Book Description
One of the most charismatic movie stars of all time, Cary Grant left an indelible mark on the film industry and on the culture at large. His sense of style--so integral to who he was both onscreen and off--has been admired, copied, emulated, and lauded, but never fully examined, until now. With rare and never-before-published photographs and exclusive interviews with film and fashion luminaries, this groundbreaking book reveals the style secrets that helped make Grant a fashion icon and a perennial inspiration to fans and fashion designers alike. On the 20th anniversary of Grant's death, fashion and style writer Richard Torregrossa makes a powerful case for why Cary Grant matters today more than ever.
Customer Reviews:
THIS WORLD NEEDS CARY GRANT NOW!!!!!!!!.......2007-09-27
THIS IS AN AMAZING LOOK AT MR. GRANT. THIS RANKS UP WITH RICHARD SCHICKLES BOOK CARY GRANT , A CELEBRATION.I LOVE GRANT AND HAVE ALL HIS MOVIES AND MOST BOOKS ON HIM EXCEPT THE SCHLOCK LIES.HIS ACTING AND COMEDIC TAKES ARE BEYOND EVEN CHAPLIN OR KEATON AND IN SITUATION COMEDY HE WAS PEERLESS.I WAS LUCKY TO BE IN THE AUDIENCE FOR "AN EVENING WITH CARY GRANT" IN STAMFORD ABOUT A YEAR BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY.HE WAS CHARMING, ERUDITE, SELF- DEPRECATINGLY FUNNY ABOUT HIMSELF AND HOLLYWOOD AND HIS FRIENDS LIKE CROSBY, SINATRA , FLYNN, COOPER,STEWART, ROGERS ETC.AN IT WAS ALL I HOPED FOR AND FAR MORE.THERE WAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER CARY GRANT.OUCH.THE ACADEMY AWARDS COMMITTEE SHOULD DIE IN SHAME THAT HE ONLY RECEIVED AN HONORARY OSCAR. I CAN NAME 3 FILMS HE SHOULD HAVE HE SHOULD HAVE WON FOR.GET THIS BOOK AND PUT IT OUT AS A STAR PIECE ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE.WHERE HAVE YOU GONE ARCHIE LEACH???
Not what I was expecting.......2007-06-25
I bought this book believing it was about the Cary Grant style and tips on the varies aspects of dressing well. To my surprise it was really a very short biography on CG with lots and lots of photos. Now I gave it four stars and not lower because I actually enjoyed it. Even though I've read CG biographies I must say this book has photos that I've never seen before and so that tops the flaws I found in the style department.
Timeless Style.......2007-04-24
This biography is unique in that it reveals a connecting thread in all the stages of Cary Grant's life: his attentiveness to style.
Even in childhood Cary Grant was particular about the fabrics of his clothes. The book gives adequate treatment to his vaudeville and early Hollywood years and mentions some of his inspirations, such as Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Cary Grant did not have a stylist like many celebrities do today. After failing his first screen test he worked at minimizing his flaws by making adjustments in his wardrobe. The book covers the highlights of his movie career and I appreciated the many behind-the-scenes glimpses and quotes from other actors. The book devotes the most space to the movie To Catch A Thief, considered by some as the most stylish movie ever. It also devotes many pages to his marriage to his fifth wife, Barbara, whom he married in his 70's.
Interspersed throughout are short features on topics such as pocket squares, jackets, dress shirts and bow ties. The book is loaded with photographs and is a pleasure to hold and to read. If you are a Cary Grant fan, or are simply interested in men's fashion, this book should not disappoint.
Lovely book.......2007-01-16
This book is very well done. After reading this book, I admired Mr. Grant even more. He was very deserving of admiration because he really worked hard at everything to achieve his status. The author did an excellent job.
My sister loves it!.......2007-01-11
This was a gift for my sister who loves all things Cary Grant. Include this book as yet another item she loves.
Customer Reviews:
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.......2007-02-12
"Evenings with Cary Grant" is the most incredible book. A sort of documentary on paper, Nancy Nelson uses an interview/intercut format and cleverly weaves a narrative through the most revealing and often amusing anecdotes. Cary Grant talks and then Gregory Peck. Katherine Hepburn says something, and then we hear from Audrey Hepburn. As one reviewer said, "When you get to the end, you feel as though you've lost a good friend." Nelson uses no conjecture or supposition. All her sources are primary. An announcement in a recent Sunday "New York Times" said that Nelson will speak about "The Cary Grant Few People Knew" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 15. I've got my ticket!
A beautiful life........2006-08-16
It is no easy thing to become so successful in one's career and yet be universally loved and respected as Cary Grant was in his lifetime.
Thanks to the author for focusing on the good of the man and ignoring the rest. He was a good man and that is enough. Ms. Nelson does a good job in giving us an idea of who the man really was--a gentleman who was loyal to his friends, if not his wives...but in the end, even THEY still loved him after it was over.
