Greta Garbo: A Life Apart

Amazon.com

A Life Apart is the apt subtitle of this scrupulously researched biography of the star as legendary for her fiercely guarded privacy as for her haunting beauty and luminous acting in such films as Camille and Ninotchka. Entertainment writer Karen Swenson delineates a unique personality considerably earthier than Greta Garbo's screen image: shy yet blunt, devoted to her craft but indifferent to fame, sexually magnetic to both men and women, a loyal friend who mercilessly punished disloyalty. The author meticulously fact-checked the often unreliable memories of companions and lovers such as Cecil Beaton and Mercedes de Acosta to comprehensively document Garbo's long life (1905-90).

Customer Reviews:

Although interesting but..........2005-09-12

Although the book is interesting taking into consideration its factographic side, it is written in a very pretentious manner trying unnecessarily to colorize the biography and therefore making it trivial and sometimes even pathetic. Just to mention: usage of such expression like "Turkey's great metropolis" in order not to call it Istanbul or Canstantinople seems to be quoted from an essay composed by some sixth-grade pupil.
I still consider "Garbo" by Barry Paris the best Garbo's biography.

A Bio Apart.......2005-01-20

Swenson conveys an understanding of and respect for her subject as few biographers have. Not that anyone can know too much about Garbo, Swenson dug deep and this bio is full of pictures and information to make any Garbo fan's heart flutter into cardiac arrest! The Best!

Read Swenson if you want to be alone with Greta Garbo!.......2003-02-19

Karen Swenson is to be commended for a fine biography of Greta Garbo. Garbo is an enigmatic star more closely resembling a lonely sphinx camping out in the Sahara than a glitzy glamorous star in Hollywood's Golden Era.
Swenson delineates the Garbo career from the Swede's girlhood in a poverty stricken home in Stockholm to the extremely wealthy recluse she became in New York following her 1942 retiriement from the silver screen. (Her last flick was a bomb called "Two Faced Woman." Garbo had at least two faces in real life. The athletic outdoor woman she was could be kind and cruel as her moods were quicksilver in the soul of this Viking child of the North.
Barry Paris's book on Garbo contains more pictures and is, on the whole, better written. I did, however, enjoy Swenson's work
on the screen legend devouring the biography in huge portions of time.
Garbo was a great talent who lit up the screen with her peerless beauty and style. Costumes by Adrian and the magic of MGM camermen aided her in the climb to the top but she was herself unique for her aura of lonely beauty.
I appreciate the work of Karen Swenson. I hope you the reader do as well. If you read only one book on Greta Garbo you could do worse than selecting this excellent biography to fill you in on the Swedish queen of film.

Garbo: A Life Apart.......2002-01-02

Garbo: A Life Apart is a modern biographical masterpiece. I got started and could barely put it down. It was filled with great information. I have been following the life of Greta Garbo for about 7 years and have a collection of memorabillia to show for it! I have to say this is a MUST for any fan or collector of Garbo material!!! BRAVO Karen Swenson!!

Fascinating and believable..........2000-10-26

This wonderful story, about a wonderful woman, combines a selection of rare photos with startling new information about her childhood, her career, tumultuous relationships with lovers and friends, and her life after Hollywood.

Average customer rating:

superb tribute
Garbo Fans will want to be "alone" with this beautiful book!
Buy it!
Absolutely fantastic

Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy
Mark A. Vieira
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Actors & Actresses | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 081095897X

Book Description

With her astounding beauty and enigmatic persona, Greta Garbo is the ultimate Hollywood icon. Though many books have tried to unlock the mystique of the "Swedish Sphinx" by focusing primarily on her personal life, Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy is the first to pay serious attention to what made her an icon-her 24 Hollywood films.

Celebrating the centenary of her birth, the book draws extensively on interviews, letters, and newly accessible M-G-M production files to chronicle Garbo's career from her American debut in 1926 to her self-imposed retirement in 1941 at the height of her popularity. A wealth of film stills, production photographs, and portraits-many previously unpublished, all beautifully reproduced from pristine prints-combine with Mark Vieira's engrossing text to bring vividly to life the actress who inspired the critic Kenneth Tynan to declare: "What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober." AUTHOR BIO: Mark A. Vieira is a photographer, film historian, and the author of Abrams' acclaimed Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits, Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood, and Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. He lives in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews:

superb tribute.......2005-09-29

U nusually informative survey of Garbo's career with background material on her artistry rather than just her personal life
wonderful pictures

