Average customer rating:
- a fantastic gossipy read
- I'm So Sorry
- Hollywood Hell
- Monty: Going Over The Clift
- Fascinating Bio for new fans and diehards, alike
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Montgomery Clift: A Biography
Patricia Bosworth
Manufacturer: Limelight Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0879101350 |
Book Description
"...Because of Bosworth's artistry, her ability to choose the right details, and her own immersion in the subject...[this book] is an amazing excursion into a life." -New York Times Book Review "It stands as the definitive work on the gifted, haunted actor." -Los Angeles Times "Here it is - the real thing - inside Montgomery CLift. I've known other actors as well, but none with such a harrowing tale. I kept wondering, could Patricia Bosworth have been there? Everywhere? The book is that vivid and intimate." -Elia Kazan
Customer Reviews:
a fantastic gossipy read.......2007-09-07
I read the whole thing in almost a day..you won't be able to put it down..I had no idea he was so messed up..I think an institution would have did him well. His own private shrink took his money but never truly tried to help him. His friends deserted him when he got really bad..it's pretty sad..but that's fickle Hollywood..
It's too bad he didn't believe in himself alittle more..seems he was very hung up(vanity) on his good looks and he must have thought that was his only vehicle at staying in the movies. Perhaps Hollywood agreed. They treated him very poorly after his car accident. Hollywood was obsessed with putting beautiful people on film. really too bad. He was also hung up on being a real and true "artist" trying to rewrite all the scripts of the movies he was in and being combatitive with directors. He really caused his own anguish most of the time. Get over it Monty!
I'm So Sorry.......2007-03-19
I'm not at all attracted to biographies of Hollywood stars although I must have read at least one of the many bios of Marilyn Monroe. Ms Patricia Bosworth's biography of Montgomery Clift got such universal praise I decided to give it a go. Having read the book I now understand why she was heaped with praise. It is, quite simply, one of the most compelling bigraphies I have ever read, a story of beauty, privilege and talent gone seriously wrong. Ms Bosworth unfolds the story of Clift's life at a wonderful pace in clear, strong language that gave me the sense of being in Monty's presence not being removed at a distance observing him. She takes us through all of the triumphs and tragedies of his life supported by an interesting cast of mid-20th century characters ( both famous and unknown) with an even hand and a fine eye for detail. I couldn't help liking Clift although by the conclusion of his life he was so screwed up that there wasn't much of a person left. Bosworth completely engaged me from beginning to end with this tragic life story and by the time I was finished I wept saying out loud "I'm so sorry", "I'm so sorry". Highly recommended!
Hollywood Hell.......2007-01-30
A broken life and talent... drugs and alcohol used to soothe the stress of having to cover up being gay... I'm a hetrosexual female but I've seen too many gifted friends go down this road. Montgomery Clift could be a poster child for the misery of leading a double life. This is such a well-written book that you may find yourself wanting to cry for this Hollywood star's lost life.
Monty: Going Over The Clift.......2006-09-13
Montgomery Clift was certainly a troubled darling of the later 1940's and early 1950s,an actor who starred in "A Place in the Sun," "From Here to Eternity," "Suddenly Last Summer,"and "Raintree County." He played gentle and sensitive, empathetic, suffering, almost androgynous. He was extremely handsome before the serious automobile accident that nearly killed him; he got to play with Hollywood's best (and its worst), and he surely followed the adage "live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse."
This biography, by the former actress, and experienced, well-connected journalist Patricia Bosworth is more than fair. She has done a great deal of research: Clift was secretive about his life and kept his friends in compartments. She found a lot of people, and got them talking. Furthermore, she tackles his life with understanding and sympathy.
Clift was born to an overpowering, suffocating woman who was a demented snob: she allowed her clouded descent from two of the South's finer families to ruin her own, and her children's lives. His weak father was bankrupted by the Depression of the 1930s, giving Monty, the beautiful teenager, the chance to escape Mom and head for the New York stage. He was an immediate hit, taken up by such esteemed actors as Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and taking up,, in turn, with the older torch singer Libby Holman, and many others, male and female: he seems to have been a true bisexual. He went to Hollywood, and was again an immediate hit, worldwide. But he continued to live around the corner from, and have to fight his mother for, breathing room. He did not handle either his fame, or his family problems well, and drifted into drink, drugs, and unpleasant perversions. In the late 50's, he left Elizabeth Taylor's California house stoned, and had the car accident that devastated his face, and his nerves. Despite the interventions of Taylor and other devoted friends, he was broke and considered unemployable when he died young, but not particularly prematurely, if you consider his life. He is buried, oddly enough, in Brooklyn, New York, in the famous Green-wood Cemetery.
