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Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era
Jim Heimann
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0896595722 |
Customer Reviews:
A Real Treasure!.......2004-06-27
This is one of those books I can't recommend highly enough if you love old Hollywood or the flamboyant architecture and graphic design of Hollywood in the 20's - 50's. I picked it up on a cut-out table in New York about 10 years ago and have come to appreciate it as one of the best books in my library - in fact it's one of those books that is always getting borrowed from friends who are graphic designers or work at ad agencies looking for inspiration.
Jim Heimann deserves much praise for assembling what is obviously a huge labor of love with lots of great photos and illustrations that you will never see anywhere else - everything from cocktail napkins and matchbooks to beautiful interior photography and paparazzi pics of the stars at play.
Also I'd like to disagree with the review - I actually found the writing in the book to be pretty engaging. It's fairly straightforward and to the point., luckily since there is a lot of history to cover.
Anyway it's an amazing book that I would highly recommend.
Book Description
With the nation at war in the 1940s, twenty-two-year-old Jack Valenti flew fifty-one combat missions as the pilot of a B-25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force based in Italy. In the 1960s, with the nation reeling from the assassination of a beloved president and becoming embroiled in a far different kind of war in Vietnam, he was in that fateful Dallas motorcade in 1963, flew back to Washington with the new president, and for three years worked in the inner circle of the White House as special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson. Then, for the next thirty-eight years, with American society and popular culture undergoing a revolutionary transformation, Valenti was the public face of Hollywood in his capacity as head of the Motion Picture Association of America.
Been there, done that, indeed. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Valenti has led several lives, any one of which could have provided ample material for an unforgettable memoir. As it is, This Time, This Place is the gripping story of a man who saw the terrible face of war while fighting with skill and bravery for his country; who was in the room, listening, participating, and remembering, as political decisions were made that would benefit or devastate countless lives in this country and on the other side of the world; and who championed the interest of the vast and globally influential movie industry with tenacity and vision. The list of boldface names whom Valenti knew and with whom he worked is as varied as it is astonishing in number. Aside
from LBJ, there were Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Robert McNamara, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Roberts, Cary Grant, Lew Wasserman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Warren Beatty, and Bill Clinton, to begin a very long list.
The life of a man who earned both the Distinguished Flying Cross and his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is inherently intriguing, but Valenti’s warm, sometimes rueful, always engaging account gives this memoir a depth of humanity and a taste of life’s unpredictability that will linger long after you turn the final page. From growing up poor but largely oblivious to that fact in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Greek and Italian immigrants in Houston to rising to the highest summits both of national government and Hollywood, This Time, This Place is a candid and clear-eyed reflection of the joys and sorrows, ambitions and disappointments, of a life fully recognizable in its extraordinary variety. It is also a sweeping and important historical record, written by a brilliantly successful man who helped to shape politics and entertainment in the second half of the twentieth century, and who always found himself in the center of the current storm.
Customer Reviews:
Saint Jack.......2007-09-21
One must be a very dedicated movie or Jack Valenti watcher to plough all the way through this tome. Apart from the timing which cannot be faulted - he died shortly after the book was published: the book is more a diary than a literary work. Except for the opening chapter on the assassination of JFK, which is good and compelling writing, the remainder stretched incredulity a little too far.
If we are to believe what Mr Valenti tells us about himself, we should not be surprised that at the books completion, the Almighty whisked him off to heaven to be at his right hand. A more Saintly man never lived beyond the Vatican.
We learn that he started life very poor - not even any shoes. We also learn that his close relatives were very rich. That confused me. I thought these old Sicilian families stuck together. Or is that only in the Mafia? One of these relatives who did not feel able to buy little Jack any shoes, did give him a job however. The salary was not sufficient for the future $1.3 million a year boss of MPAA, so he lied to take the time off to solicit work at Humble Oil which was successful. Little Jack clearly had a talent for ingratiating himself into the affections of those who could help him. First it was the HR lady who gave him his first job at Humble. Then it was the head of the advertising department who put him to work there. Work: I use the word loosely as he seems to have spent his time travelling around the country keeping his boss from being lonely. He must have been a very seductive little chap.
Then the war intervened. Now I thought, this is where it gets interesting. He reminds us frequently that he was a war hero, so I was very keen to learn more. Unfortunately modesty prevented him from sharing with us any daring-do that he was involved in. Other than telling us that the Luftwaffe fighters held no terrors for him - indeed, he actually says that they were no problem to him. Well that's a first. I must have more than 30 books on WWII aerial combat, and I never read that before. Could it be that all the others were spoofing? We do learn at great length his mile by mile journey back to America from Italy. The war was over by this time, but low cloud and rain was more formidable than the Luftwaffe it seems.
Once back to civilian life, he takes advantage of the GI Bill and goes to Harvard. If he goes on about his time at Harvard to his everyday listeners as he does in his book, there can be few American who don't know that Jack Valenti went to Harvard. Upon completion of his course he goes back to Humble Oil. This is the second time they have him back. He learns as much as he can from them, sets up a company with a partner and promptly leaves Humble Oil. Using what he learnt from Humble he solicits business from Humble competitors. This is a life long habit of Jack's. He ingratiates himself with people until they are of no more value; then he drops them. He did that with President Johnson after he learnt that Johnson was not going to seek re-election. He would have done it to MPAA and gone to Columbia Pictures, but his devoted wife of God knows how many years wouldn't go to Los Angeles with him. Washington was more important than Jack it seems. She did offer to let him commute once a week from DC to LA.
It is at this point in the book that one loses the will to live. It becomes a page after page catalogue of the rich and famous who Jack loved deeply, and they him. Pick at random any Name from the A List, and they - and of course their gorgeous spouses, were close personal friends of the Valenti's. There is not an enemy in sight - he even had a good word for the Luftwaffe! But then this is a work more interesting for what it doesn't say than for what it does. He never mentions that he lead a crusade to prevent VCRs being introduced into America. He takes full credit for the `original' introduction of a film rating system. He expects the readers not to notice that the British Board of Film Censors has been rating movies since 1912. It is also interesting that Jack never ever mentions the British film industry. He mentions, and praises British actors and directors, but never identifies them as such. He does every other country that has a film industry. Perhaps under the overcast skies of grey old London lurk a few skeletons that Jack would prefer to keep in the cupboard.
After one has waded through pages and pages of Hollywood's `Who's Who', the book is completed with the unsurprising information that all of his three children are `...movie star beautiful, and they are all outstandingly successful.' No kidding. He even tells us that his grandchildren are perfect.