Garbo Fans will want to be "alone" with this beautiful book!.......2005-09-22

The Swedish Sphinx Greta Garbo (1905-1990 was "an enigma wrapped up in mystery" to most people. However, in this out-
standing book you will come to know her for what she is best
remembered for: her movies!
Viera analyses each of Garbo's films from her first silent
feature "Torrent" through to her last talkie "Two Faced Woman."
In between these two films you will:
a. Have a in-depth analysis of each of the films
b. See the secrets revealed of such masters of photography as
William Daniels, Hurrell and Bull who lit Garbo to perfection.
c. Learn of Garbo's torrid and tortured affair with John Gilber
d. Learn about her great director Stiller and her work with such American directors as Clarence Brown and others.
e. Explore the business side of her relationship with MGM
as she dealt with moguls such as LB Meyer and boy wonder Irving
Grant Thalberg,
Viera is a photographer and film historian who makes the life
and career of Garbo come alive after all these years. I have enjoyed his earlier: "Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits" and "Sin in
Sof-Focus" always profiting from the enjoyable hours spent in his
company.
This is an essential book for any Garbo or movie fan of the golden era of Hollywood! A true delight!

Buy it!.......2005-09-22

Any book put out by Abrams has my vote and a place on my book shelf. This book on Garbo is no exception. Without reading a word her story is told through the fabulous photographs. A must for fans of classic film, Garbo (obviously!) and photography buffs!

Amazing!

Absolutely fantastic.......2005-08-16

This is yet another book for the ultimate Garbo fan. The pictures are absolutely radiant and clear, and even more photos of Garbo that have never been seen before. Vieira's take is an extremely interesting one - taking a close look at each and every film through Garbo's growth of her own true art while intertwining more of the studio politics involved from documentation during the time of every single one of her films. The way he appreciates her for her acting ability is refreshing for any Garbo lover. This book is like the newest drug that makes you even more addicted to watching her movies.
Vieira does have interesting speculations about what was really happening during certain peculiar abscences in her time at the studio, what were the real causes for conflict with Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer, etc., based on letters and documents that were found or not found during his research. Even though you may not be completely swayed some of his suggestions, they are still very intriguing discoveries about her life during her film career and keep the mind wondering about the wonderful and mysterious Garbo.
This book is a must have for anyone even remotely interested in Garbo or this time period of film. Vieira also adds bits of information throughout about cameras and photography from the silent to the sound era - very interesting technical facts woven in about what equipment people working in a large studio at the time were dealing with - not boring in any way shape or form. Thank you Vieira! I highly recommend his other books, too.

Garbo: Portraits from Her Private Collection

Average customer rating:

Excellent gift for any Garbo fan!!!!
Photos nice, personal insights disappointing.
Anatomy of Illusion
Garbo : Portraits from her Private Collections
Beautiful and Intelligent... the book.

Garbo: Portraits from Her Private Collection
Scott Reisfield , and Robert Dance
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0847827240
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Book Description

Famously elusive, Greta Garbo only had her picture taken when a contract required it. She shunned publicity, kept her private life a secret, and rejected the spotlight. Though ambivalent about fame and her public image, Garbo saved all of her favorite portraits, carefully archiving original prints by Clarence Sinclair Bull, Arnold Genthe, Ruth Harriet Louise, Edward Steichen, and Cecil Beaton, among others.
Published here for the first time are these portraits–impeccably reproduced in tritone, one more beautiful than the next. In addition, the book features family pictures, candid photographs, and letters previously viewed only by her closest friends and relatives.
Scott Reisfield provides an intimate portrait of his great aunt, spanning well beyond her career in the public eye–from the earliest days in Sweden when she would sneak through the back door of the theater to see actors rehearse, to her later years in New York when she traveled exclusively through back entrances, side doors, and secret elevators.
Co-author Robert Dance’s essay traces the evolution of the image of Garbo–from the ingénue of her first publicity shots to the icon that she became–while an illustrated film production history documents all the still photography and portraiture of her entire career.
Long treasured by her immediate family alone, this collection of photographs, and the essays that accompany them, form a spectacular tribute to Garbo, the woman and the myth, on the eve of her centennial.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent gift for any Garbo fan!!!!.......2007-01-19

I gave this book as a gift to a good friend. She enjoyed the book's pictures and information very much. The pictures are from one of Garbo's relatives, so these pics are not common. I was looking for a good informative piece with accurate Garbo memories, and I found them in this book. I would suggest this book if you're looking for something for a Garbo fan.

