Book Description
The story of a remarkable woman's rise out of the foster-care system to attain the American dream—and of the unlikely series of women who lifted her up in marvelous and distinctive ways
Born as a ward of the state of Maine—the child of an unmarried Yankee blueblood mother and an unknown black father—Victoria Rowell beat the odds. Unlike so many other children who fall through the cracks of our overburdened foster-care system, her experience was nothing short of miraculous, thanks to several extraordinary women who stepped forward to love, nurture, guide, teach, and challenge her to become the accomplished actress, philanthropist, and mother that she is today.
Rowell spent her first weeks of life as a boarder infant before being placed with a Caucasian foster family. Although her stay lasted for only two years, at this critical stage Rowell was given a foundation of love by the first of what would be an amazing array of women, each of whom presented herself for different purposes at every dramatic turn of Rowell's life.
In this deeply touching memoir, Rowell pays tribute to her personal champions: the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, mentors, teachers, and sisters who each have fascinating stories to tell. Among them are Agatha Armstead, Rowell's longest-term foster mother, a black Bostonian on whose rural Maine farm Rowell's fire to reach for greatness was lit; Esther Brooks, a Paris-trained prima ballerina, Rowell's first mentor at the Cambridge School of Ballet; Rosa Turner, a Boston inner-city fosterer who taught Rowell lessons of independence; Sylvia Silverman, a mother and teacher whose home in a well-kept middle-class suburban neighborhood prepared Rowell for her transition out of foster care and into New York City's wild worlds of ballet and acting and adulthood.
In spite of support from individuals and agencies, Rowell nonetheless carried the burden of loneliness and anxiety, common to most foster children, particularly those "orphans of the living" who are never adopted. Heroically overcoming those obstacles, Rowell also reaches a moment when she can embrace her biological mother, Dorothy, and, most important, accept herself.
Ultimately, The Women Who Raised Me is a story that belongs to each of us as it shines a glowing light on the transformational power of mentoring, love, art, and womanhood.
Customer Reviews:
Review.......2007-09-07
This was a well written book. The author gives a heartfelt account of her life in foster care. She begins her story as a small child in rural Maine and concludes as an adult actress in Hollywood. This is a great book that deals with foster care, mental illness, achievements, and adversity in a young woman's life.
Wanted more of an autobiography.......2007-08-16
I know the title says the women who raised me, but I really wanted to read more about how she got into acting, what it was like to be on the young and the restless and work with dick van dyke. She spends many chapters about her ballet years, but doesnt mention what it was like to get into tv acting, which is really her career, not ballet. She is known for being a TV star. She did a great deal of research into her families/friends - I think too much. I had to skip many many pages because it got boring. She mentions her marriage, but never talks about getting divorced. I never knew if she married Wynton or not, had to look it up on the net. She doesn't get into her relationships with men much or her children. I got the impression Wynton was raising her son? but who knows. She seems very multi talented though and it was great that she put so much time into writing a book in addition to her other charities/career.
Intriguing,surprising insights about foucs & tenacity.......2007-08-10
This is an exceptionally touching journey through the life of a foster child that was exposed to a number of phenomenal women.
All their lives were woven together beautifully by the author [Rowell]and revealed that despite backgrounds that were so different, these women all exhibited determined, giving spirits through their own talents.
A must read!!
The Women Who Raised Me.......2007-07-28
A very touching story , well written and informative. So sad at times. I loved that there were pictures of these incredible women to put faces on the heroes! Inspiring too, that with love and guidance, our children can thrive in difficult life situations.
As a grandmother to a mixed race child, very distubing also, that we still have so far to go in the US.
A wonderful book.......2007-07-01
I could not put down Ms. Rowell's life journey. I knew very little about her, only that she was an actress in a soap opera. She is an incredibly strong woman. I have great admiration for her. She could so easily have turned her back on her painful past and distanced herself from orphans; but she chose not to. She embraces her birth mother and all who assisted her.