Jack Valent's life story could have been an enthralling read had it been an `unauthorised version' by Kitty Kelly or similar. Instead, it is a very boring exercise in self aggrandisement. It is said that before one writes a book, one should identify your audience. The only audience for this book is the Hollywood Hoorays who will enjoy what is written about themselves, and think kindly about Jack - and of course his children.
Well done Jack. Not so much a book, more an advertising brochure for the Valenti dynasty.
Good Read but Lacks Bite .......2007-07-15
In a sense this is two books in one. Valenti (apart from his war years) had two very different careers - as a valued aide to President Lyndon Johnson and latterly as President Motion Picture Association of America. He did sterling work in both roles.
Almost anything written about Johnson is fascinating and Valenti keeps that legend going. The author never fails to see good in people and like other Johnson aides such as Joe Califano, seemed to have a genuine love for the towering Texan.
Valenti's opening chapter on the dreadful events of November 22nd 1963 is compelling reading. The author also writes well on the meetings and decision processes that encouraged LBJ to enlarge the war in Vietnam. For those with rose tinted glasses who believe JFK would have taken the US out of Vietnam before it became a quagmire, Valenti makes it quite clear that the bulk of LBJ's Vietnam advisors were Kennedy people. Overall the section on Johnson and the White House years is enjoyable reading. The same can not be said for his MPAA memoir.
Part of the problem is that Valenti is so gushing in his praise of everyone. The number of "radiantly beautiful" or "dazzling" wives he met with adorable offspring is mind-blowing. This man would have something good to say about the devil! He alludes very gingerly to the excesses of and infatuation with Hollywood, but never provides any depth.
Valenti - who wrote a book on communication - is a wonderful writer with a flowing style that is a joy to read. It is a pity that he did not bring greater depth and I think honesty to his MPAA career.
A Truly American Story.......2007-07-05
Jack Valenti's memoir "This Time, This Place: My Life in War, The White House, and Hollywood" tells an authentically American story. Valenti, the grandson of a Sicilian immigrant, rises from his working class roots to:
* win the Distinguished Flying Cross (WWII)
* attend Harvard Business School (Veterans Bill)
* start his own successful business
* become the aide de camp to a US President (Lyndon Johnson)
* and, become the chief lobbyist and defender of the motion picture industry for four decades.
Valenti's book opens with a flashback to Dallas, Texas on November 23, 1963 as he rode in the fateful Presidential motorcade that passed the Texas Book Depository with Lee Oswald's rifle pointed at President John Kennedy. Before the day was over, he was THE confident and consigliore to a new US President, Lyndon Johnson, overseeing the president's speeches, decided whom he would see and where he would go to speak. His chronicle of his White House years reads like a fast-paced novel and has plenty of detail to satisfy historians.
"This Time, This Place" provides important events in Valenti's early formation which were the underpinnings of a remarkable life. As a working class kid from Houston, he watched his grocer grandfather practice local politics and made his own first speech at the age of 10, advocating the reelection of the Sheriff. He worked as movie usher during high school, and got himself elected class president as a night student at the University of Houston.
In 1943, he joined the Army Air Corps, taking his first solo flight only after nine hours of instruction. He piloted 51 bombing missions over Europe in a B25 winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. His descriptions of these years are among the most vivid in this book. His prose throbs with memories of an experience that was simultaneously exhilarating, terrifying and "brutal."
The section on the Hollywood years is looser. Valenti's good-old-boy Texas story-telling comes out. He is more willing to tell tales, poking fun at some of the pompous behavior and trappings of the Motion Picture Industry's celebrities.
"This Time,This Place" is told straightforwardly, acknowledging debts, sketching people he knew and giving a not entirely flattering view of himself. His self-portrait is one of restlessness, and a strong commitment to advancement.
This is a man that senators, congressman and presidents readily took calls from. His formula was simple, "It is rooted in the ability to engage in courtship, to cosset talent, to understand the human condition and to make decisions fast." He exuded charm and was able to establish relationships by being everyone's pal but he never left empty-handed.
Jack Valenti died two years after his retirement from the Motion Picture Association of America in April, 2007.
Outstanding.......2007-07-04
Jack Valenti was both a witness to, and an instrument of, history and his autobiography presents the fascinating elements of his life and all those that he came across. Written in a very easy to read, yet eloquent, style (you can hear Valenti speaking these words)the book should be read by anyone interested in the Washington, the Great Society, and movie industry scenes.
Valenti's Life.......2007-06-27
A memoir of someone (now deceased) who -- after brave service in World War II -- spent time in two workplaces that most would find very interesting, The White House and Hollywood. While some stories within the book are interesting, especially the historical notes on the Johnson Administration, most are very shallow.
It is the life story of a bright, ambitious man from the hinterlands who happened to be in all the right places and took full advantage of his career opportunities. He is the type of person who always has his eye fixed on the main chance ... and toward the most important person in the room.
The prose drips with sincerity and soars with hyperbole. Mr. Valenti said about his friendship with Don Imus and Bernard McGuirk (whose own careers cratered after this book went to press), he had instant fame from being on Imus In the Morning "...however fleeting!" I think Mr. Valenti's fame indeed will be fleeting since it is primarily derived from the reflection of others.
Book Description
New and completely updated edition
Hilarious and addictive, this chronicle of a small-town girl’s stint as a celebrity nanny reveals what really happens in the diaper trenches of Hollywood.
When Oregon native Suzanne Hansen becomes a live-in nanny to the children of Hollywood über-agent Michael Ovitz, she thinks she’s found the job of her dreams. But Hansen’s behind-the-scenes access soon gets her much more than she bargained for: working twenty-four hours a day, juggling the shifting demands of the Hollywood elite, and struggling to comprehend wealth unimaginable to most Americans, not to mention dealing with the expected tantrums and the unexpected tense–and intense–atmosphere in the house where she lives with her employers.
When the thankless drudgery takes its toll and Hansen finally quits, her boss threatens to blackball her from ever nannying in Hollywood again. Discouraged but determined, Hansen manages to land gigs with Debra Winger and then Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Attentive, welcoming parents with a relaxed attitude toward celebrity–looks like Hansen’s fallen into a real-life happy ending. But the round-the-clock workdays continue, rubbing some of the glitter off L.A. living, and Hansen’s not sure how much longer she can pretend to be Mary Poppins. Even bosses who treat her like family can’t help as she struggles to find meaning in her work while living in a town that seems to lack respect for nannies and everyone else who comes in the employee’s entrance–but without whom many showbiz households would grind to a halt.