Photos nice, personal insights disappointing........2007-01-03

As a Garbo fan or really a Ms. G. fan. As she would say there is all the difference. With the thousands of pictures available this selection was o.k., not great. Good quality. Seems they could have been more creative, personal. Got the impression of a clever quick buck. The so called writing? Disappointing. Fluff, lacking detail, personal depth. Makes an attractive decorative addition to book collection.

Anatomy of Illusion.......2006-05-11

Garbo - Portraits from her Private Collection

Anatomy is the operative theme in Garbo's story. It has been said she had the ideal facial structure. To me, the most important thing to know about her is her will to excel. And her will to resist being dominated by the male chauvinist pigs who ran the studios of her era. Her story, then, is the anatomy of a woman who left her mark on a generation. Show business chews up those who aren't strong, then spits them out after sucking out their lifeblood. Women get terrible roles in films. Stereotypes. Vamps. Dumb. Home wreckers. Greta Garbo had, within the first few years of starting her career in America, effectively taken control of her films, getting the leading men she wanted, the cinematographers, directors, still photographers, costume designers.

Her films grossed two to three times as much revenue as the average film of her day. She represented about fifteen percent of MGM's revenue at one point. She was unique. She projected a sultry sexuality, an hauteur, a weltschmerz, an intelligence, an ability to resist love - then give in to all its pain. She represented everything men thought they wanted in a women, and represented for women everything they wished they were.

Some of the early still photos from the late 1920's are striking in their revelation of how captivating a woman's face can be. And for years after her film career effectively ended in 1941, the public was occasionally treated to photos which revealed how gracefully she aged from 1950 onward to her death in 1990 at age eighty-five in New York. She is buried in Stockholm, her home. A credit to two nations, she helped British intelligence during world war two by identifying NAZI sympathizers in Sweden.

Her grand-nephew knew her as Kata. The world knew her as Mata Hari, or Queen Christina. It was said she had no enemies in Hollywood. A bold statement about that venomous town. She was professional, dependable. Mayer, the head of MGM, said her word was better than any contract. The last forty years of her life she llived in the anonymity of New York, respected and liked by neighbors, shopkeepers, and her circle of friends.

She was frugal. She invested her money wisely. A good idea for a woman who, around 1935, had the highest salary of anyone in America. She lived her retirement years in comfort. She traveled, hobnobbed with Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy, John F. Kennedy - who gave her a piece of scrimshaw from his collection as a spontaneous act of appreciation of her. Within ten days, he was dead in Dallas. It was November, 1963, don't you know.

Frankly, most of the photos in the book don't do her justice. But then, she was a living woman. Only cinema could begin to show to advantage the characters she played. Only those who knew her personally could know what a fine, principled, truly lovely individual she was - that's true beauty. That's the real anatomy of a successful life. To be an inspiration to those who love you. Rest in peace, Kata.

Garbo : Portraits from her Private Collections.......2005-10-12

What a beautiful book this is, when I realised that they were releasing yet another 2 coffeee table books on Greta Garbo (GG.), I was a little apprehensive about buying them as I already own most of the published books on her and most have been rather overall a let down, full of the same quotes and background stuff, I thought that her life story before, during, and after her acting career was over had been fully explored. But I ordered them anyway, and I have to say this is a keeper.Its not too heavy on the bio side but has been published by the Reisfields ( her family) so it is the nearest to the real GG were ever going to find. And the rest of the book is simply STUNNING is full off quality photos of GG throughout her life, nearly all never released before, and some are quite breathtaking, I have been collecting GG stuff for years and have to say that this is the best book I have ever seen on her.BUY THIS BOOK YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED, its massive and very heavy ( God, I love super-saver as would have cost a fortune for this to be delivered from U.S.)and is now the gem of my collection.I am away to buy a spare as, no doubt this will be out of print soon, and will have to remorgage to buy it again, trust me its that good.

Beautiful and Intelligent... the book........2005-09-23

If you love the Garbo mystique, this is the book for you. These photographs of the star, collected by Garbo during her career, are amazing! Rizzoli's has created an excellent book and should be commended for bringing this book to press.

Reisfield, who is a nephew of Garbo, provide insight into her early years and a glimpse into the woman behind the Garbo name. Robert Dance has written a wonderful essay on the formation of Garbo's image, the film industry and photographers who helped create it.