Download Description
"For Annie Barnes, going home to Middle River means dealing with truths long hidden, some of which she buried there herself. But it is a journey she knows she must take if she is to put to rest, once and for all, her misgivings about her mother's recent death. To an outsider, Middle River is a picture-perfect New Hampshire town. But Annie grew up there, and she knows all its secrets -- as did her idol Grace Metalious, author of the infamous novel Peyton Place, which laid a small town's sexual secrets bare for all the world to see. Though Grace actually lived in a nearby town, the residents of Middle River have always believed she used them as the model for her revolutionary novel, and some even insist Annie's grandmother was the model for one of Grace's most scandalous characters. With these rumors and whispers about Peyton Place haunting her childhood, Annie came to identify so closely with the author that it was Grace and her bold rebellion against 1950s conformity that inspired Annie to get out of Middle River and make a life for herself in Washington, D.C. It's been a good life, too. Annie Barnes is now a bestselling author, reaching that level with only her third novel. Success has given her a confidence she never had as a young girl in Middle River -- and it has given the residents of that town something new to worry about. When they hear Annie is returning for a lengthy visit, everyone, including Annie's two sisters, believes she's coming home to write about them. Though amused by the discomfort she causes in Middle River, Annie has no intention of writing a novel about the town or its people. It is her mother's death -- under circumstances that don't quite add up -- that has brought her back, and soon her probing questions start to make people nervous. When she discovers evidence of dangerous pollutants emanating from the local paper mill -- poisons that she comes to believe contributed to her mother's fatal illness -- Annie finds herself at odds with most of the town's inhabitants, including her sisters, both of whom are seemingly unfazed by the incriminating evidence she uncovers. Because the mill is the town's main employer, everyone is afraid of what might happen if Annie digs deeper, and their fears soon start to turn ugly. For Annie, though, there is no turning back, as passion and rage propel her forward in a determined quest. Coming face-to-face with decades of secrets and lies, she knows she must find the strength to move beyond the legacy of Grace Metalious, defying her past to heal the wounds of the town and her own family. "
Customer Reviews:
Don't judge a book by its title.......2007-07-04
This novel isn't a copy of Peyton Place, but takes the essence of Metalious' novel and adds a suspensful twist. A woman uncovers the truth behind her mother's death and about what's been causing all of her hometown's inhabitants to become ill. A well crafted supense novel with some romance-- and a very telling story about small factory towns. I give it 3 1/2 stars.
Missing something..........2007-05-09
It was like drinking decaffeinated coffee...it lacks that ...oomphh. Didn't think the plot was that compelling. An editor should've chiseled it down by 200 pages.
Reality Versus Fiction.......2007-04-05
Some of the main character's experiences may have you wondering if any of this novel is autobiographical. The relational dynamics make a real-life backdrop for this boy meets girl story.
A Graceful Air-Brush of Literary Panache, with Warmth, Redemption, Sex, and Soul Wash.......2007-01-27
Delinsky's writing style unfailingly provides immediate, engrossing reading. This unique novel continued that legacy. The first paragraphs of the prologue warmed me into the book, and I looked forward to each parenthesis in time during which I'd be able to return to the read.
Before I began reading LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE, I was confused about where to place the fulcrum between what appeared to be a balance of autobiography & fiction. A quick check of the title page showed that the book was categorized as fiction. Reading into the prologue, I was able to discriminate how the deceased Grace Metalious was woven through Annie Bank's reality (this novel's fictional character), as opposed to being woven through Barbara Delinsky's reality. Part of the confusion (and the appeal) had to do with Delinsky's photo on the hardcover book jacket relating uncannily to the one of Grace, and to the artistic representation of Annie.
The reality Vs. fiction questions played out as a unique type of intrigue, which continued percolating even after I had settled into accepting the story as fiction. I couldn't help speculating how Annie's feelings and actions might have been lifted from Barbara's younger life/career, and blended into her current seasoning as an author. Contemplating Annie and Barbara's similarities and differences added to the story's charisma. I, and probably many other readers, was also mesmerized by a First Person Narrative of a writer dramatizing how she thinks through, and goes about writing a book.
Throughout this plot, Annie was repeatedly asked (in essence), "Are you going to write our shames and shambles into a book?" The interjections of that question, posed in various words and ways, continued to feed my curiosity about "would she" ... or, "did she" write that book (in this one). I imagine that this draw of curiosity was Delinsky's intent, which, in my case, worked.
Parallel situations from my life to Annie's also worked to enhance my enjoyment of this exquisitely designed plot and writing style, which was subtly and sensually different from any of Delinsky's other novels. Yet, initially (my reason for avoiding reading this novel sooner) I was put off by the environmental ploy of mercury poisoning of local residents by a small town mill. My life has run a course on a somewhat reverse-flip of good/evil of Delinsky's redeemed Norman Rockwell photo of small town life in Middle River, presented as a parallel to "Peyton Place," as the 50's novel was re-vamped, modernized, and cleaned up in Delinsky's "upgrade."
My husband has worked his lifetime in coal mines. We are loyal friends of industry, and have been blessed to be repeatedly employed by what we see as heroic "good guys" in charge of and in ownership of the several mines at which Tom has worked. It was very rare that anyone we knew came anywhere near the type of villainy dramatized through Sandy and Aidan Meade; most of our cohorts in the industry were of the James Meade character type.