Peppering her own journey with true stories and high drama experienced by other nannies to the stars, Hansen offers an intriguing, entertaining mix of tales from the cribs of the rich and famous. You’ll Never Nanny in This Town Again is a treat for everyone who is fascinated by the skewed priorities of Tinseltown, for anyone who has wondered how high-wattage supermoms do it all, and for readers who love peeking behind the curtains of celebrity, all of whom will devour this unparalleled–and unabashedly true–account of one girl’s tour of duty as Hollywood’s hired help.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
A Fun Look At The Life Of A Hollywood Nanny.......2007-09-14
I started reading this book in Target while my kids looked at videos and couldn't leave without buying it. I like this author's style...she puts you right in the mansion with her. I could really relate to her thoughts and experiences. A good read.
Met the author--fantastic lady.......2007-07-29
I found out about this book through the author's sister. Suzanne gave me a copy. I read this book in 24 hrs. I have been a nanny now for 8 years and can relate to some of suzanne's struggles. I also nannied for "the wealthy" and got caught up in a world I never knew existed. This book is right on target and displays the hard work, and frustration that our job holds. THe book is funny, and also heartbreaking. I highly recommend this to any nanny, sitter or daycare provider. I guarantee you will relate on one level or another.
Nanny-nanny-boo-boo........2007-07-04
After I finished 'You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again', I wondered if the true purpose of this book was to give a raspberry (or the finger) to her first employer (Michael Ovitz) and have the last word. Although it was, at times, clever and witty, I found Suzanne Hansen to be a bit self-promoting, and she was definitely still resentful of the Ovitzes, even though it has been many years. I have no doubt the Ovitzes were condescending and indifferent, but it seemed there was nothing they did that went unmentioned by Suzanne Hansen as proof of their implacability (especially concerning the wife, Judy). Her love of their children was her excuse for not quitting, but this caused her to end up resenting the children as well as the parents. She painted many people in an unflattering light in this book, including her ex-boyfriend and some of the other domestic help at her various places of nannying, and even though she gave kudos to Debra Winger for actually raising her child without a nanny and Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman for being decent human beings, she always had to have at least one negative anecdotal story about them so that even nice people don't seem too nice in Hollywood. The book seemed a bit disorganized at first, and because her nannying days were in the '80s, it really felt dated. Suzanne Hansen was sometimes irreverent and self-deprecating, and that made for some hilarious moments, so it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic either. I found 'You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again' to be entertaining and a bit fun, but for light-hearted reading, there are some better choices out there.
Good book.......2007-06-09
This book was a really good book to read. It was quick and gave you a look into being a Hollywood Nanny.
Prospective Authors Need Not Apply.......2007-05-13
Suzanne Hansen's book is about as good as a tell-all book can get without actually telling all. It might also be regarded as a Cautionary tale to celebrities who seek to hire Nannies.
Hansen's wry sense of humor adds to the entertainment value of this book. She is able to recall incidents with a self-depracating laugh at her own expense. A trip to the beauty salon at Judy Ovitz' insistence yields catastrophic results and Hanson woefully recalls the final insult - an invoice that amounts to almost a full week's nanny pay.
While Hansen stuns her readers with mini anecdotes bearing witness to Michael Ovitz' commanding personality, it is in stark contrast to her own humbling position of servitude in the family.
As she describes her brief time working for the free-spirited, deep thinking Debra Winger, the reader vicariously shares in Hansen's relief at being treated as somewhat of an equal.
The minor characters in Suzanne Hansen's book allow for the occasional detour into name-dropping territory. In addition to Hansen's infrequent contacts with real movie stars, her close friend, a fellow nanny named Mandie, delights in regaling Hanson with stories of the VIPs she encounters and the places she travels, all perks of the job. Hansen's green-eyed monster gets the best of her at times like these but they are understandable.
By the time Hanson is placed with her third family, Rhea Perlman and Danny DiVito, one gets the sense that her career as a nanny is coming to a final act. As her confidence grows, so does her vague dissatisfaction with the job. As the charm of nannying loses its sparkle, Hansen is forced to re-evaluate her future role as a Nanny and to address her resentment towards some of the peripheral characters in her story. It becomes evident, as the story progresses, that a great Nanny is born and not made and that Hansen, despite three valiant attempts, is perhaps better suited to writing than caring for celebrity offspring.
Book Description
Do you watch movies with your eyes open?You buy your tickets and concessions, and you walk into the theater. Celluloid images flash at twenty-four frames per second, and the hypnotic sequence of moving pictures coaxes you to suspend disbelief and be entertained by the implausible.Unfortunately, many often suspend their beliefs as well, succumbing to subtle lessons in how to behave, think and even perceive reality. Do you find yourself hoping that a sister will succeed in seducing her sibling's husband, that a thief will get away with his crime, that a serial killer will escape judgment? Do you, too, laugh at the bumbling priest and seethe at the intolerant and abusive evangelist? Do you embrace worldviews that infect your faith and wonder, after your head is clear, whether your faith can survive the infection?Brian Godawa guides you through the place of redemption in film, the tricks screenwriters use to communicate their messages, and the mental and spiritual discipline required for watching movies. Hollywood Worldviews helps you enter a dialogue with Hollywood that leads to a happier ending, one that keeps you aware of your culture and awake to your faith.
Customer Reviews:
Stunning book on culture and worldview..........2007-01-10
Godawa's book is a must-read for those who are interested in the meshing of culture, worldview, and the arts.
Incredible.......2006-05-30
This book changed the way I watch movies forever-- both as a Christian and an actor. Incredible insight into the way movies are made, and endorses balance with regard to what we watch.
Highly recommended for EVERY Christian, and anyone looking to understand more deeply the themes and messages in the movies they watch.
Amazing.
Good framework for further study.......2005-08-12
Godawa provides a broad overview of film sympathy and antipathy toward the Christian worldview by citing myriad examples of each across film styles. By no means a slash and burn attack on Hollywood's products, Hollywood Worldviews is well though out, gracious and generous in its assessment of film content...perhaps too generous at points. Nonetheless, a good place to begin a study of film worldviews.
Interesting..........2004-12-01
Movies have a deep impact on our society, from fashion to catch phrases, and most importantly attitudes. Even the most trivial movie is shaped by some underlying theme or message that is subtly delivered to millions of minds on a subconscious level at least. By utilizing the steps outlined in this book and on the corresponding website, readers are encouraged to view their entertainment choices seriously to avoid being molded into someone they don't want to be. Some of the films that the author suggests as good choices are startling; and lest anyone think a book on Christian films will only contain fluffy, feel good movies put out by white bread companies, let me assure you that there are quite a few R rated movies, gross out comedies, and even a Christian themed vampire movie described as worthwhile films. This book would make an excellent adult Sunday school curriculum, or serve well as a simple guide for how to use one's free time viewing purposefully.