My only disappointment (not the author's fault) was to find out that Cary Grant hated "Arsenic and Old Lace," one of my favorite movies.
Cary Grant - Excellent actor, excellent man.......2006-08-13
Like other reviewers, I'm a big Cary Grant fan. I usually hesitate to read about the personal lives of actors because they often lead disappointing lives. But Nelson's collection of stories and personal accounts from Grant's friends introduced me to the wonderful man behind the handsome movie star. I'm looking forward to watching his movies again after reading this book -- there is information from him and co-stars about some of the films that will make it fun to watch them again.
One of the best out there.......2006-08-13
I absolutely love old movies,old stars, new movies and their stars, but I LOVE Cary Grant!!! So I wanted to get a book about him and I always check up on the author and how much they knew about the person they are writing about,and when I saw this book and I had to get it.This Book shows the life of Archie Leach (we know him as Cary Grant)his life growing up,and his rise to stardom,his love life,his friends, and his wonderful sense of humor.I was so happy to find out that the man we all fell in love with was the same in real life that he was onscreen.I don't want you to have to read a long review but I just wanted to say how much I love this book and the writers style.Every body should own this book.It's worth reading more than one time.
Marc Elliott should have read this book first before writing his!.......2006-03-17
So many of us are admirers of Archie Leach... a.k.a. Cary Grant... and are always interested in learning more about the man, the individual, the actor... Well, Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best proved to be an enjoyable read, sans the Hollywood rumour mill that many of the other publications (i.e. Marc Elliott's recently published biography on CG) tend to promote. It's so easy to fill a book's pages with hearsay, especially when the subject is no longer even on the earth to speak for his/her self
I was pleased to find Nancy Nelson's book filled with stories from Cary Grant himself and so many of his friends who shared time with him both professionally and personally. If you are looking for a good read... a book that captures the essence of not only the Hollywood legend, but the man himself, I strongly suggest you grab a copy of this book and settle in for an informative and enjoyable experience!
Book Description
Here is the most candid portrait of the legendary film actor Cay Grant that his fans will ever read, packed with new information about his career and life, and told with the honesty only a true intimate could provide. When Bill Royce met Cary Grant, he was a 25 year old fan magazine editor and the film star was near 70. As these two men from different generations forged a friendship that lasted until Cary's death, they found both had impoverished, often-brutal childhoods. With uncommon frankness, they stripped away the walls each had built in order to survive. To learn the truth about Bill's abusive past, Cary spared no detail about his own painful childhood. By opening up his home, and his heart, Cary revealed the facts behind the myths that had haunted his life.
Glimpses into Cary's life include details of his alcoholic father and mentally disturbed mother; his early years in New York where Cole Porter, Noel Coward, and others helped groom an awkward young Englishman into a worldly matinee idol; his secret fears for his daughter, Jennifer; the lowdown on his leading ladies; a day when Cary was attacked by Minnie Mouse; a visit with Elvis Presley where he tells Cary about aliens; and Cary's crush on Black movie actress, Pam Grier.
This is an honest, compassionate book for fans, for all who have kept secrets, and for survivors of abusive childhoods. Poignant and compelling, this book shows how a difficult childhood can be changed into a rewarding future.
Customer Reviews:
Very Moving and Excellent.......2007-06-27
This is an extraordinary book, very touching and moving. This is the inside story on Cary Grant, a remarkable man, one very private, who allowed Bill Royce to tell his true story. It's reminscent of "Tuesdays With Morrie" and can be considered a self-help book because of Grant's wisdom conveyed therein, and his example of friendship. It's not just another boring movie star book, but interesting revelations about how he led his life, the choices he made, the friendships created, how he dealt with crises, and became "Cary Grant." Cary never stopped working on himself, to make himself a better person, and it's inspiring to learn that he was such a fine person. I could not put it down, and enthusiasitically recommend this remarkable book. Bill Royce reveals the true story, which only he could tell as he saw Cary or spoke to him on a daily basis for ten years. Cary Grant was a man of substance, a class act, and now you can see why and how he achieved such stature and recognition.
Cart GrabtL The Wizard of Beverly Grove.......2007-06-08
I really liked this book....well written a fast reading.
Mediocre.......2007-05-10
If you want to read every book on Cary Grant, I guess you should read this book. One of the most interesting parts is Bill Royce's retelling of his bizarre encounter with Phil Spector at a party. Spector was ranting and chasing Royce with a gun because Spector thought Royce was Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.
Cary Grant told his daughter, Jennifer, and last wife, Barbara, not to believe gossip about him being homosexual. He said after he died, people would come out of the woodwork with rumors and innuendo regarding his life and sexual preferences. He told them not to believe the vicious gossips.