As I continued into the story, with the welcome background of having reviewed many previous Delinsky novels, I was hoping for this one to have applied this author's honed talent of accurately separating good from evil, in the currently slimed (by media and terrorism) industrial arenas of milling and mining. Delinsky accomplished more than I would have thought possible, given our pervasive cultural climate of anti-capitalism, anti-industry; she successfully exposed how easy it can be to hurriedly mark something as evil, then blindly bully through a lumped-together package, with no motivation or effort to discriminate nuances, to accurately focus boarders between light and dark, value and corruption.
What held my reading most strongly, though, was the easy flowing, colloquial-narrative-style, enhanced by the bright duality of "voice" of Grace Metalious communicating with Annie from "beyond the grave."
This novel was a courageous evolution of not only Barbara Delinsky's writing talent and natural psychological wisdom; it was a courageous exposure of what appeared to be Barbara's (as well as Annie's) personal foibles given with endearing self-awareness of personality flaws and sparks.
I'm speculating that LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE may be too solid of a literary offering to be recognized widely and immediately for its subtle glamor in nuance of worth. This is a slow-simmer winner. Some of the rest of Delinsky's fine repertoire might fade slightly over millenniums of time. This one, though, could slide through each barrier between alternate ages and endure, mostly because it's a warm, unadulterated look into the mind of a healthy author (Barbara Delinsky), accompanied by the tortured but redeemed soul of yet another author (Grace Metalious) who was ahead of her time and fell into sorrow and separation instead of rising with her contribution to literary annals.
I'm almost chilled with an enormous sense of loss, when I think that this novel might not have been written or published exactly as is. Prior to reading this novel, I wouldn't have believed I could enjoy it as I did, and come away healed in the areas the story addressed. Whatever a reader's reservations are about being enthusiastically entertained by this novel, he should set them aside and dive in.
Yet, I'm haunted by the awareness that in reality and with real people it's not this easy (and it wasn't easy at all in the novel!) to separate good from evil in business and industry (or anywhere). It's too commonly automatic to allow anger, spite, and past wounds to run the shows and pursuits in life, as I believe is too often the case with environmental terrorism, possibly any type of terrorism, and with many causes which become so heated by pseudo self-righteousness, and compulsions to act as avenging (dark) angels, that evil begets evil, in the name of good. The result is that innocent, hard working people suffer most from the heart-wrenching rabble left from rousers (especially from those who've made a career of rousing).
In the case of my small town history based on the coal mining industry, our current plight (blight) swirls around a few wealthy new-settlers who retired to our area, combined with (or agitated by) career activists who are not from our area, who do not intend to reside there, yet who desire to rid our area of an industry which is far cleaner than the activists' motives or methods, driven by seething hatred which they "see" as self-righteous honor (from my vantage point, it's a sick type of "honor" which can be seen clearly only when looking through a glass darkly).
My plea to our species is to please be careful, maybe even compassionate, prior to pushing ways and beliefs onto others, especially when that force desecrates a people's history, along with its means of living and surviving.
Is jumping to conclusions our greatest habitual evil?
Might this be especially so when that (lack of) thought pattern results in acting upon "facts" which are not facts, and implementing destructive means to control life, to the ultimate point of human de-evolution?
In this novel the author has at least attempted to show how important it can be to take time to gain a true perspective cleared of personal vendettas, prior to methodically working to destroy someone else's way of life or economic structure of well-being. Sometimes perspective gained means mad motivation lost.
Delinsky has my appreciation for what she's accomplished and exposed in LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE. The exposure of which I'm speaking has nothing to do with Mercury poisoning or similar issues (though the alternative cure was interesting). It has to do with exposing how personal motivations can so easily seat-in to drive causes and cloud issues with a blindly horrifying force for destruction.
With those issues attended, I can conclude in good conscience that this was a moving piece of literature, an engrossing, entertaining read laced with an appealingly unique literary style.
Speaking of literary style, I should note that novels which use First Person Narrative can be too easily flawed by an irritatingly disruptive reading rhythm, when they're laced with interjected segments of Third Person Narrative. This novel accomplishes this difficult type of transition from differing points-of-view much better than most I've read. The narrative style here has light whiffs of similarity to Sue Grafton's "S" is for SILENCE and James A. Michener's THE NOVEL (both of which I've reviewed). My favorite use of narrative style is either an uninterrupted First Person, which has been generally mastered by the detective novel genre as a common choice of narrative. My personal favorite of that style (used without alternate-view-interjections) has been mastered absolutely by Robert B. Parker in his Spenser series.
What Delinsky has done in the First Person segments in this novel has edged beyond mastery, and has exquisitely captured the narrator's personality through her naturally-spiced speech patterns. The result is that Annie Banks' voice and spirit lives through the words of this story.