This Book Will Challenge the Way You Watch Movies.......2004-06-01
This is a wonderful book examining the way we watch movies. Godawa argues that we can't totally neglect movies (Two-Kingdom concept) and that we cant immerse ourselves in them, either. Godawa is a Kuyperian, so he believes that Christ is LORD over all of life, not just the sacred.
Godawa does an excellent job on pointing out the various worldviews which movies express. I used to watch movies blindely just for the sheer entertainment value in and of the movie itself. However, this can be very dangerous as he shows. Movies go off of popular worldviews to get the masses to go and see them.
I was very interested by his analysis of the particular movies. Most of the things he pointed out I had no clue were even there (i.e. Cast Away with Fate, etc.). This was quiet a shock to me. He tackles the questions of many philosophies and worldviews, and cogently points out the strengths and weaknesses therein.
I really liked his director take promotions for his website. You can find some excellent reviews there for the engagement of the culture and movies. This book is a tremendous introduction to the various worldviews behind movies.
Book Description
Here is an account of a filmmaker who looks straight into the eye of the Hollywood blockbuster storm and dares not to blink.
In A Killer Life, Christine Vachon follows up her independent producing handbook, Shooting to Kill, with a behind-the-scenes memoir of the battle between creativity and commerce -- and a renegade's rise to being one of the most powerful female producers in independent film today.
A Killer Life traces the early years Vachon spent producing such controversial and critically acclaimed movies as Poison, Happiness, and Kids, films that paved the way for Academy Award-winning triumphs like Boys Don't Cry. She recounts the birth and rise of independent film and the evolution of her company, Killer Films, revealing the stories behind star castings and firings and films that never got made; how sexuality factors into the films she produces; and how the often lethal combination of finance and creativity affects what we see on the big screen.
Intelligent and tough as nails, but endearingly self-effacing, Vachon's account of her filmmaking experiences, and the successes and failures that have made Killer Films one of the few truly independent film companies in New York, is a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking read for filmmakers and fans alike.
Customer Reviews:
So so........2007-03-18
The book is readable in as much as trash pop and pulp fiction is watchable and readable.No matter what is said,at the end of the day,this producer is yet another example of someone grandfathered into the industry ,with a production loan to get her started.A lump sum equvalent of about USD 100 000 today.There were a handful of active indie female producers operating in those times(most without that financial leg up.)Vachon is but one story.For that reason this is an ill researched book.
A few other women may not have stood on others toes as much as Vachon is capable of, nor claimed as much public or industry credit for themselves, but this book is but one story from the nineties,and it is in that context only it is best read.There were a small handful of extremely strident indie and studio women in Hollywood at the time,who broke significant paths for other women,not just themselves- in the choosing of projects they developed and the actions they took.The book is readable but indulgent insider name dropping. In one aspect a shallow take on a very political hollywood film business at the time.
You couldn't pay Christine Vachon enough money to give a course like this..........2007-03-01
...which kind of gets me wondering--why the heck don't *even more* aspiring producers and D-boy and D-girl wannabes get their hands on this amazing compendium of production experiences, take them to heart, and learn themselves a whole lot about the global film game in the process. If you've got the answer to that question, let me know. I'm still scratching my noodle.
Okay, so you're going to totally dig this book. Christine Vachon and her Killer Films outfit in N-Y-C, using that well-known convention of theirs--break the bounds of traditional (read: boring) publishing with a rather unconventional approach to bookwriting. Prepare for a wild wooly ride of a read...Christine's deft collaborators (egs. directors, financiers, and studio consigliatores) have chimed in here in various sections, offering up sage advice on the pit- and prat-falls of the indie and studio sides of the filmmaking biz, and what it's generally like working with Christine and her able band of brothers and sisters. That, for this here reviewer, was a right privilege...live recordings of Christine's conversations with her colleagues wouldn't have been richer. And like I tell you in my title...you couldn't pay Vachon enough to give this course. For a couple of Lincolns, this was a gold mine.
By the way, I think I've tattooed my entire Netflix wish list with every single Killer title known to Movieland. As luck would have it, ONE HOUR PHOTO was one of the better films of 2002, and little did I know that Christine was even responsible for getting this one made. Small world, baby.
It's an unsung job, the producing game can sometimes be, but mark it--without Christine's valuable input at various stages of the process, many of these so-called little pictures mightn't have been made, languishing in that purgatory of "development hell" (or turnaround) like 98% of the projects out there are in (according to every single statistic known to the filmmaking poobahs). One of the most inspiring statements from the entire book which I triple underlined, dogeared, and highlighted in tri-colour was her frank admission that producers must maintain "eternal optimism." They are the ones who are enthusiastic at all times, oftentimes when there's no reason to be, and oftentimes when there's no production necessarily to speak of. The equivalent to selling short on the stock market. If your sources' predictions are bang on, chances are you're going to make a "buchta" of cash.
Such boundless enthusiasm the mark of a truly gifted deal-maker, and in the trenches which is the modern-day studio system (read: the business of making movies), and the relatively recent advent of the "mini-majors" (or classics divisions of the major Hollywood studios), this brand of relentlessness has become all the more critical. Remove one element from the positivity puzzle, strip away a single grain of that much-needed goodness which is a key ingredient of the all-encompassing feelgood--by definition, a must towards smooth functioning on the film set--and off your high film concept goes into the grey ether.
Just for the rekkid, listening to podcasts helps, kids! I'd heard about this title after listening to Claude Brodesser Ackner's THE BUSINESS on NPR (goo-search it). I was so intrigued by Christine's outspokenness, that I simply couldn't curb my enthusiasm to hop on over to my favourite online book purveyor and pick up the nearest copy of her A KILLER LIFE.
Where is that extra star when I need it? Five estrellas, kids. Count 'em. Cinco.
--ADM in Prague
Film buff or not..........2007-01-02
This book is riveting reading for the fan or the filmmaker. Vachon has a talent for balancing intensive amounts of details with storytelling skills. You really will want to know how a distribution is made before the first frame is filmed. Her personality -- tough, passionate, centered -- also makes the book a compelling read. Even when her foes are completes a-hats, Vachon does not descend into bitterness, but rather, makes another compelling lesson.
better than film school!.......2006-10-12
As an aspiring producer, I have long looked up to the indie queen Christine Vachon, and I was interested to read this book after having read her excellent SHOOTING TO KILL. I read that book when I was back in college, but this book is better. It's definitely more personal - in a way it reads like a memoir.