The book also provides a surprising Film Production History which outlines the who, what, and where of virtually every Garbo photograph. A must for any Garbo connoisseur!

The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others

Average customer rating:

pure speculation
Not Worthy for the Collector
this is not what it purports to be
Dragged Through the Mud? Some jumped in on their own!
Another Wonderful Book From Jane Ellen Wayne

The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others
Jane Ellen Wayne , Judy Garland , and Ava Gardner
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Actors & Actresses | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0786713038

Book Description

Garbo and Crawford. Ava, Hedy, Judy, Liz epitomized Hollywood's golden era. With a trembling lip or sultry eye, with a tear or song or husky whisper, these women held moviegoers across America in their sway from the hard times of the 1930s through the booming postwar years to the early sixties. They were royalty and box office, and led pampered public lives-furs, jewels, designer gowns; limousines, flash bulbs, handsome escorts-that captured the national imagination. They also signed seven-year contracts with a morals clause, and the more they slipped, the more the secret abortions, efficient cover-ups, legal legerdemain, and dropped charges bound them to the wizard in their Oz, Louis B. Mayer. The slips are here along with the successes. Here, too, are the Blonde Bombshell Jean Harlow, Million-Dollar Mermaid Esther Williams, Sweater Girl Lana Turner, and bad girl Ava Gardner ("She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific," declared Mayer after her screen test). From Jeanette MacDonald and Norma Shearer to Princess Grace and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, the sixteen portraits in this lively, photograph-filled volume, each accompanied by the star's filmography, tell the tales that have long lay hidden behind the gossip and the glories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's glamorous golden girls.

Customer Reviews:

pure speculation.......2007-06-09

i have read the book and i keep wondering if any of this really true. it is just pure specualtion. idle gossip. but it was fun reading it. why was so much attention given to grace kelly when she only made a couple pictures with MGM. katharine hepburn was a much bigger star and the author gave her a couple of pages. just not enough.

Not Worthy for the Collector.......2007-01-13

Miss Wayne clearly did not investigate the rumors that fills this book. Many of her facts are not validated and that many more are known to be just rumor. The typographical errors abound, i.e. Wiltshire Boulevard in Los Angeles - it is Wilshire Boulevard. Her dates are deplorable - i.e. Esther Williams and Fernando Lamas were married for 22 years from 1969 until his death in 1982 - that's 13 years, Miss Wayne!

As an avid collector of classic movies and the literature of the Golden Age of Hollywood, this book has no value to this or any other collector!

this is not what it purports to be.......2005-10-25

Jane Ellen Wayne's book "The Golden Girls of M-G-M" will not be everyone's cup of tea. The author seems to take serious advantage of the fact that most of these women are no longer around to protect their reputations, and thus this book is full of vulgar details more at home in the National Enquirer than a deceptively-stylish biography tribute book (which this purports to be). Though to be fair, Ms Wayne is somewhat sympathetic to each of the ladies she features here, but the book is riddled with typographical errors, misspelled names and wrong information. This book will probably never help Miss Wayne ascend the upper-echelon of biographers.

Covering as much dirt as possible, each actress gets a chapter (Jeanette MacDonald, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor). There is also a `Naughty-But-Nice' section in the back, comprising of mini-chapters devoted to Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Esther Williams, Debbie Reynolds and June Allyson.

There are so many wonderful biographies available on these ladies, but I'm afraid this isn't one of them.

Dragged Through the Mud? Some jumped in on their own!.......2005-08-06

While we all know that these celebrity histories relate many falacies, some shocking tid-bits are true. For instance, it has been well known that Mickey Rooney, as baby-faced and non-sexual as he may seem, was quite the ladies' man. As a 16 year old he had an affair with a much older Norma Shearer (quickly broken up by Louis B. Mayer to avoid scandal). As for Hedy Lamarr, read about the admitted bi-sexuality and orgies in her own words... "Ecstacy and Me," her autobiography, does not hide that she acutally is an arrogant nymphomaniac, and she seems to be rather quite proud of it! We all agree that there are false rumors that are attributed to these actors and actresses, but let's not forget that a lot of them brought sensationalism and scandal on their own. That is what makes their stories so fascinating, and that is why we read them.