Now Bill Royce says Cary Grant told him not to tell this until after he was gone, but that he had homosexual experiences, and was infatuated with Randolph Scott, and had a fling with some male assistant while he was making a movie with Sophia Loren. But all this was compartmentalized, and his gay experiences were in his past. Ok, whatever you say Bill.
Why did Bill Royce do this? Did he need money? I don't know if I believe what he alleges Grant told him, but even if Cary Grant did admit these things to Royce, I don't want or need to hear it.
Cary Grant's old girlfriend Maureen Donaldson supplied the photographs for this book. In her book, "An Affair to Remember," she says Grant denied being gay or having gay experiences. Ok, so Bill Royce, who worked with Maureen and knew both her and Grant very well, says Grant confided in him about his same-sex experiences, but Grant denied these sort of things to Maureen. Didn't Cary Grant think Maureen and Bill might compare notes? Of course he would. He wasn't stupid.
I've read better. I've read worse.
I will say there are parts of this book that are very interesting. As a whole it's so-so.
Outstanding memoir that I could hardly put down!.......2007-01-29
I have always enjoyed Cary Grant in some of his movies, particularly the comedies, but I can't say I was especially a fan of his -- until I read this book. It was a gift from a friend and I took my time before I picked it up and read it. And I am so glad I did!
Neither a sleazy tell all nor a sugar coated tribute, this is the story of a friendship between two people from vastly different backgrounds who shared a common bond -- deeply troubled childhoods with damaged relationships with their mothers. The author, Bill Royce, was 25 years old and a movie magazine editor in Hollywood in 1973 when he met Cary, then nearly 70 and retired from the screen. Cary called all rock and roll "noise" and Royce, who met Cary through a writer on his magazine's staff who was dating Cary at the time, challenged that assumption. From that point, Royce gave Cary a musical education which the latter requested for the sake of strengthening his relationship with his young daughter, Jennifer, from his marriage to Dyan Cannon.
It was this musical bond that started to unlock some of both men's secrets. After Royce played for Cary John Lennon's song, "Mother", in which Lennon sang "you had me but I never had you," Cary told Royce all about his traumatic relationship with his mother, Elsie, who disappeared from his life when he was 9. Cary's father had her put away in a mental sanitarium (in Bristol, England where Cary was born) so he could have an affair with another woman!
This is just the first of many revelations that come forth with music being the catalyst. We learn the truth about Cary's five marriages, his experiences with leading ladies like Sophia Loren, his relationship with Randolph Scott (much more poignant than I could have ever imagined!), and what role LSD really played in his life. And Royce's story -- it was his family secrets that inspired Cary to reveal his -- is equally fascinating, especially a very poignant part of the book in which Cary reunites Royce with his birth mother. That, for me, takes care of Cary's reputation as a stingy man! What a kind and generous soul he was!
The book at times reads like one of those psychological thrillers Cary starred in for Alfred Hitchcock, with revelation upon revelation spilling out. I have never read a book about a celebrity like this one. It is chock full of fascinating stuff about Cary, but it's all placed in the context of a portrait of a remarkable friendship. If you are a Cary Grant fan, you won't be disappointed. And if you weren't a fan of his before this, you will be after reading it!
Briliant, with New Information.......2006-12-27
This book documents the close friendship between the author, Bill Royce, and the legend, Cary Grant. Their emotional story had me both laughing and crying, and gives good insight into Cary's life at home at his house on Beverly Grove. Cary served as a kind of mentor to the author and helped the author sort out neglect and abuse in his early life by sharing his own similar stories, and by being a support system for Bill. We also learn many likes and quirks about Cary Grant, and of his very generous heart. This book is very well written and has many new photos of Cary that have never been published before. I am a huge Cary Grant fan and know this will go down as one of the best Cary books ever!
Average customer rating:
- My Favorite Cary Grant Book!
- SUPERB
- excellent! A must have for any Cary Grant fan.
- Top-notch photo biography.
- A must have for all Cary Grant fans.
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Cary Grant: A Life in Pictures
Jennifer Curtis
Manufacturer: Friedman/Fairfax Publishing
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Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best
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ASIN: 1567995659 |
Customer Reviews:
My Favorite Cary Grant Book!.......2000-11-22
This is a must own book! It is so full of photos of Cary Grant and details so much of his life. I would call this a picture book, and promise you won't be disappointed! I had the privelege of meeting the author and having her sign my copy. She is a fellow eMail Warbride, is funny, witty, and a wonderful person. She has written several other books that are well worth owning as well. Do youself a favor, buy this book today! ...
SUPERB.......1999-09-04
Jenny does an excellent job showing off the magnificent CG. This is a must for all interested in Cary and his films. There are beautiful publicity shots and movie stills. Great Job Jenny!