You feel like you are going through all the trials and tribulations with her. There's a lot of exciting stuff here - she battles the MPAA over Boys Don't Cry -- the bond company takes control of Far From Heaven-- she has interactions with big stars like Jude Law and Julia Roberts.
I have never been to Sundance, but Vachon's Sundance diary takes you through that festival with her.
All this makes for a book that's immensely readable; I couldn't put it down. I really liked the spotlights from other industry figures, agents, studio heads and directors like John Cameron Mitchell (who did my favorite film, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH!) If you are in the industry, want to learn about the industry or are just plain curious about how movies get made, go out and get this book now!
Book Description
Lion of Hollywood is the definitive biography of Louis B. Mayer, the chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- MGM -- the biggest and most successful film studio of Hollywood's Golden Age.
An immigrant from tsarist Russia, Mayer began in the film business as an exhibitor but soon migrated to where the action and the power were -- Hollywood. Through sheer force of energy and foresight, he turned his own modest studio into MGM, where he became the most powerful man in Hollywood, bending the film business to his will. He made great films, including the fabulous MGM musicals, and he made great stars: Garbo, Gable, Garland, and dozens of others. Through the enormously successful Andy Hardy series, Mayer purveyed family values to America. At the same time, he used his influence to place a federal judge on the bench, pay off local officials, cover up his stars' indiscretions, and, on occasion, arrange marriages for gay stars. Mayer rose from his impoverished childhood to become at one time the highest-paid executive in America.
Despite his power and money, Mayer suffered some significant losses. He had two daughters: Irene, who married David O. Selznick, and Edie, who married producer William Goetz. He would eventually fall out with Edie and divorce his wife, Margaret, ending his life alienated from most of his family. His chief assistant, Irving Thalberg, was his closest business partner, but they quarreled frequently, and Thalberg's early death left Mayer without his most trusted associate. As Mayer grew older, his politics became increasingly reactionary, and he found himself politically isolated within Hollywood's small conservative community.
Lion of Hollywood is a three-dimensional biography of a figure often caricatured and vilified as the paragon of the studio system. Mayer could be arrogant and tyrannical, but under his leadership MGM made such unforgettable films as The Big Parade, Ninotchka, The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, and An American in Paris.
Film historian Scott Eyman interviewed more than 150 people and researched some previously unavailable archives to write this major new biography of a man who defined an industry and an era.
Customer Reviews:
LOUIS B. MAYER......."THE LION OF MGM".......2007-09-17
A VERY INFORMATIVE BIOGRAPHY NOT ONLY ON LOUIS B. MAYER, BUT ON MANY OF THE MGM STARS OF THE GOLDEN ERA.......THE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE TRANSITION FROM SILENT PICTURES TO SOUND WAS EXTREMELY INTERESTING...ESPECIALLY THE REASONS FOR HOW AND WHY SOME SILENT STARS MADE THE TRANSITION AND WHY SOME DID NOT.....THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR MOVIE BUFFS OF THE 20'S...30'S...AND 40'S......
A Hollywood bogeyman gets his well-deserved due.......2007-07-22
The legendary boss of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gets a surprisingly "fair and balanced" treatment from Eyman, whose previous credits include an excellent biography of John Ford. I say "surprisingly" because posterity has not treated Mayer well at all - he has usually been caricatured as a reactionary tyrant who lived to harass and exploit creative talent. Eyman himself admits that, while he has "never begun a book with more misgivings," he has "never been more pleasantly surprised" about what he found. While a number of the unpleasant stories do have some basis in fact, Mayer was a far more complicated man than the stick-figure villain of popular legend. He was an expert manager who knew when to delegate authority and when to impose his own, and he salted his generally imperious manner with many acts of thoughtfulness and consideration. The book gets a little grab-baggy in the middle - with Eyman eschewing a chronological development of Mayer and MGM in favor of a collection of anecdotes based on interviews with MGM survivors - but it is most definitely fair-minded and presents both sides of every famous and not-so-famous anecdote about Mayer. A good read for anyone interested in the history of the movies and 20th-century popular culture.
Opinions, Everybody's Got One.......2006-08-02
I'll have to remember from now on that MGM never gave any diet pills or sleeping pills to Judy Garland, a liar and drug addict who brought all her problems on her own shoulders and whom MGM only tried to help. Even firing her from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was them helping her. This is one of literally hundreds of revisionist lessons that Scott Eyman reveals in his new biography of studio mogul Louis B. Mayer, in LION OF HOLLYWOOD (2005).
Did you know that Mayer was so progressive he hired Lena Horne even knowing full well that he'd never be able to cast her in any proper roles because of the racial climate of 1940s and 1950s America?
Did you know that Clarence Brown (the director of THE YEARLING and INTRUDER IN THE DUST) was America's greatest director and that everything he touched was magic?
Did you know that Dore Schary, the man whom Loews, Inc, turned over MGM to after deposing Mr. Mayer, was a "yes and no man," so untalented and mediocre that he couldn't even produce a single decent picture and fired Gable and Ava Gardner to replace them with ordinary average schlemiels like James Whitmore and Nancy Davis?
Did you know that Irene Selznick, LB's daughter, became Broadway's greatest theater producer, while not one person showed up for the funeral of Edie Goetz, the other, inferior daughter who preferred collecting art to giving LB Mayer more grandchildren?
Eyman is a great biographer but he is opinionated to an astonishing degree and sometimes his opinions just get in the way. His snipes at such beloved figures as Nelson Eddy or Lana Turner are amazing, and so unnecessarily distracting an editor might have cleared his throat once or twice? Otherwise the book teems with new and useful information, grand analysis of cultural trends, a real sense of history. There might have been a few more photos perhaps. But you can't have everything.
Compelling and Knowledgeable Look into an Industry and a Man.......2006-06-29
What distinguishes this book about Louis B. Mayer, the fearsome and legendary Hollywood mogul of the classic MGM era, is that it's far more than a biography. I was tempted into reading not by a fascination with Mayer (though I came to be fascinated once I began reading) but by the author's, Scott Eyman, previous books about Hollywood and the studio system. His knowledge and understanding of movie-making back in the Golden Age of Hollywood are outstanding, nuanced and multi-faceted. "Lion of Hollywood" is so much more than just an insightful biography of a complicated man -- Eyman's expansive book is also about the ins-and-outs MGM, from the business practices to the personalities, and how Mayer forged American cinema because he was the head of the greatest movie studio in Hollywood, therefore the greatest movie studio in the world.
