I avoid it like the plague you know not for me. I am not sure if I would like to see it fleshed out. I honestly don't know if the story translates well to the screen and I know only watching it would tell me but already what little I've seen -like the daughter's wedding there's no cat on the Don's lap while he is granting people audience and it doesn't describe the Don as played by Marlon Brando with those puffy cheeks. If you don't think the movie is for you read this book it is a fine story. I highly recommend it.
Review Date: 7/17/2011
Helpful Score: 1
If I could tell Christina Crawford something and I can't but I could write it here it, it would be "I believe you". The first thing I would tell the non believers in Christina's story is I for one know that someone can project one image to you and a completely different image to someone else. I also became a firm believer when Christina said "It was a time of inner speculation. It was a time when I was forced once again to come face to face with myself. I must admit I didn't always like what I saw in my own mirror, but it was also a time when I gave up blaming others for what happened in my life. I stopped blaming my mother or trying to make excuses for either one of us. I began to treat myself with greater gentleness. My life had to be put together again based on something other than insanity, cruelty, insecurity, and the hype. I believe her because I have done the same. Meaning, I have taken responsibility for what happens to me. I have had it rough a rough childhood and traumatic divorce well when everything crumbled I could see patterns and then after a few years I had an epiphany. The little girl I was patterned the relationship I was in sad but very true. However,then when I realized I wasn't that little girl anymore and was very much in charge of what happened to me next I could not blame the traumatic experiences anymore. This is exactly what Christina did. She took charge of her life and tried her best to keep the relationship with her mother positive and involved. She tries to understand what could have happened to lead to the writing of the will of her leaving nothing to her children Christina and Christopher Crawford "for reasons which are well known to them". That is all this book is about really WHY? Why did she write such an awful thing? If she wanted to leave them nothing then that's all she had to say. Why was Joan like she was? What motivated, drove her, pushed her to extremes. What was her childhood like? Is there a hint there? What happened to Joan when she was a young starlet? Is there a hint there? Think of poor Joan trying to hang on to a career that was slipping, age that was creeping upward, failed romances, and widowhood. Christina writes of her mother's triumphs and lows-her love life, her career, and her can do, never give up spirit. Lots of people who haven't read the book just know this as a book about how awful Joan Crawford was to her adopted daughter. This is also how the movie Mommie Dearest makes things seem. I don't think this book could be made into a movie or the movie should have included the good as well as the bad but that doesn't sell tickets does it? This is an even-handed account of someone's life with their mother. An unbelievable account of someone's extreme mania and their subjecting their child to that mania who could not escape it. A coming of age story and how Christina came through alive in some harrowing instances that just made my heart bleed. It is a book trying to grasp what makes someone like they are, why they do the things they do and just what might have been going through their minds when they wrote such a hurtful thing " for reasons known to them". Imagine this being broadcast on the news like it was when Crawford died, imagine how that must have hurt? Did Christina write this book to defend herself and Christopher? Sure she did but it is more than an a great offense it tells Christina's side of the story. It exposes Joan as well as Christina the good, bad and the ugly. I believe you Christina Crawford.
Review Date: 10/18/2009
Helpful Score: 1
When my son saw my bookshelf and said upon seeing this book "Burt Reynolds wrote a book?"; it made me think of a passage in Burt's book where someone is surprised to learn he actually reads. The book is Deliverance and he talks about the filming of it in detail. He also takes us back to when he was a boy and how he always yearned for the close love of his father who was distant and how he found the love he craved performing and creating in TV, talk shows and movies. He also met and became involved with several famous ladies and discussed them here-Dinah Shore, Sally Field and gives his version of the Loni Anderson affair. ( I would like to recommend My Life In High Heels(hope Burt doesn't mind) which gives her version but is also very informative of her career from beginning to where she starts to write the book) Burt is honest. He doesn't hide from or cringe from letting the light shine where it be positive on him or negative on him. I appreciate this-honesty. He is also puzzled by why the industry never gave him props for his contribution to bringing masses of people to TV shows he was on or pulling them to the seats in theaters in movies he was in and you sense his hurt because he couldn't just yank them in men, women, and children just because he was lucky and good looking. He honed his craft and learned from those around him and associated himself with stellar people. He also pulled a turkey or 2 or 3 that's to be sure and what appeals to some people don't appeal to others. Burt Reynolds though is a man, a star to be recognized. I think if you are of the people who wonder or don't wonder about Burt Reynold's-why isn't he taken more seriously or just why is he so famous? The answer is in this book. He started from the beginning, lowly, and worked his way up slowly and had great success and crashes but while he was doing it he had a hell of a good time. I think that's a detriment to Burt yes, he was swinging but was thinking and sometimes the swinging took over his thinking(which he is the first to admit-read about the Cosmo cover) but he is more than a pretty face, more than a sex symbol, he's funny and witty and a good writer find out for yourself give My Life by Burt Reynolds a try.
Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister: My Lively Life in and Out of Hollywood
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Review Date: 6/6/2010
This book is an informing, enjoyable, bawdy, birds eye view of the life of one Evelyn Keyes. I can't stand reading autobiographies where the subject come off as a saint. I mean they have done no wrong but able to point out everyone else's secrets and faults. This doesn't happen in this book. Evelyn shines the truth on her experiences the good, the bad, the ugly. Her whirlwind romances, her marriages, her time in Hollywood. I especially found her telling of her time with Mike Todd very illuminating since all I know about Todd is other recollections who did not know Todd on such an intimate basis like Keyes. This book is funny it made me laugh out loud several times Evelyn had such a gift with observations sometimes she was the punch of the funny which made me take her to my heart. If you like me thought you would get some insight into the filming of, cast stories of, and insider info about Gone With the Wind. Well, it is not in this book. You as a reader NEVER miss it. This book is about Evelyn's life and as GWTW is a footnote in her life the book sails us through the times of her life as she lived it. A most excellent read.
Review Date: 9/5/2011
This book is a quick read. Freddie takes the reader back to when he first started at the infancy of his and film making history. Truly a case of someone falling into a job and finding his calling, his profession of a lifetime. We should all be so lucky. He explains in terms that we can understand how the camera works, who is actually running the camera, how the film is developed and how the scene is lighted. He explains this and the development of better and improved techniques of filming and how they achieve the special effects. It is like a class of basic film making from the silents till the 80s. Amongst this are the stories of working with famous directors like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and George Cukor plus the stories of working with stars like William Holden, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Spencer Tracy. He also tells the stories of other cameramen people you and I never heard of but are a part of Freddie's life and we meet them and they become our friends too. Perhaps you have seen the movies Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Ryan's Daughter? Freddie won an Oscar for each of theses films as best cinematographer. He tells of the making of these films. How they did it, his opinion of the stars mostly flattering sometimes not, the locations like how Spain stood in for Russia in Dr. Zhivago, the "snow" that wasn't snow for Zhivago and how they dealt with all that sand in Arabia. He explains his famous mirage scene in Lawrence of Arabia. The working of other men and woman to achieve a pictures success -it is all here. Plus Freddie's personal life told in a straight forward fashion-no tell all. He just tells it like it was or how it should be and how he wishes it was. If you are interested in learning of film making in its various stages this book is for you. Freddie puts you in his back pocket and you are thankful for the ride.
Review Date: 8/9/2010
I found this book and B.D. Hyman's book (My Mother's Keeper) at the same time. I was tickled. I am the type of woman who will read (if I can) each person's version of their lives with each other. Needless to say these 2 women see their life together in completely different ways. I started reading B.D.s book first but had to put it down-to many big words, to many confusingly constructed sentences. Bette's book is a romping, hold unto to someone and fasten your seat belts read. I LOVED it! She wrote this book after her bout with breast cancer and her nearly crippling strokes. She wrote it to help others who may be faced with medical problems. She also wrote it for her audience a put it out there story if you liked it fine if not that was fine to- she had a story to tell. However, if you had never been a fan or seen one of Bette's better films there is wisdom for you here. A collection of experience that sticks with you what Bette did wrong, what she would do different if she could, what she wouldn't change, she advises how to avoid common mistakes, she tries to help you from repeating her mistakes, how to find happiness, lessons from a woman in her late 70s. I love this book even if I don't always agree with Bette but it wasn't often. She is very funny, profound and her forthright story telling is very much appreciated. I felt as if Bette was right there with me as I read her book. I felt her pain and she had much but she met each challenge with courage that I don't even know that I could muster. It pains me that Bette Davis was still alive when her daughter's book was published at least Joan Crawford was dead when Christina's book Mommie Dearest was published. She takes the book with the blow and hurt it gave her but resolves to get through it. I admired her greatly by the end of her book and you will to respect and admire this lady.
1 to 10 of 10