Bosworth is quite deft in describing the interiors of Clift's life, and his inner circles. One man reminisces about his first meeting with Clift,"' ....he stared at me with those strange unblinking eyes of his. It was as if he was stripping me bare psychologically.'"
She quotes a friend about Clift's relationship with his mother,"'He may have said he hated her, but Sunny remained the most important person in his life, and he was maddened by this. They still had a very close, almost conspiratorial relationship. Early on she had confided in him all of her secrets--now they were two-faced with each other. Sunny was always tender and affectionate when they were together; when speaking about him to other people she was often unduly harsh.'"
And another friend,"' It didn't matter what sex you were. If Monty really liked you -- man or woman you ultimately went to bed with him. If he liked you, he couldn't keep his hands off you-- touching --caressing-- hugging-- he was very physical, and very, very affectionate. And of course he was always passing out with you and then you were undressing him and putting him to bed and finally you were ending up in bed with him too.'"
Montgomery Clift was always compelling in his performances. So is his life, as recounted here by Bosworth, though you are watching him go over the cliff.
Fascinating Bio for new fans and diehards, alike.......2006-04-24
Bosworth has written a comprehensive and highly readable biography of this immensely talented and troubled actor. A compelling page turner with plenty of interesting photographs, too, this juicy read presents a balanced, objective look at one of the 20th Century's most intriguing artists.
Whether you have an extensive or only passing knowledge of Montgomery Clift, you will find his story worth reading...along with one of the most colorful supporting casts in modern history!
A note to the editor: there are several typos in this edition! How the heck does that happen???
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant record of a unique star
|
Montgomery Clift: Beautiful Loser
Barney Hoskyns
Manufacturer: Grove Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0802115128 |
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant record of a unique star.......2000-03-02
Montgomery Clift was called, by Spencer Tracy, "the finest actor" of his generation. This is a truthful, candid, but respectful record of his life and times, from the constraints of his overprotected childhood, through his early theatrical and movie fame to his untimely death of heart failure at 45. It is illustrated with both movie stills and rare, previously unpublished candids, which show Monty's strengths and weaknesses as an actor and as a man. Barney Hoskyns has written an engaging, often amusing text. He does not try to provide any glib answers to Monty's decline and fall, but does share some wry insights. The book is beautifully presented. While it is obviously for the fans, it is no vacuous, "pop-star" style work, but a solid tribute to a great star.
Average customer rating:
- Moving and touching, humorous exploration of young gay life
- The Debut
- A good debut!
- A strong first novel about the bond between mother and son
- Award winner
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Letters to Montgomery Clift (Working Classics)
Noel Alumit
Manufacturer: Alyson Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1555838154 |
Book Description
This haunting and compelling novel of a Filipino boy sent to America by his parents to escape the brutal Marcos regime is a story of hope set against a backdrop of abuse and alienation. Following the Filipino tradition of writing letters to the ghosts of ancestors, Bong Bong Luwad begins to write letters to the ghost of Montgomery Clift, at first asking to be reunited with his family, but as he undergoes the pains of adolescence, sexual discovery, and mental illness, the letters form a journal of self-discovery.
Noel Alumit is also the author of two one-man shows, The Rice Room which was voted one of the best solo shows of the year by The San Francisco Bay Guardian, and 2002's Master of the (Miss) Universe, named by the Los Angeles Times as a Theater Best Bet. He lives in Los Angeles.
Customer Reviews:
Moving and touching, humorous exploration of young gay life.......2006-08-03
This is a wonderful piece of early essay writing, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone (dare I say it!)
The Debut.......2004-07-31
What an impressive debut book. "Letters to Montgomery Clift" is moving, compelling, and a bit funny. Like others who have reviewed the book, I also was not able to put down the book once I started reading it. I was completely engulfed in the main character's world--feeling his challenges, hopes, anger and awakenings.
If you get a chance, see Noel Alumit performances--the one I saw was brilliant!