P.S. Hey Brian Thanks!!!!!!
excellent! A must have for any Cary Grant fan........1999-04-25
I received this book as a gift. It serves as an excellent guide to one of the most graceful and wonderful men of Hollywood. The pictures are beautifully arranged and capture the essence of who Mr. Grant was. Even the youngest Cary Grant fan will want to own this book.
Top-notch photo biography........1998-10-05
Indeed, this book is one meant to be displayed. I was immediately struck by the slick, high-quality paper used to enhance the many, many photos of the dashing Cary Grant. Ms. Curtis leads us through Grant's life with comprehensive, yet concise captions beneath each photo. The dignity and charm in her writing reflect the beloved characteristics that personified Cary Grant.
A must have for all Cary Grant fans........1998-09-14
If you like Cary Grant, you'll love this book. The photos are among the best I've seen. Jenny does a great job of summarizing Cary's life, sticking to the facts and leaving out the controversial rumors . I find my self constantly picking up this book just to gaze at the photos. This book will look great on any coffee table.
Amazon.com
Writing with the low-key stylishness his subject deserves, British academic Graham McCann pays tribute to the working-class Englishman who became "a democratic symbol of gentlemanly grace" to moviegoers worldwide. Aptly subtitled "A Class Apart," the book sympathetically depicts Archie Leach--born into poverty, his mother committed to an asylum when he was nine--reinventing himself as Cary Grant, whose debonair screen persona showed no signs of these difficult origins. A decorous account of Grant's private life (McCann dismisses talk of bisexuality as mere rumor) accompanies cogent descriptions of his performances.
Book Description
More than a biography, this is a savvy portrait of how Archie Leach, born to a poor working-class family in Bristol, England became Cary Grant, one of Hollywood's most irresistible and admired celebrities of all time.
Customer Reviews:
The Finest Estimate of an Inestimable Performer.......2007-02-24
This book would doubtless be better known, and better publicized, were it not published by a reputable university press. Don't mislead yourself, however. There's nothing tedious about McCann's book, which is very well written and measured in its judgments. Those wanting gossip and sensationalism should look elsewhere. Even those who know Grant's background and career will learn new things here. In a word: a splendid interpretation of an insidpensable performer.
The best biography on Cary Garnt I've read.......2006-04-20
It's detailed and well sourced and actually has quotes from people who actually knew him and lived through these events with the man. I felt like I actually had insight to the man rather than the image and the decades of gossip which seems to have been taken as fact by most of the other Cary Garnt biographers. He tells Cary Grant's story respectfully, but doesnt white wash the facts. The anecdotes as told by Cary's friends are fascinting, sometimes hilariously funny and often sad. He approaches the gossip as a researcher would and doesnt try to speculate or parse subjects to support hiw own personal oint of view or agenda.
This is the third biography I've read about Cary Garnt, and compared to the other very light offerings this was by far the best and most comprehensive. I learned for example that Cary Grant was not only a great charmer, but a shrewd businessman who consistently outwitted the studio bosses at every turn. I enjoyed learning about his incredible sense of honor which often times landed him in hot water and led to many of the vindictive rumors we are still hearing today. He hated the gossip columnists at the time and was embroiled in a very long and bitter battle with the likes of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, who he once told to mind her GD business. Got to love the guy.
Great book.
Movie star. Quick, who do you think of? Cary Grant........2004-10-21
Especially if your over 50. He looked, played & acted as the movie star he was. Women loved him. Men would have loved to be him. He was more often seduced than the seducer which was part of his charm. He never forgot who he was & where he came from: Archie Leech from Bristol, England. He was amiable & apolitical yet had a streak of independence & courage that led him to be one of the first stars to break with the studio system. That allowed him to be a free agent & pick the movies he wanted to do. It didn't always work out. Sometimes, the movies stank & he was the best thing in them. But most of his movies were money makers & that was really the only thing that counted. He was admired for his independence. He could be difficult to work with but was not tempermental. He was a professional working to perfect his craft as he liked to put it. This obsession with perfection did not work with the women he loved & he left four failed marriages in his wake. This failing apparently never occurred to him.
He didn't have to be pushed into old man roles & retired on his own terms. A class act.
Over-Detailed And Difficult To Stick With.......2003-12-27
I wish I could say I wasn't disappointed in this book, since I was looking forward to a well-researched and engrossing book on a screen legend. However, I had to force myself to finish reading it and came away with very little enjoyment and appreciation for the subject. Very nearly ONE THIRD of the book (the latter portion) is not textual biography, but a glossary, filmography and voluminous footnote after footnote after footnote of data supporting the main body (2/3) of the book. Far too many distracting footnotes referenced on virtually every page of the book were significantly annoying, and in many instances a point was belabored ad infinitum. Many key points of detail and anecdotes relating to admired, classic CG movies weren't present, while others were - sorry - rather beaten to death. Supporting photographs were limited and failed to include more than good shots of the subject at a small, select time of his life. I expected a more linear, cohesive, colloquial narrative unencumbered by redundent grammatical 'precision.' The book was obviously well-researched, but extreme detail does not always do the subject or the audience justice.
THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ ON CARY GRANT!.......2002-01-27
If you want to find out everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - about Cary Grant then this is the book for you. All other books, including the latest biog, are glitzy and frothy and tell you nothing you hadn't already read if you are a big fan. Also some are not as revelationary as they would like to think.
If you are a serious fan then you can't beat this book.
Book Description
“Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.”
—Cary Grant
He is Hollywood’s most fascinating and timeless star. Although he came to personify the debonair American, Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach on January 18, 1904, in the seaport village of Bristol, England. Combining the captivating beauty of silent-screen legend Rudolph Valentino with the masculine irresistibility of Clark Gable, Grant emerged as Hollywood’s quintessential leading man. Today, “the man from dream city,” as critic Pauline Kael once described him, remains forever young, an icon of quick wit, romantic charm, and urbane sophistication, the epitome of male physical perfection. Yet beneath this idealized movie image was a conflicted man struggling to balance fame with a desire for an intensely private life separate from the “Cary Grant” persona celebrated by directors and movie studios.
Exploring Grant’s troubled childhood, ambiguous sexuality, and lifelong insecurities as well as the magical amalgam of characteristics that allowed him to remain Hollywood’s favorite romantic lead for more than thirty-five years, Cary Grant is the definitive examination of every aspect of Grant’s professional and private life, and the first to reveal the man behind the movie star.
Working with the most talented directors of his time, Grant starred in an astonishing seventy-two films, ranging from his groundbreaking comedic roles in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks) and The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor) to the darker, unforgettable characters of Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion and Notorious, culminating in the consummate sophisticates of An Affair to Remember (Leo McCarey), North by Northwest (Hitchcock), and Charade (Stanley Donen). The camera loved Grant, and his magnetism helped illuminate his leading ladies, some of the most glamorous women ever to grace the silver screen: Mae West, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, and Sophia Loren, among others. Yet, because of his pioneering role as an independent player, Grant was repeatedly denied the Oscar he coveted—a snub from the Academy that would last until 1970, when he graciously accepted a special lifetime achievement award.
Grant’s sparkling image on-screen hid a tumultuous personal life that he tried desperately to keep out of the public eye, including his controversial eleven-year relationship with Randolph Scott, five marriages, and numerous affairs.
Rigorously researched and elegantly written,
Cary Grant: A Biography is a complete, nuanced portrait of the greatest Hollywood star in cinema history.
Customer Reviews:
Disillusioned .......2007-04-25
I am a huge Cary Grant fan. Or I guess I should say I was a huge fan of the onscreen persona that is suave and the epitome of class for me. This book will blow away the image you had of Cary in films, and not in the best-written way. Reading this, I felt like it was a 50/50 mix of hearsay and fact. Whichever half you choose to believe, good luck watching his movies with the same fantasy as before.
Good but..........2007-04-24
I agree with many reviewers that tend to believe that there are certain so called "facts" in this book that seem to be just gossip.
But I will say this, the book is very entertaining.It talks about his childhood and the lies that were told to him about his mother (really after that don't you think you'd have commitment problems?). It delves into his early life in New York and how he made his money, the author speculates about his even being a male escort. But really just because he lived with a guy that was gay, does that automatically mean they were lovers?
And his relationship with Randolph Scott is seen as a homosexual relationship because they lived together and they were always seen out and about. Could they have been lovers? Yes, but I believe that for a biographer you should get some quotes from someone stating that fact. Not just because the gossip columns of the time were insinuating this, does it make it fact.
But other then that discrepency I find that the book does give you some insite on the man, especially to see him stand up to the big studios when he decided to go at alone, and still succeed.
Disappointing.......2007-03-16
There wasn't enough input from primary sources in this book - interviews with, and direct quotes from, family and friends - to make it antyhing resembling a definitive biography. The details that were provided came off sounding more like heresay than fact, and there was more pop psychology in this than seemed appropriate. The author came across as extremely knowledgeable about Grant's movies, but then got some key details wrong (as noted in detail by other reviewers) but the rest of it seemed like it was written from the outside looking in, which undermined the credibility of the book. The photo on the front was the best part!
A must have for the Cary Grant fan.......2007-01-10
I read through this book very quickly. It is a well-written, revealing and candid portrayal of Grant. I just wish there were more photos!
Fabulous biography-don't miss it!.......2006-10-28
Mr. Eliot gives us a great read here. While so many of the recent bio's either have relied on repeating the same tired old stories or focused only on superficial "pap", this experienced researcher holds our interest with insightful details and commentary. Can't wait to read his new one on Jimmy Stewart!
