Firstly, I think the main point to know about this book is that it is written by a man and that the individual chapters on the various stars included are prefaced by an introduction that seemed to me to be particularly sexist, written in the style of a 'Sun' newspaper article, and didn't really offer any kind of historical or political context.
Irked, I delved into the first couple of chapters, which dealt with some of the earlier film stars such as Louise Brooks. The writing style is very factual, with a bit of sensationalising vocab thrown in, detailing every instance the author could find when such a star took their clothes off, or went out on the town with so and so, or had an affair with X. After a while it got a bit boring, and was about as titillating as reading a dictionary. I persevered through the whole book, and learnt a few interesting snippets along the way about Grace Kelly in particular that I hadn't been aware of, but aside from a selection of great photographs in the centre section, there wasn't much substance.
The really interesting stuff - childhood's, traumas, broken hearts - and how that could have impacted on the behaviour of the stars was what really interested me, with quite a surprising number of the ladies having had difficult experiences in their pasts. I think overall the book has inspired me to read more biographies, as all of the women mentioned in the book are far more complex than you'd think from seeing them on the silver screen, and their fame and fortune seemed to hinder rather than help them to be happy.
As a holiday read this was ok, but I think if the book had been written by a woman it would have had half a chance.
You know, I think any book that spurs the reader on to want to delve into other titles (in this case, more bios) isn't a total write-off, even if there was little else to be gleaned from it.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
You're such an optimist! The glass half full always!! P x
DeleteThis book would have wound me right up! Glad you read it so I don't have to ;) And also, that cover... ok, this is coming from the perspective of someone who works in book publishing, but I honestly think I could have done a better job in Microsoft Word! Too harsh?? CC x
ReplyDeleteHa ha! That made me chuckle - not too harsh, just shows you have good taste and standards!! x
DeleteMan, you had me hooked at trashy! I love salacious gossip. It's too bad it's not actually a very good book, because from what I know, a lot of these women actually did have very interesting, exciting, and sometimes sad love lives. It would be great to read a book that did them justice.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - and now the hunt begins to find some books that do indeed do them justice! x
DeleteI LOVE biographies! I read just about all the ones the library had to offer when I worked there and that was many. I read the above book too and the two Hollywood Babylon books which are in a similar vein.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting in to them a bit more than I used to be, I quite like the change from fiction! If you've got any particular recommendations I'd love to hear them x
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