A good debut!.......2004-05-21
A friend of mine recently gave me this book. The story sounded interesting and I decided to crack it open and give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by this debut novel written by author Noel Alumit. It begins with Bong Bong, a young Filipino boy who is sent away from his home by his mother during the vicious Marcos regime. She promises her son that one day she and his father will join him as he is sent away to live with his Aunt Yuna in California. Once there, life for the young man becomes worse, as we learn that Yuna is an alcoholic, who resents taking care of the young boy and begins verbally and physically abusing him. As a source of comfort, the young boy begins to write to handsome Hollywood 50's idol, Montgomery Clift. Clift becomes his guardian angel and a confidant. Over time, however, the letters lead way to mental illness as the young man tries to deal with his blossoming sexual orientation and the fact that he may never see his parents again. He begins a path of self abuse and hurting those that care for him. Although the ending is a little bit too convienent, the story is good overall and worth reading. I recommend it.
A strong first novel about the bond between mother and son.......2004-01-21
In the Philippines during 1976, a very young Bong Bong Luwad is put safely on a plane to America by his mother Cessy to stay with her sister Yuna. She promises to come to the US as soon as she found his father.
Living with Auntie Yuna is like a hell on earth for Bong, and all the while he holds on to hope of reuniting with his mother. It's during his stay with Yuna that he first discovers Montgomery Clift, in a film titled "The Search." Leaving a permanent impression on Bong, he writes letters to Monty, even though he knows that he's dead, asking for his guidance. These letters help him through the many tough patches to come in to his life: life with of Yuna, being thrown into the foster care system, discovering a dark secret about his foster family, learning about the fate of his family, and dealing with his own sexualtiy.
This is an engrossing story of separation, loss, love and hope, and told from a view that isn't heard to often in literature: a Filipino perspective view of the world and of sexuality. Bong Bong is a strong character, not only in dealing with his own coming out, but with the realization of what happened to his family. He is likable and you want him to succeed. At the heart of the story, though, is the bond between mother and son; that's what drives Bong to suffer through the ups and downs, hoping that in the end everything will be okay, that he will be with his mother again.
A strong first novel.
Award winner.......2003-10-12
Winner of the Stonewall Award for Literature from the American Library Association. I read this title on the basis of the award that it won and it did not disappoint. Alumit has written a story of a Filipino boy placed with his aunt in the USA after his parents are beaten and in hiding from government agents in the Philippines. Bong Bong (or Bob as he becomes known) struggles with loss, disappearance, and adjusting to growing up in America. Alumit wonderfully describes the abandonment Bong feels throughout his young life and pulled me further into the story. The letters Bong writes are the way he handles his disjointed life and provide the reader further insight into his emotions. It is a great first novel from a playwright and I hope to be able to see his one man performances now that I am aware of his quality writing.
Average customer rating:
- homophobic bio of a homosexual
- soap opera version of monty clift
- It's almost if you were right there watching Monty!
- A short, talented, and tormented life -- Montgomery Clift
|
Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift
Robert Laguardia
Manufacturer: Arbor House Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0877951551 |
Customer Reviews:
homophobic bio of a homosexual.......2006-03-20
This book is worth reading for its information, and the author's style is not bad, if a little wooden. However, the book drips scorn of 'homosexuals' and Monty's lovers are referred to by pseudonyms. Even for a book published in 1977 this is irritating to have to put up with. Laguardia apparently felt that the three chief loves of the actor's life - all men - should be ignored as much as possible, while even his most minor hetero friends are given center stage. I have not yet read the other bios, but surely there must be something better than this.
soap opera version of monty clift.......2000-01-24
this book has a few redeeming qualities but overall it is a book written to fit robert laguardia's belief that monty was some sort of god cast out of heaven due to his own hysterical behavior.there is very little in depth knowledge regarding films or montys approach to acting, only vague stereotypes meant to fit in laguardias angle.i highly suggest you read Patricia Bosworths bio. still in print. she actually knew him and is partial in her writing. one more thing the only other book r.la guardia wrote was a book about the days of our lives soap opera.
It's almost if you were right there watching Monty!.......1998-10-18
An excellent book. I recommend it to anyone interested in Post-World War II film history. Mr. Laguardia truly brings the life of this tragic actor into your heart. It will make you want to run out and rent Monty's movies. Because you know what he went through to make it. Laguardia's biography makes you want to truly be there to help Monty throught all his troubles. While I was reading the biography, I wanted to go back in time and be there. I loved the book. This is my third time reading it. It's a book you don't want to put down.