Another Wonderful Book From Jane Ellen Wayne.......2005-07-10

I always have a great time reading Jane Ellen Wayne's books. Once I started reading this one I could not put it down. Every chapter is filled with terrific stories about Hollywood's greatest actresses. You will learn all about Jeanette MacDonald's love affair with Nelson Eddy and Norma Shearer's marriage to Irving Thalberg. None of the ladies are portrayed as saints but if you can handle the truth you won't be disappointed.

The Man Who Shot Garbo: The Hollywood Photographs of Clarence Sinclair Bull

Average customer rating:

a coffee table treat

The Man Who Shot Garbo: The Hollywood Photographs of Clarence Sinclair Bull
Terence Pepper , and John Kobal
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0671697005

Customer Reviews:

a coffee table treat.......2000-12-03

Although the title suggests an assassination, it actually refers to Clarence Sinclair Bull, who was MGM's chief portrait and glamour photographer from the studio's inception in 1924 to his retirement in 1961. He began photographing Garbo with her last silent film The Kiss in 1929, and after that she wanted no one else to photograph her. Bull would take over 4,000 individual studies of Garbo, devoting 2 days in his gallery for each of her films. She would pose in the character she was playing, since she saw the stills as part of the film-making process. The stills from The Kiss are particularly striking, "suffused with an elegaic softness and allure" writes Terence Pepper in the text. Bull enclosed Garbo's face in a black shadowy background, and, in contrast to her previous demure studies where she averted her eyes, he had her look directly into the camera and communicate directly with the viewer, "preserving her inner mood". A beret photograph is so potent that the studio used it for the film poster, and it prefigures her think-of-nothing final close-up from her later Queen Christina. Bull also transposed a vignette study of Garbo's face onto a photograph of the Cairo Sphinx, to create "The Swedish Sphinx". When he timorously showed her the result, he was surprised that instead of being offended, she howled with laughter, and approved it's release. It may have become the most widely distributed of her images, but it remains camp at best. Bull would say that she had no bad side and no bad angle, which made her the easiest of all the stars to photograph. Plus he thought she enjoyed their sessions, never tiring of posing for him. The images confirm MGM's agenda of creating flawless beauty, held up before the admiring throng as "nothing less than the Hope diamond in the flesh". Garbo's skin has a statue-esque perfection, her hair lit to be look soft and pliable. She never smiles but emotion is still evident. The one study in colour is for Two Faced Woman, which is less flattering than the black and white stills. Her hair has been pulled back slightly with a hidden ribbon, exposing her large forehead, and the hardness of her later Cecil Beaton studies emerges, her mouth almost in a sneer of disdain. Perhaps she knew making the film would be a mistake and an end to her film career. We also have a study of Chris, Garbo's stand-in, who apparently was even more mysterious than the one she doubled for. After Garbo retired, perhaps it is only the studies of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn that can match the iconoclastic grandness of Bull's work with Garbo, which proves that no matter how talented the photographer, the subject is everything. This kind of portraiture would decline with the collapse of the studios, and when you see the later studies of less arresting faces, perhaps this was for the best. Garbo flourished in a period where the ideals of beauty she radiated were desperately needed, but she always a reluctant star. When the world became indifferent, so did she.

Average customer rating:

Divine

Greta Garbo: A Hollywood Portrait
Marie Cahill
Manufacturer: Smithmark Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0831746033

Customer Reviews:

Divine.......2005-01-20

Cahill's book is a feast for the eyes. The collection of pictures of Garbo are crystal clear and prove why she was "The Face of the Century". A must have for fans or a great introduction to the Golden Age of Garbo!

Garbo & Gilbert in Love: Hollywood's First Great Celebrity Couple

Average customer rating:

Garbo & Gilbert in Love: Hollywood's First Great Celebrity Couple
Colin Shindler
Manufacturer: Orion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 075287795X

Book Description

Garbo and Gilbert: they made magic on the silver screen, and off—and this is the story of their ill-fated romance. When John Gilbert, the hot Hollywood star of the silent era, first met Greta Garbo, the icy young Swede, she snubbed him. Not long after, Louis B. Mayer, head of M.G.M., forced them to work together: he felt that the exquisitely beautiful young starlet could only benefit by playing alongside the more experienced Gilbert. There, on set, in front of everyone, they fell madly in love. What followed was as turbulent, dramatic, and public as any Hollywood melodrama.

Average customer rating:

one of the best
Outstanding. A great read.
A top-notch bio
garbo in private
Garbo? Garbo who?