There is a lot of well-researched information and carefully argued hypotheses of Mayer's personality and home-life, and while Eyman is full of understanding for his subject, he never lets Mayer off the hook for his hypocrises or cruelties. He didn't write this book to redeem Mayer into a "good man" -- he wrote this book to properly give Mayer the place in movie history he deserves. When he and the other moguls arrived, L.A. and Hollywood consisted of orange groves and dirt streets. Mayer didn't build Hollywood with his hands, he did it with his massive will, guile, business acumen and cunning understanding of mass entertainment. What comes through in the book is not what a nice man Mayer was, but what a *great* man he was. Flawed and venal, yes. Brilliant and complicated, also yes.
It's easy to look back at the movie moguls, with their terrible reputations for crushing actors and directors, their womanizing and vulgar ways, and condemn them as "what's wrong with Hollywood". But without them, without Mayer, Hollywood as we knew it wouldn't have existed. They set up and ran the studio system that nurtured such stars as Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and Gene Kelly. Mayer was a major reason American movies are the hallmark of mass entertainment all throughout the world today, and it wasn't because he was a great artist himself. He was that very rarest of beings: a businessman who understands, recognizes and nurtures talent in others. He was instrumental in setting up the Academy Awards because he instinctively got that actors and directors would almost prefer the prestige of awards over money. He was a dedicated Republican but hired Communists, Socialists, lefties of all stripes -- and said so to the McCarthy witch hunts -- because political affiliation had nothing to do with talent. He covered up murders, hushed up scandals, arranged marriages for gay stars: anything to keep the machine of movie-making well-oiled.
Mayer knew movies and he knew his audience -- he prided himself on being the "average movie-goer" -- and he was a savvy enough businessman to know that you have to spend a dollar to make a dollar and ten cents. He was a man of many contradictions, especially in his personal life, and an emotional ogre, not someone I would like to sit down to dinner with, but I finished the book absolutely convinced of Eyman's overall theme: that Louis B. Mayer did a lot for the movies, perhaps more to build the glittering empire known as "Hollywood", than any other man or woman.
Needs an editor.......2006-03-01
I enjoyed reading this book; however, I found it jarring at times. I've always said it was a mistake to stop teaching sentence diagramming in grade school. I think this book proves my point. It's a great yarn and has a lot of good information as well as all of the Hollywood dirt. That said, the writing could have been more clear--excessive use of reflexive pronouns left me re-reading more than one passage. Thoughts that should be separate sentences find themselves as subordinate clauses in lengthy awkward paragraphs. Despite its subject matter and presumably myriad dynamite photos out there, the photograph section was pretty stingy. In a Hollywoood bio, this is definitely a negative. Overall a good read, but requiring more effort than it should have. I don't like when I have to edit passages myself to make them make sense.
Customer Reviews:
a very interesting book to page through.......2007-07-18
Kenneth Anger's hollywood babylon is the kind of book you can pick up and put down at any time.. I find it interesting to page through before or after I watch one of the older movies of hollywood's golden age.. I can't get enough of this sort of look into the dumpster of tinseltown.. the scandals and episodes that have been brushed under the carpet or just are no longer known about.. The list of characters that populate these pages are as colorful as they were glamorous.. and also at times hideous..
This is not very heavy reading but it is endlessly fascinating..
Thumbs down on the (myth-ridden) text, thumbs up on (some of) the pictures.......2007-07-12
What saves the sensationalistic - not to say trashy and in many places inaccurate - _Hollywood Babylon_ from being a total failure is the huge number of pictures, many shocking and some downright grisly (as in the picture of poor Thelma Todd lying done to death in her car), but mostly fascinating if sometimes nauseating (I'll talk about one of the worst offenders shortly). Which is a good thing, because frankly I want to take a bath every time I read the text to wash off the grime. We all know that Hollywood in its "Golden Age" was a long way removed from the image of saintly morality painted by its self-appointed guardians, the studio moguls - very many of whom had guilty secrets among them - chief among them, but Kenneth Anger seems to take a little too much delight in the sordidity and scandal for my own taste. What makes it worse is that he passes on a number of urban legends rather than do the boring work of get at the truth.
One of the most objectionable myths he fosters in this book, in my view, is the story that Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in the auto accident that took her life in 1967. This is simply not true. There is a ghastly photo in circulation on the web - I won't link to it but those who really want to know can Google for it - that makes it clear that her injuries, while fatal, did not result in the removal of her head. What you see on the car's crumpled hood in that photo (that Anger claims was Mansfield's noggin) is actually her wig. (And did we really need to see that photo of her dead Chihuahua? Ugh.)
If people want a really good book on Hollywood scandals, I strongly suggest they go find James Robert Parish's well-researched, evenhanded, brightly-written _The Hollywood Book of Scandal_ instead. (And that book doesn't contain any photos likely to make you lose your lunch, either!)
Juicy delicious!.......2007-05-19
If you think today's stars are misbehaved, wait til you read this! I couldn't put it down and read it in few days. Anger's style of writing is witty, sarcastic, and will compltely put you back into another era. The book focuses mainly on early, pre-code Hollywood up until Jayne Mansfield's death in 1967. There are so many juicy stories and even morbid details in this book, and tons of awesome pictures. (Although be warned- picture of Jayne Mansfield's car crash and dead dog are depressing and bloody). Includes everyone who was ever anyone- Clara Bow, Carole Landis, Carole Lombard, Marilyn Monroe, Valentino, Novarro, Judy Garland (who died on the toilet), Gary Cooper, William Randolph Hurst, Jayne Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, etc. etc. etc. All the old legends are in here. Completely worth the price. I just wish there was a newer version.
great book and wonderful gossip.......2007-02-18
if your the type that is intrigued by anna nichole , michael jackson, brittney spears and paris hilton then get this book these people were the real hollywood deal the stars from the 20s 30s and 40s make todays stars seem like cub scouts. this book has it all sex , glamor , drugs all the stuff that will make you not put this book down . you couldnt make this stuff up if you tried .
VERY ENTERTAINING.......2007-01-12
I love reading the trash & gossip about the stars and this book provided it all. It was hard to put down and I was sorry when I finished it.
Great reading!
Book Description
Learn how to succeed by turning on the charm.
Customer Reviews:
What we should all know and do in business and life.......2006-01-20
I really enjoyed this book. The author basically tells you to honestly be interested in the other person, to listen and treat them as if they are important to you. No where in the book does he say to use manipulation or dishonesty. There is nothing dishonest about caring about the people you do business with, making them know they are important to you nor in sending birthday cards. Wouldn't life be much better for us all if we did take the small extra effort to actually care about others and treat them as though they matter?