A short, talented, and tormented life -- Montgomery Clift.......1997-07-05
Raised in an unconvential family, giving him nearly unlimited access to exceptional opportunities, Montgomery Clift reached a pinnacle of dramatic achievement. Due to unknown reasons, or perhaps due to a chronic back injury he sustained in a car accident, Clift became involved in heavy narcotic usage such that his credibility as an insurable actor was compromised. LaGuardia states that the film "Freud" was filmed in 'a state of chaos,' with severe frustration and criticism from director John Huston, due to Clift's 'inability to function.' Ironically, the night one of his finest films was shown on TV, Clift lay in his bed in the dark, unable or unwilling to join his houseman in watching it. The next morning he was found dead, apparently from a heart attack.
Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, who together accomplished and popularized the "extreme close-up" in films with their on-screen radiance in "A Place in the Sun," were close friends until his death. When Clift was considered "uninsurable" due to rumors of his narcotic addiction, Taylor put up an exorbitant bond to cover his appearance in "Raintree County."
LaGuardia demonstrates a wealth of detailed information throughout this chronicle of one of the most skilled actors of our time. It is worth the read for those interested in the actor or in film history. I have read other bios of Clift and there is no comparison to the detail LaGuardia offers. I was even able to walk past the apartment in which Clift died in NYC and imagine what the floorplan inside might look like. I recommend this book to Clift aficinados as the primary source of information on his short, talented, and tormented life.
Average customer rating:
- I could not put this book down
- I love this book
- Everything is just fine..........and it is.
- Hysterical and Uplifting!
- An Entertaining Ride
|
Everything is Going to be Just fine: The Ramblings of a Mad Hairdresser
Billy Clift
Manufacturer: Everything Is Going to Be Just Fine
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0968692907
Release Date: 1998-05-01 |
Book Description
In 1995, beloved television star, Elizabeth Montgomery passed away from colon cancer. Surprisingly to Billy Clift, her hair and make-up artist and close friend for eleven years, it was the beginning of a profound journey. This journey pushed his limits of perception, opening his awareness to the paranormal. With guidance from shamanic visions and inner-dimensional beings, insights and teachings were revealed. Layer by layer his reality was torn apart and all semblance of his former self transformed. This true-life story will take you on an incredible tour of Billy's unfoldment, providing the reader an opportunity to penetrate subtler layers of creation and to peer into the worlds beyond the veils. Whether you believe this work as merely imaginative or real, it will alter your perception and change your world forever.
Customer Reviews:
I could not put this book down.......2002-03-27
I was given "Everything is Going to be Just Fine" just before a long flight halfway around the world. I read the entire book on that flight, laughing and crying many times. Billy touched something inside me, and in many ways awoke me to ideas, that I had seemed to know my entire life. Never having been the New Age type of person I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book is the account of another gay man who just happened to be a close friend of Elizabeth Montgomery. However, even though there are some wonderful stories about "Lizzie", this book is about Billy's experiences. Oh, and did he have experiences! If you read this book you will see that the experiences Billy had are for all of us to experience and to LEARN from. Even if you are skeptical you will still enjoy this book.
I love this book.......2002-03-08
I've studies metaphysics for years - and now boast a small but well stocked library in books on many facets of the subject.
This particular one touched me in a way that many others haven't..... I actually carry it around with me .....
Billy has a playful endearing wisdom and an unabashed capacity for kindness that I've experienced in few others. He is a dear soul on this planet.
He now offers courses in meditation and other aspects of spirituality - which you can find out more about by visiting his web page at: ...
Billy, please write another book! Ruth :)
Everything is just fine..........and it is........2001-03-17
This book is such an amazing journey that brings light to many issues in a very easy way. Definitely a wonderful reminder to laugh at ones self. One to keep by the bedside forever. Thanks Billy.
Hysterical and Uplifting!.......2000-10-25
One of the most "Enlightened" books I have read in ages. Mr Clift has the gift of gab regarding some of life's ups and downs - really putting them into a cosmic perspective. I loved reading it and learned not to take anything too seriously! Thanks Billy!
An Entertaining Ride.......2000-10-19
With its light-hearted style, this book drew me right into the author's transformational adventure. It's an entertaining reminder to take the grip off the steering wheel, tune in to the heart, and enjoy the ride!