Average customer rating:
- 54
- "They'll never make a film out of that!" (p.320)
- "In a classless society, anyone can be Cary Grant."
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54
Wu Ming
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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ASIN: 0151013802 |
Book Description
In Hollywood, Cary Grant has grown weary of cinema's constant glamour, but Her Majesty's Secret Service will break his malaise with a bizarre diplomatic mission. In Naples, Lucky Luciano fixes horse races and launches the global heroin trade. And in Bologna, a bartender searches for true love and his missing communist father.
Set during the height of the Cold War-with the world divided into East and West-54 features Italian partisans, KGB agents, Parisian lowlifes, and cameos by David Niven, Marshal Tito, and Grace Kelly. Wu Ming brings us a cinematic romp that is by turns edgy social satire and modern comic send up.
Customer Reviews:
54.......2007-08-28
When a novel balances itself on the head of a pin, and when the complexities of that novel come to weigh as much as the pyramids, there is always the chance that the whole thing will come tumbling down to destroy the piece and end the suspension of belief. The longer the novel, the more intricate the complications, the greater the sense that now, just now, or at the very latest the next page, the plot will unravel and the machinations behind it all will be revealed. Broken cogs in a clock, the hand stuffed inside the ventriloquist's dummy. 54 has an even greater challenge, in that it was written by the Wu Ming collective, a group of five Italian authors working in tandem. Put it all together, and it could be a recipe for disaster. Happily, barring a few unfortunate mistakes, 54 is an entertaining, complicated novel that succeeds more than it fails.
54 draws on a complicated set of character interactions, the beginning of which seem to be ridiculously separate. We have Cary Grant bored with his acting lifestyle, propositioned by the British secret service, the MI6, to travel to Yugoslavia to meet Tito about a movie. We have Pierre, a young Italian man who loves to dance and misses his father. We have a sentient television known, with the clever but strained name of McGuffin. We have drug runners, Italian mobsters, Russian spies, American FBI agents. The list threatens to become exhaustive during the January of 1954 - for the book's name comes from the year in which it is set, 1954, a year when Joseph McCarthy was causing widespread panic and distrust amongst Hollywood entertainers and intellectuals in general through his communist scares - but the novelists keep everything flowing. 54 is written within a tight, most forward chronological timescale, moving from the 1st of January, 1954 to mid-November.
The plot is split into two halves. The first involves Cary Grant's mission to Yugoslavia, and the bizarre interactions that take place between himself and the other characters. Roughly half of this is devoted to Cary Grant's efforts in training his replacement and traveling to Yugoslavia, and half to Pierre. Scattered throughout are smaller chapters which don't seem to have much to do with anything, though they help tie events together during the first climax of the novel at the end of the first part, and form the primary thrust of the second part. Grant is as suave and charismatic as one would hope, adding a nice touch to that is Pierre's fondness for the actor. The second half plays up the role of the McGuffin television set as it is shuffled from character to character, its importance a mystery until suddenly everything comes to an explosive conclusion. Pierre remains an integral part of the novel in the second half, though Grant falls to the sidelines.
For all that the novel seems focused on Grant and Yugoslavia, there is a strong emphasis placed on the state of Italy post World War II. The characters shown are tired, worn, waiting. After the war, the world changed in ways that have made them uncomfortable. America is encroaching upon their lifestyles, and the promises of the revolution never really came into fruition. The Aurora Bar's - Pierre's bar - struggle to purchase a television (which is, of course, the McGuffin) for the upcoming soccer world cup is pathetic and sad, yet entertaining and hopeful. There is a sense that the old Italy is seconds away from leaving, with consumerism, commercialism, capitalism and all those others isms of which America is so fond of exporting, right around the corner. The dire spectre of heroin also raises its head, though this functions more as a monetary device than any real social criticism.
Wu Ming means 'anonymous' in Chinese, a name the Wu Ming collective have taken because they wish to dissociate their true names from the celebrity and fame that comes with authorship. Who they are is not important, what they are writing is, or so the saying goes. It is interesting to note that none of the anonymous Wu Ming members are actually unknown - a cursory internet search will reveal who they are - which strikes me as a more honest way of attaining the anonymity required. The chapters of the novel are often written in such a different style that it becomes almost a game to pick which member of the collective is responsible for which piece of text, and I would suggest in future that a group of five translator tackle the novel, one for each author. As it stands now, Shaun Whiteside performs an admirable job in the translation, through the proliferation of words like 'crap' and 'guys' in the narrative text come across as somewhat jarring. Setting aside the translation, there is also a sensation that the ending runs on for fifty pages longer than it should have, for no real reason other than to tie up loose ends that could have easily been left alone to the reader.