Garbo
Barry Paris
Manufacturer: University of Minnesota Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Actors & Actresses | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Sweden | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

jp-unknown2 | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Reference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 081664182X

Book Description

Greta Garbo (1905-1990) is as famous for her reclusiveness as for starring in such enduring classics as Flesh and the Devil, Grand Hotel, Queen Christina, and Ninotchka. In this richly illustrated volume, renowned biographer Barry Paris offers the definitive biography of this fascinating and complex woman-from her hardscrabble childhood in Sweden to her arrival in Hollywood at the age of nineteen, from her meteoric rise to stardom to her unintentional retirement from filmmaking at the height of her fame, from the new life she crafted for herself to her surprising, and failed, plans for a comeback. Drawing on hitherto unavailable material, including one hundred hours of tape-recorded conversations, fifty years of correspondence, and interviews with Garbo's surviving friends and family, Paris reveals the real woman behind the enigma.

"Barry Paris has crafted a magnificent, moving biography-a feast of rare, delicious facts, exploded myths, and compassionate observations. Surely it will be the final word on this most-fantasized-about movie idol." Liz Smith, New York Daily News

"A witty, clearheaded correction to all the misinformation that has become part of the Garbo legend." Julie Salamon, Vogue

"Magnificent, literate, detailed, and scrupulous. This is a book that at last solves the riddle of the Sphinx." Hugh Leonard, Sunday Independent (London)

"A substantial work exploring the enigmatic life of one of the twentieth century's most famous icons, a book notable above all for its humanity and compassion." Robert Sklar, Newsday

"This strong, rich biography has sweeping detail, a huge cache of photos, and a satisfying grip on Garbo's character. . . . Paris offers what is likely to be the standard life of Garbo-handsomely made, a gripping must-read." Donald Newlove, Hollywood Reporter

Barry Paris is an award-winning biographer, film and music critic, and journalist who is the author of Louise Brooks (Minnesota, 2001). His articles have appeared in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, American Film, and numerous other publications. He lives in Pittsburgh.

Customer Reviews:

one of the best.......2007-01-05

I completely enjoyed this book. But then I am a devoted Garbo fan.
It is almost like a game trying to piece her life together to be able to understand her. I have read many books about her and this is one of the best for being able to inform people of her inner thoughts.

Thank You
Cathy

Outstanding. A great read........2006-11-13

The best writing available on Garbo. The most comprehensive. Engaging. I was sorry there was not more info on her family. Her relationship with them. The people themselves. Some of it you can research to fill in the blanks. With G.G. though some of her enigma will always remain. Conversations and Recollections with Garbo, by Raymond Daum is also strongly recommended. This book was very thought provoking. Kata was an original. No were near as mysterious as the illusion/persona she crafted. If your anykind of armchair pychologist or avid researcher these books will be alot of fun. Thank you Mr. Paris. Rest in peace, Ms. G.

A top-notch bio.......2006-10-20

This biography is just as well-written and meticulously-researched as Mr. Paris's biography on Louise Brooks, which I had read prior to reading this one. He's a great celebrity biographer; he really does his homework, doesn't really get into the sleazy, sensational, and speculative trap that a lot of other celebrity biographers too often fall into, has a clear respect for his subject without fawning all over her, sugarcoating less than perfect aspects of her life, or holding her up as some sort of demigoddess, and clearly distinguishes between fact, outright fantasy and falsehood, and rumor and speculation that could go either way. This professional approach is keenly felt when he's writing about Garbo's relationships with men and women; there were some affairs of hers that were well-substatiated by outside evidence (most particularly her affair with Jack Gilbert), but other than that one can't really say how many relationships she may have had, or even that she were actively bisexual, though she clearly felt more comfortable emotionally with women. She wasn't entirely asexual either; though she did seem more comfortable alone, with no one invading her privacy and personal territory, she didn't go through life completely celibate either. And of course, Mr. Paris makes this topic one of only many covered in the book, since what she did or didn't do with anyone she may or may not have had a relationship with isn't really any of our business.