Average customer rating:
|
Films of Montgomery Clift
Edward H. Kass
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0806507594 |
Average customer rating:
- Illusion and Escape
- Glass Menagerie
- hits all the right notes
- A sad story that preaches family unity and self sacrifice
- more than just readable material
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The Glass Menagerie
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Audio Cassette
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ASIN: 1559941766 |
Book Description
Harold Bloom?s introduction suggests Tennessee Williams is the most literary of American dramatists. Examine The Glass Menagerie with some of the best criticism written about it, including ?Catastrophe without Violence,? ?The Southern Gentlewoman,? and ?Celebration of a Certain Courage.?
The title, Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics. This collection of criticism also features a short biography on Tennessee Williams, a chronology of the author's life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.
Customer Reviews:
Illusion and Escape.......2007-08-23
"Glass Menagerie" provides a surreal tale of the Wingfield family and their diverse struggles with fantasy and reality. Set in St. Louis during the Great Depression, the play revolves around Amanda and her adult children, Tom and Laura, struggling to make ends meet in a St. Louis tenement. Although each cannot grip the realities of the modern world, they seek escape in different ways. Amanda deludes herself into thinking she is still a Southern debutante with many gentleman callers. Laura escapes into her fantasy world ruled by delicate glass animals, her "glass menagerie." Tom, constantly accosted and criticized by Amanda, seeks escape through movies and booze.
Doubtless, the theme of abandonment looms large throughout the play. The presence of their father, although only his picture is seen, plays on all their emotions. Unfortunately for them, he "fell in love with long distances" and abandoned them at an early age. This instills fear in Amanda that Tom would follow the same path and she tries to control his every action. Indeed, her smothering of Tom and her incessant accusations of selfishness lend her an unsympathetic aura.
Williams uses unusual cues and images for a play, as he forsakes the illusion of reality. Indeed, the novel is almost a dream-like existence, as it is contrived from the deep memories of Tom. Although reality may not have a firm hand, the theme of control and a yearn to escape is a biting reality that many people face today. Indeed, Tom seeks to escape the "coffin" of his existence, as he attempts to break away from the iron hand of his mother. Unfortunately for him, this also means abandoning his sister Laura if he chooses this path.
Although it is a short novel and quick read, "Glass Menagerie" provides a powerful message that is applicable today. It has not been lost in a time warp. This, and the fact that it is one of the first plays of Williams, should put this on a short list of "must read" classic American plays.
Glass Menagerie.......2007-06-12
When I first bought the book, the name sounded really interesting, but I didn't understand what "menagerie." After I flipped a few pages, I notice
how dysfunctional, yet almost normal, family the book portrayed. In a way, many people can relate the situation with their personal life.
During the 1940's and after the World War II, many people were in desperation trying to find jobs and create a better life. However, as a result of this mindset, some did not succeed and ended up living in a life of disaster. Such calamity resulted in not only financial misfortune, but also social and mental failure. Everyone seemed to scramble to quickly find a great life, but little did they know, the truth of the reality was that not everyone could succeed at the same time. As a result, many hoped for too much, plunging in a world of delusion. Avoiding reality, several other were just assuming fortunes would find them, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
In Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams wants to depict exactly that tragedy resulted from constant escapades to fantasy by employing Amanda as the typical woman who just lost her grip on reality. Amanda has lost control ever since her husband had left her, destroying the family. Unable to cope with that reality, she just drifted onto another world. She refused to believe that fact and tried to impose her ideals onto her daughter, Laura. Amanda has always boasted that she was the most popular girl attracting all the find young men. She lived a life of glamour, while everyone stared enviously at her success. However, success took a u-turn and even a crash into the wilderness of failure. Amanda was distraught, devastated by the fact that her husband had left her and her family was filled with shame and quirk. Unable to get a grip of reality, she loses her control and drifts into a fantasy, where everything seems to work out perfectly. She puts too much emphasis on being popular and attracting all the rich suitors. She superimposes all her ideals onto her daughter, Laura, so she could be just like her mother. Unintentionally, she forces her daughter to achieve exactly what she has. Despite Amanda's genuine push, she actually forces Laura off the edge, but she changes and matures into a woman, more open to the world around her. Although Laura grown to be less inclusive and more open to the world, the family has broken apart as a result of Tom's escape. Ultimately, as a result of Amanda's fantasy world, the family has been torn apart into bits and pieces, revealing the notion that the escape to fantasy would only ruin one's life.