54 suffers from, at times, writing that is too clever. Cary Grant, running around as a spy, picks up a James Bond novel and laughs and points out (several times) how it could never be a movie. Marlon Brando is commended on his acting ability - remember that Brando had recently come to the stage in the 1950s - yet a worry remains that he will end up fat and useless. The McGuffin television set is actually called a McGuffin - a name for a plot device which moves everything along while not really being a part of the story - which stretches everything a little too far for this reviewer's liking. However, these too-clever aspects aside, the novel is entertaining and worthwhile. The Wu Ming collective sometimes throw a little too much into the mix - why Russian spies? - but these daubs fail to take away from the grander picture, which is meticulously plotted, carefully orchestrated and wonderfully revealed. There is a lot happening in this novel, with countless references and endless cameos of real people and situations, but a firm thread of plot does shine through. Readers who put up with the scattered beginning will find themselves immersed within an enjoyable, though complicated, read.
"They'll never make a film out of that!" (p.320).......2006-08-18
I was in Italy in 2002, when 54 was published in its original edition, and enjoyed the novel in Italian (and Neapolitan vernacular, and Bolognese 1950's youth slang, as well as plenty of other dialects and lingos). Back then, I thought it was an untranslatable book, full of local idioms as it was. How can you translate the colorful way people talk @ the Bar Aurora? When I heard that the Spanish translation wasn't very good and the authors had demanded a thorough revision (which was done for the paperback), I thought I'd been right. However I recently re-read 54 in English and I think Mr Shaun Whiteside has done a very good job. Of course many nuances get missed, but the language is pretty lively. I agree with the authors (see ProductWiki below) that this is a very European (and very Italian, I add) narrative, and some details and references may remain cryptic to American readers, and maybe this is the reason why the latter report this overwhelming feeling of "looseness" and "out-of-controlness" (I know this word doesn't exist), never the less I believe that the book can be enjoyed also by Americans, as it deals with universal themes (identity crises, celebrities as role models, yearning for social justice etc.)
Now I'm waiting for their next novel Manitouana, which is set during the American Revolution. At least this what they say on their website.
"In a classless society, anyone can be Cary Grant.".......2006-08-17
Cary Grant's assignment by MI6 to play the role of Yugoslav leader Marshall Tito in a film biography is just one of the plot lines in this jam-packed novel, filled with subplots from its 1954 setting. The west is trying to form closer ties with Tito, while the Soviets, with whom Tito has already broken, are acting to prevent this. Many Italian partisans fought on the Yugoslav front during World War II and have remained there, supported by friends and family in Bologna as they engage in the smuggling of oil into Trieste, another plot line. As members of the local communist party, these Bolognese supporters are trying to control the future of "Italian" Trieste. In Naples, Salvatore Lucania ("Lucky Luciano"), recently deported from the US, works at controlling the world's drug trade.
As these plots develop simultaneously, the reader must keep track of dozens of characters and their activities, since the various plots do not overlap until the end. Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, David Niven, Grace Kelly, and the James Bond novels all play parts in Grant's story. The Naples story, with Luciano, involves all the on-going crimes of this don and his henchmen--drugs, race-fixing, gambling, prostitution. The Bologna plot is far more domestic, with a young man searching for his father, who is in Trieste, and a love story involving a married woman who takes care of her mentally ill brother. The McCarthy hearings, Emperor Bao Dai from Vietnam, Nikita Krushchev, and even Fidel Castro are also included here.
Wu Ming, the "author," is actually a collective of five Italian writers (four of whom, known as "Luther Blissett," wrote the Reformation novel, Q). While this device allows for enormous creativity and energy, it also promotes the accumulation of vast amounts of period detail, and the introduction of more characters than I can recall in one novel in a long time. As each author writes his own section, the novel suffers from a looseness in overall construction and the lack of a single vision. The grand finale, while worthy of James Bond, is actually anticlimactic as the various plots finally come together more than five hundred fully-packed pages after they began.
Filled with local color--bars, casinos, races, card games, and political movements--the novel is often lively and fun to read. The points of view and location change every few pages, however, and the reader often feels as if s/he is reading four separate novels simultaneously. Humor and irony pervade the novel, including sections written from the point of view of a TV set, a scheme to make a Madonna weep, and a satiric view of an FBI agent. There's a lot of everything in this novel! One wishes its authors had exerted more control by pruning it of its excess. n Mary Whipple
Average customer rating:
- Laughable, but not in a good way.
- More garbage from Boze
- Consistently entertaining and revealing
- Who knows?
- Hollywood Hogwash
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Hollywood Gays: Conversations With : Cary Grant, Liberace, Tony Perkins, Paul Lynde, Cesar Romero, Brad Davis, Randolph Scott, James Coco, William Haines, David lewis
Boze Hadleigh
Manufacturer: Barricade Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1569800839 |
Book Description
Helps blow the cover off the gilded cage. It opens the closet door for a look at, and conversation with, ten gay men of the silver screen.