What makes this book, and its subject, so fascinating is the fact that the majority of Garbo's life was not lived on-camera. She had her childhood and adolescence, her years of acting in Sweden, Germany, and America in the Twenties and Thirties, and then retired from the screen in the early Forties (though there was a strong possibility she could have had to return to the screen in 1948, and many other times before and since). Mr. Paris even points out that, of the relatively small amount of films she was in, not a whole lot of them would be considered great cinematic works of art or classics. To paraphrase the old saying, she was rarely in a picture that was as good as she was. However, the force of her personality, her riveting screen presence, her unique and androgynous beauty, and her acting talent elevated these films beyond formula pictures, made one watch them in spite of the not always great scripts. Particularly interesting are the chapters on Garbo's life post-acting. Mr. Paris brings these years of retirement to vivid life, showing us that just because she had willingly dropped out of public view didn't mean she had ceased to live a fascinating life; in fact, in some ways her post-acting life was even more colorful and interesting. He also chronicles the real story of her famous desire to be alone, or to be left alone, and how the truth was more complex than just a shy recluse or a former moviestar who shunned most human contact. She led a very full and active social life during those nearly 50 years off-screen, and had friendships with a lot of high-profile and fascinating people, pursued a lot of diverse interests, had a lot of interesting thoughts, and generally lived a very interesting life. He also examines the truth behind why she never married; on the one hand, there's ample evidence to suggest that she just preferred to be alone, didn't want to be made vulnerable by intimacy, would feel invaded or violated by such intrusion, was never really cut out to be the stereotypical traditional wife and mother; but on the other hand, some of her close associates felt that perhaps she could have been happy with a partner who knew and understood her need to be alone and the fact that she would never be a housewife or conform to the traditional gender role assigned to women in Western society, and even said she sometimes voiced regret she had never married or had a family. Whatever the case, she was always very much her own person with her own identity.

However, even in a bio this meticulous and even-handed, there are bound to be some errors. The major one I noticed was Mr. Paris's statement that 'The Kiss,' Garbo's final silent, was also the last silent released in America but for Chaplin's last stands, 'City Lights' (1931) and 'Modern Times' (1936). 'The Kiss' came out in mid-November 1929, but there were still some theatres in America not wired for sound, and some artists who were still releasing silents they had made earlier that year, such as Laurel and Hardy's final silent, 'Angora Love,' which came out in December of 1929. Additionally, some of the more minor studios did release silent pictures in 1930, so to say that this was the final American silent picture is kind of dishonest. It would have been better had he said it was the last *major* American silent. Another error I noticed was when Mr. Paris referred to Natacha Rambova (whose forename he didn't even spell correctly) as a lesbian. This seems to be just one of those old unfounded rumors that just won't go away. The reader also might disagree with some of his opinions or conclusions about some of her films, or certain aspects of them, but the beauty of opinions is that we're all entitled to our own and aren't forced to agree with someone else's.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this famous and elusive enigma and to go beyond long-time rumors and speculation to find out the facts.

garbo in private.......2006-04-01

Very comprehensive, but some detail missing.
Not much information about her neice and sole heir, Gray Reisfield, for example.

Garbo? Garbo who?.......2006-01-28

It is probably the case that more often than not the people who produce biographies of film stars hold themselves to a lower standard than other authors. After all, most of these are trite recitations of scandals both real and imagined in which they are paired in any number of combinations.

Happily this is not the case with this book by Barry Paris. Mr. Paris brings a unique and scholarly approach to this work on the enigmatic silent and talky film star.

Frequently what compels people to write these kinds of books is the assurance that a film star's fan base will be sufficient to provide a ready made audience. In the case of Garbo's career, as Mr. Paris cites time and time, it was her skill as an actress that enabled her to raise the quality of a work to greater levels time and time again.

Garbo's personal life was something else. It is clear that while probably a pleasant person to intimates, she did not suffer fools or intrusions gladly. In the final analysis as Mr. Paris points out, Garbo had two things going for her, her remarkable talent as an actress and the lengths she would go to to avoid unwanted contact. Otherwise she led a perfectly ordinary life with ordinary needs, sometimes carried almost to the level of excess in the case of Garbo's numerous quest for shoes. Still this mixture of the banal and rarified is the stuff of real life.

I would suggest that anyone reading this book might also enjoy the TCM collection of Garbo movies that came out last year in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of her birth. This wonderful set also includes a copy of "Flesh and the Devil" with commentary by Mr. Paris.

Operation Garbo: The Personal Story of the Most Successful Double Agent of World War II

Average customer rating:

Operation Garbo: The Personal Story of the Most Successful Double Agent of World War II
Juan Pujol , and Nigel West
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0394547772
Release Date: 1986-08-12

Average customer rating:

Garbo: Her Story
Antoni Gronowicz
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0671225235

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books