Tennessee Williams argues that fantasy is only a false depiction of the world in its most rudimentary image, which causes one to lose control of the complications of reality, inevitably resulting in a disaster.
hits all the right notes.......2007-06-12
3 things make this play stand out as truly spectacular: 1. the stellar plot, 2. the engaging and interesting characters, 3. it's ability to move the reader with its sadness and despair without asking for it. this play is truly a mus read for anyone who loves American literature.
In the story, Tom is a young man given the burden of caring for his mother and sister, Laura. Working at a dead-end job in a warehouse, Tom longs for the day he can be like his father and desert the family, to go on the quest for his own dreams and ambitions. he often writes literature during work and attends the movies every night as a way to escape from his otherwise monotomous life. Tom refuses to accept reality for what it is, and instead dwells in his own wishes, having no regard for his family. Laura, a shy girl who is crippled at the leg, does not interact with anyone outside of her family.
now, i must resist the temptation to say anymore, because i do not want to give away the ending, thus keeping any of you from reading this spectacular play. Set during the Great Depression, Williams oes an excellent job of placing the plot in historical context, because it was a time during which people were depressed and wanted to get out of "the hole", such as Tom. There are many symbols to be found throughout this play, such as the glass menagerie and the unicorn, which makes the play that much more engaging and interesting to read, as you try to decipher them. Williams' tone and style are also very appropriate with each changing character, giving the reader a better view of the characters. All while Williams achieves his rhetorical brilliance in the play, there is an underlying message of the dangers of dwelling in memory and fantasy rather than accept reality and deal with the present. I must recommend this book to anyone who is literate.
A sad story that preaches family unity and self sacrifice.......2007-06-12
This story is a must read! Despite the boring title, it's a true eye opener that questions your ethics and provokes you to contemplate on the troubles of society. Throughout the book, the characters struggle to come to terms of their reality.
One of the main characters is Laura, who is handicapped and is constantly nervous about what society thinks about her and her condition. Her poor understanding of who she is as a person and the exaggerated difference believes she has between others prevents her from ever being fully comfortable around others and even herself .Although Laura believes that society has shunned her from the acceptance that she deserves, Laura has actually shunned herself from the possibility of retaining friendships because of the paranoid thoughts in her own mind. Amanda and the pressure she places on Tom is also a large issue in the play which ultimately leads to Tom's tragic abandonment of the family at the end of the story. Because of her dependency on Tom's paycheck, she placed a huge burden on Tom who soon comes to the conclusion that if he would ever want to achieve his dreams, he would have to completely abandon his family. So, read the book and watch the predicaments unravel in the Wingfield family from Amanda's refusal to accept reality of Tom's dreams , Tom's desperate plea to be free from his obligations as breadwinner of the family, and Laura's personal struggle with being comfortable with her disability. Will Laura ever break out of her shell and lead the normal life she deserves? Read the book and contemplate on the effects of a judgmental society and the dangers of holding on to the past being ignorant of the present.
more than just readable material.......2007-06-12
This book focuses on the individual struggles of the three main characters of the book, but I personally enjoy the story of Tom and Laura who have to cope with problems that many can relate to.
Tom is a young man who has great dreams. This is not hard to imagine because many of us or many of the people we know dream of pursuing great goals in life. This is how we are programmed, what we are taught. But as a young man with a father who has abandoned the family, he must decide between pursuing his dreams or staying home and supporting his mother and sister. Such an interesting situation made me want to sit down and read to see what choice he would make.
Laura is the typical shy girl. However, because she is so self conscious about her crippled legs, she has grown to isolated herself so much that her mother has to worry whether or not she will marry since she refuses to talk to even other women. Instead, she turns to a glass collection for friends and company. Pretty crazy. Now when his hermit of a lady suddenly is forced to meet and converse with a normal human being outside of the household, the conclusion is waiting for you to read and find out. It is not your typical type of ending but it is nonetheless something that was satisfying and compatible.
The play is filled with symbols, which is a real good plus because it make the book all the more interesting to read and dig through. You will notice things like the glass collection, the fire escape, and the unicorn all representing something more than what they are. These are what makes the play more than just a browse through a story--it is more like an adventure or a mystery waiting to be torn apart.
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Monty - A Biography of Montgomery Clift
Robert LaGUARDIA
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000J5DDF0 |
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MONTGOMERY CLIFT:A biography
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brane & Jovanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IAL37G |
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The Films of Montgomery Clift
Judith M. Kass
Manufacturer: Citadel Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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