Customer Reviews:
Laughable, but not in a good way. .......2006-03-24
WOW. This guy should be ashamed to present this as even being remotely journalistic. No sources, no tapes and such outlandish, unbelievable dialogue that you are embarrassed for the writer. Cary Grant at 80 came on to this guy? Its so ridiculous its funny. Just one of the many obvious personal sexual fantasies the author shares with the reader. I'm sure many of these people he supposedly interviewed were gay or bi-sexual, but it's not proven in this book. If anything it's disproven by the mere fact that the author has such little to back him up that he has to resort to faking interviews and offering anonymous sources.
The most obvious example is the Cary Grant interview, but the rest are just as blatant. There is no way a private person like Grant would speak to a known liar like Boze, let alone discuss his homoosexuality with him, when he had sued Chevy Chase around the time of the interview for calling him a fag.
The book is a waste of money and time. There are great biographies out there that contain substantiated facts rather than gossip and lies.
More garbage from Boze.......2005-12-02
As a journalist myself, I can testify that Cary Grant never gave interviews, even for articles about him. When he HAD to give an interview, he managed never to say anything. So you can write off the Grant interview right away. No conceivable way would he EVER EVER have spoken to Boze Hadleigh. In fact, I can't see how anyone would.
Someone mentioned their curiosity as to why Hadleigh's interview subjects are always dead. Uh, libel laws. He doesn't want to be sued. As he surely would have been - just look at what Cary Grant did when Chevy Chase called him "queer." And here's Cary, talking to good old Boze and coming onto him. Right.
Boze joins Hector Arce and Charles Higham in that wonderful world of - hey, they're dead, let's say anything we want - even fake an interview. And don't ever forget their liberal use of anonymous sources.
We know in many cases that the men allegedly spoken to by Hadleigh were indeed gay. Some we suspected. Now, did these people speak to Hadleigh - knowing full well what he's about? Perhaps some did and just as perhaps, some didn't.
Why we can't love and admire these people for what they brought to us with their work, I don't know. Instead, people like Boze try desperately to out actors like Tyrone Power (I bring this up because Hadleigh works Romero mercilessly on the subject) and manage to overlook first person accounts of affairs with him, such as Mai Zetterling's "All Those Tomorrows," Lana Turner's "The Lady, The Legend, the Truth," Linda Christian's "Linda: My Own Story," and Gene Tierney's autobiography. But why listen to those liars when we have BOZE??? Before Boze, there was Whisper magazine, a Confidential ripoff, and they outed Ty -as fooling around with Anita Ekberg while he was married to Linda Christian. Strange, isn't it - Confidential would have outed Rock Hudson if his studio hadn't traded another story. Odd they never felt compelled to do that to Ty...hmm...Again, Power may have been bisexual, and I do think in Hollywood, there was a lot of that going around. But why tell Boze about it.
Consistently entertaining and revealing.......2005-09-26
The lengths people will go to to "defend" their favorite deceased stars from accusations about their private lives is laughable. All of the men profiled and interviewed in this book were long rumored or known to be gay -- it was the Hollywood studios, with their desire to keep their stars bankable, that cringed and worried the most about the truth getting out...along with the actors themselves wanting to maintain their livelihoods, of course.
How accurately Mr. Hadleigh was able to recreate/reconstruct the actual interviews (especially since notes and recordings were not always permitted, understandably) is open to debate.... but one CAN "hear" the subjects' voices speaking. They do NOT all sound the same, as one previous overheated reviewer stated. As for whether or not Cary Grant hit on the author, who's to say what type of man Mr. Grant was attracted to, especially at the age of 80? Anything is possible in this world!
I recommend this book as a great piece of entertainment, and a glimpse into the private thoughts of some openly gay and closeted icons.
Who knows?.......2005-02-09
I agree that it is hard to know whether to trust this book's veracity (I found the moment when Cary Grant hits on the author particularly hard to take).
But I'm more bothered by all the vitriol in these reviews, as though saying someone is gay is the worst thing in the world! There is a lot of evidence outside of this book that these actors were gay or bisexual, so it's not absurd to think they were. And certainly not an insult.
The book is a fun read, whether it's based on actual interviews or not. "Hollywood Lesbians" seemed somewhat more believable.
Hollywood Hogwash.......2003-10-01
Boze Hadleigh strikes again with another slew of over-heated tete-a-tetes that tax credulity. Where is there ANY corroborating evidence--a snippet of a tape recording, a photo, a breathing body who was on the scene--that these cozy confessionals actually took place? Not in this book, which would have you believe that every closeted superstar over the past thirty years couldn't wait to babble into Hadleigh's ever-present microphone. Only in your dreams, Boze.
Average customer rating:
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The life and loves of Cary Grant
Lee Guthrie
Manufacturer: Drake Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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