One thing I liked alot was that he didn't name drop as another author on the subject does in "Never Eat Alone".
In my sales as well as in life, I will use what I learned and should have been doing all along.
A WASTE OF MY TIME.......2005-12-27
Is this guy serious? He has got to be the most insincere, egotistical, condescending "author" out there. Whatever happend to good old fashioned saying it like it is... politely of course. Mr. Levine is all about manipulation, and nothing about just being real. It's a sad commentary when we have people telling us that we need to compromise our values and integrity by using flattery. This book made my stomach turn. To be fair to Mr. Levine, I didn't finish the whole book so maybe he redeemed himself somewhere in the back of the book. But, I was so sickend by what I read, I couldn't go on wasting my time. A word to the wise, don't waste your time!
Good for Quarterlifers.......2005-09-12
In an age of instant messaging, email, text messaging, pagers, palm pilots, and the Blackberry today's quarterlifers--people in their teens, twenties, and early thirties--often overlook the relationship behind the electronic communication.
Michael has build one of Hollywood's most successful P.R. firms through his attention to those relationships. In Charming Your Way to the Top Michael has boiled down over 20 years of experience in working with our cultures most captivating celebrities and politicians into an approachable and practicle manual for bringing out the charisma in each of us.
In many ways it's a back-to-the-basics book. The advice is not hard to follow, yet as Michael points out few people actually do it.
I recommend Michaels book for anyone who has asked the question, "What is it about __________ that makes me like them so much?"
Charming Your Way to the Top will help you find the answer.
Listen to Charm!.......2005-04-20
In his book, Charming Your Way to the Top, Michael Levine offers some extremely beneficial insights into being successful in business and, more importantly, in life. In chapter six of Charming, Michael writes that the skill which is most closely associated with charm is listening. He goes on to share that there is nothing to be lost by listening. He states, in fact, how so much is to be gained from listening sincerely to others. I truly admire Michael's idea, because I know the respect that I feel for someone who takes the time to listen to what I have to say. In addition, Michael writes about the importance of listening to someone's name and using it. Since reading this book, I have started to repeat people's names throughout the conversation as Michael suggests. The responses I have seen are amazing. The simple act of asking someone their name when I normally would not is enough to light up their face. As Michael Levine offers, "It is very charming, and clearly quite memorable" (p.48). Levine's book provides an honest and realistic approach to being a successful person. After reading his book, I can understand why he is considered one of the most successful PR executives in Hollywood.
Entertaining and informative book!.......2005-03-31
In his entertaining and informative book, CHARMING YOUR WAY TO THE TOP, Michael Levine defines charm as "the act of making the other person believe you care" . . . he then goes on to present countless examples of how this can be done in a wide variety of situations.
Levine, who heads his own public relations firm, also mentions names of people who have and haven't used charm in their careers . . . my only regret is that he hadn't mentioned both
Cary Grant and Adolph Hitler quite so much and instead had cited his actual clients more.
Yet that said, I still liked CHARMING and got much out of it . . . you will, too . . . for example, here were just a few of the ideas that caught my attention:
The most obvious way to ingratiate yourself to other people is to demonstrate interest in them. Women often complain that first dates are awful because the men they date rarely want to talk about anything but themselves. Listening as well as talking is a severely under-practiced skill and one that needs to be cultivated and used intelligently. It is simple and basic, but it is also true--we want people to listen to us.
Light conversation is a skill and an art--it requires a little thought, and quick reactions. But it is not difficult and it is not dangerous. Asking people how their day is going is a simple and quick way to start a conversation, and-especially-to demonstrate that you are interested in them, in their feelings and problems, at least on a very limited basis. I'm not talking about the robotic "have-a-nice-day" kind of communication that is clearly rehearsed and insincere.
In this case, the easiest thing at the dry cleaner, the supermarket, the restaurant, or the bookstore is simply to look the person behind the counter in the eye, smile, and ask, "How's your day going?"
Also, using that technique [using someone's name] when leaving voice mail or telephone answering machine messages is a very telling, important point. Yes, identify yourself, but make sure you speak directly to the person for whom you're leaving the message, and use his name. It shows that even during unguarded moments you are thinking of someone other than yourself.
Average customer rating:
- Very Entertaining
- Great!!
- Great read...lousy title ):
- PIMP, HOS, PLAYA HATAS, AND ALL THE REST OF MY HOLLYWOOD FRIENDS: MY LIFE JOHN LEGUIZAMO
- Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life
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Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life
John Leguizamo
Manufacturer: Ecco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 006052071X
Release Date: 2006-10-31 |
Book Description
John Leguizamo defies easy categorization. Fans of his smash-hit one-man shows (Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama, Freak, and Sexaholic) have gotten a glimpse into his life, but this book tells the whole story, taking readers on a journey from his childhood in Queens ("my father was a strict autocrat-totalitarian-despot-dictator-disciplinarian") to his current home at the top of the Hollywood pyramid—actor, director, producer, one of the highest-paid Latin actors in the world, with the clout to shape every aspect of his own career.
Beginning on the classic New York comedy club circuit, where he made the rounds with Ray Romano, Mario Cantone, and Chris Rock, through his disastrous one-night run as Puck in Joseph Papp's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, to his brief go at Method acting with Lee Strasberg (who died the next day; "I have that effect on people") and his hit Broadway debut with Freak, the protean performer shares the stories behind his many roles—what inspired them and what transpired as he created them. Never shy, he dishes on his personal relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues, including Spike Lee, Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, Baz Luhrmann, and Nicole Kidman.
Keenly intelligent and insanely funny, this book offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the magic and chaos of stardom, as well as an intimate portrait of John Leguizamo's greatest achievement—to grow up Latino in America and to succeed on his terms.
Customer Reviews:
Very Entertaining.......2007-08-31
This book is very much like John Leguizamo's show's - introspective and intersting. While I didn't think it was too hard-hitting against his fellow thespians, I enjoyed an inside perspective into the real lives of Hollywood actors. I also really enjoyed that Leguizamo shared his failures and weaknesses. It was clever, funny, and sad all at once. A true John Leguizamo experience.
Great!!.......2007-03-09
I can't complain at all about this book. John Leguizamo is hilarious. I felt like I was sitting front row at one of his stand up comedies. He talks about his struggles and some 'beefs' he has with actors I certainly never knew about. I also admired the way he was completely honest about every role he played and every person he worked with.
Great read...lousy title ):.......2007-03-04
I am a huge John Leguizamo fan. My son introduced me to him because of his love for Leguizamo's short lived TV show House of Buggin. In addition to his films, we have seen him perform Freak on Broadway and John Leguizam Live before it was renamed Sexaholic. With a background like that, I found this autobiography to be very revealing and entertaining. However, as a long time librarian I am very familiar with how people react to book titles when they are unfamiliar with the author or the subject matter. And just as Leguizamo acknowledges bad career choices and mistakes that he has made in his career to date, I am afraid that he will have to eventually accept the fact that his unfortunate title choice has repelled rather than attracted many potential readers. By doing so, he has missed a golden opportunity to use this entertaining vehicle to expand his fan base.
PIMP, HOS, PLAYA HATAS, AND ALL THE REST OF MY HOLLYWOOD FRIENDS: MY LIFE JOHN LEGUIZAMO.......2007-01-16
THIS BOOK WAS NOT AS JUICY AS I WAS ECPECTING.... IT WAS FUNNY AND READ WITH ENJOYMENT BUT IT WAS EASY TO PUT DOWN AND FORGET ABOUT! IT WAS OK
Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life.......2007-01-10
I bought this book for my husband for his birthday -He is not much of a reader -We really like John Leguizamo as an actor and saw him on David Letterman promoting the book -It sounded so interesting and my husband was like -I want to read that -I was kind of surprised because he rarely ever reads. He loves the book -He's even got me reading it -John did a great job -If you like John and movies -You will love this book -It's got a lot of dirt on celebrities -But done in a playful way -Even some of the names have been changed -I would recommend this book -Excellent work John!
Book Description
DESCRIPTION: What if... Your picture was taped inside lockers across America, your closets were bursting with designer clothing, and the tabloids constantly asked whether you were losing your "good girl" status? It's a glamorous life, but Kaitlin Burke, co-star of one of the hottest shows on TV, is exhausted from the pressures of her fame. So she decides to spend a few months undercover as an ordinary high school student. But could it be that real-life high school is just as harsh as cutthroat Hollywood...? Combining the vicarious star-studded glamour of the bestselling A-List series with the innocence of The Princess Diaries, this is an engrossing look behind the velvet curtains of stardom.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book!.......2007-09-07
This is a great book! I hope to see more from Jen in the future! This is a story about a girl who just wants to fit in with regular teens, which she can't do, because she's famous. She and her best friend hatch up a plan to get her to go to a regular high school. I would recommend this book, espically to young girls or even young adults.
Krazy About Kaitlyn.......2007-08-21
What a refreshing change of pace in the world of "tween" novels!
The author is wonderfully descriptive and the characters come alive, making you feel as if you've jumped right into the pages and have become part of the story yourself. This book is difficult to put down and always keeps you wondering what will happen to Kaitlyn next. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series! For those parents that are leery of the content, I can assure you this book is good clean fun! You will thoroughly enjoy it from beginning to end!
GREAT BOOK!!!!.......2007-08-12
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK! Kaitlin is a great character in the Hollywood lifestyle! An awesome read for anyone! I coud not put this book down! I recomend this book with a big thumbs up! A definately intresting story and page turner! Jen Calonita did a great job with this book and I loved Kaitlins journey!
Love Kait, but flat writing.......2007-05-05
After reading an excerpt of the book - the first chapter, I had high hopes. Kaitlyn seemed like a real person, not some stereotypical, contrived "it girl" that fills so many other YA books nowadays. (And I'm not just talking about the 'Gossip Girls')
I was dissapointed.
Not with Kait's character, which was awesome, but with the writing. It seemed flat. Good enough to hold my interest for a short story, but relying heavily on suspended belief for an entire novel. In short, the writing was dry. Flat.
But I can overlook almost anything if I love the character(s) enough, and Kaitlyn is awesome.
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce.......2007-01-26
Kaitlin Burke is a star. In Jen Calonita's novel Secrets of My Hollywood Life, everyone in America knows Kaitlin's name; she's been playing the character of Sam on the soap Family Affairs since she was four years old. But while her picture is on the walls of teenagers' bedrooms across America, when does she get to just be Kaitlin? After brainstorming with her best friend, Liz, at their favorite pizza place, she comes up with a plan. She wants to be ordinary and inconspicuous for awhile ,and what better way to do it than live her best friend's life? Or at least go to her school.
For Kaitlin's break from the life of a starlet, she enrolls at Clark Hall as Rachel Rogers, a mousy British girl visiting America for a few months. It's the perfect disguise--between the accent, the short brown hair, the brown contacts, the glasses, and the very un-superstar clothes, nobody will ever recognize Kaitlin for the Hollywood star she is. She's thrilled to have new friends and a cute guy who like her for who she is, and being free of her jealous Family Affairs co-star (at least during school hours), Skye, is definitely a bonus.
When her two lives begin to collide, however, and the possibility of being found out and exposed (the tabloids aren't helping with that one), Kaitlin has to figure her life out, fast.
Jen Calonita's novel is a quick, entertaining read that will have the attention of readers from the beginning to the end, eager to find out what will happen to Kaitlin. Kaitlin's voice, which certainly echoes that of a real teenager, is fresh and funny, and helps to make Secrets of My Hollywood Life a fun page-turner.
The characters are all very realistic, especially Kaitlin, who, despite the very extraordinary life she leads (when she's not playing Rachel Rogers), is a very grounded and ordinary teenage girl. The colorful characters in Kaitlin's life seem just as real, from her overbearing publicist Laney to her cocky thirteen-year-old brother, Matt. Jen Calonita really brings them all to life!
The whole idea of Secrets Of My Hollywood Life is a good one as well. Every girl likes to imagine herself as famous, and Kaitlin really is--but it's not all it's cracked up to be. The inside look at the life of a celebrity will hook readers, and Kaitlin's desire to be more ordinary will only keep them interested! It's an entertaining idea, but also one that teenagers will be able to relate to--who hasn't wanted to be something they're not? Perhaps for most people, they are ordinary (like Rachel Rogers) wanting to be a star (like Kaitlin Burke), and Kaitlin is the opposite, but it's still a feeling people will be able to relate to while reading this novel.
Jen Calonita's novel is one that teenage girls will love. Kaitlin is a celebrity who regular teenagers will still be able to relate to, which makes her a great main character. An insider's look at Hollywood is something that people are always looking for in the magazines, and here it is, with a fabulous story to go with it! Secrets Of My Hollywood Life is an entertaining debut novel from Jen Calonita, and readers will be eagerly awaiting her second book about Kaitlin!
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