In an interesting Afterword, the publisher provided a short history of Grace Metalious and PEYTON PLACE, including a summary of that novel's plot, which was helpful to me since I've not read PEYTON PLACE. Each time I've approached the book I've felt overwhelmed by a sense of artful hollowness. Yet, I know that Grace was a rare and highly skilled author of uncanny talent. I know I would drool over the literary luxury in her words. But I'm rarely in the mood to willingly depress myself, which is why I'm thankful to have read Delinsky's book, including the Acknowledgments and Afterword.
I recommend this novel for its reading appeal, as well as its value as an offering of good literature traversing multiple layers, levels, and ages.
Linda Shelnutt
Looking for the last page already.......2006-08-15
It took well over 500 pages to write what should have been written in 300 or so pages, and in those last 200 pages, my interest was sorely flagging.
I didn't find Annie particularly compelling on any level. Her personality, while supposedly she was the town pariah since her teens, was more milquetoast than troublemaker. How an entire town could come to despise her for vague things she did when she was young is beyond my comprehension.
The exchanges between Annie and Grace Metalious were bizarre, and I didn't buy that they were the product of a creative writer-type.
Frankly, I felt that the author basically used Ms. Metalious and her novel Peyton Place to piggyback on to sell this mediocre novel of her own.
I would only recommend this book to a masochist.
Book Description
Wollie Shelley—the endearing, idiosyncratic heroine of the award-winning Dating Dead Men and Dating Is Murder—returns in a funny murder mystery set in the world of television soaps.
When David Zetrakis, the producer of a popular soap opera, is found shot to death the day after Christmas, Wollie Shelley finds herself caught up in the murder investigation. Zetrakis was one of the many Mr. Wrongs in Wollie’s career as a serial dater, and her friend Joey has emerged as the media’s prime suspect. A hot-tempered celebrity who had dated Zetrakis and was fired from his show some years ago, Joey has inherited a million-dollar Klimt from him. But Joey is not the only potential suspect. Zetrakis left lots of nice bequests to the cast and crew of the show. And as the dating correspondent on a talk show called SoapDirt, Wollie, who’s required to dine and dish with the stars, quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes intrigues of television soaps are as highly charged as the on-screen shenanigans.
When Wollie is not trying to protect Joey from an onslaught of predatory reporters, she’s helping her brother make the transition from a mental hospital to a halfway house and negotiating her relationship with Simon, her FBI-agent boyfriend. Dead Ex is another full-out romp of a mystery sure to please Kozak’s many fans—and win her many new ones, too.
Customer Reviews:
At the End of the Day, I Liked this Book.......2007-09-11
The day after Christmas, terminally ill soap opera producer David Zetrakis is found murdered in his Los Angeles mansion. That actually means something to greeting card designer Wollie Shelley since she dated him for a few months. But the sense of loss she feels is nothing compared to that of her friend Joey Rafferty who had stayed friendly with David after her own breakup with the man. In fact, she was at his house just before he died.
And that's why the police zero in on Joey as their prime suspect. When they begin questioning her, they quickly realize she is hiding something. But what? As Joey begins to act more and more strangely, Wollie realizes she is going to need to step in to solve the crime.
Fortunately, Wollie has just been handed the perfect platform. She's been asked to become the dating correspondent on SoapDirt. And her first dates are with the men of David's soap, At the End of the Day. Unfortunately, this new job doesn't sit when with Wollie's boyfriend, FBI agent Simon. But he's started acting strangely himself. Beside, Wollie has enough to figure out. Why would someone shoot a man about to die anyway? Did one of Wollie's new men commit the crime? And what is Joey hiding?
As with the first two books, this is a fun mystery. Wollie narrates the events with just the right dose of sarcasm when needed. And who doesn't need it when dealing with soap opera stars? The characters, both returning and new, leap off the page. The plot dragged some in the middle, however. And the denouncement seemed rushed to me. The ending itself was very suspenseful and I was turning pages as fast as I could. And the dating tied in better with the overall mystery then it did in the last book.
The book is fun and well worth reading for any of Wollie's many fans.
Funny stuff, well written.......2007-09-10
When a Hollywood soap opera producer is murdered, the suspects are numerous. Wollie Shelly's best friend, Joey, is painted by the media as the most likely killer. Several personal crises in Joey's life add to that image, not to mention a painting worth $1 million that she inherited from the dead man.
Wollie's new job as a dating consultant on a program called SoapDirt makes it easy for her to snoop around the set. Her assignment is to date soap stars and dish about them on television, complicating her blossoming romance with FBI agent Simon Alexander.
Though third in this series, this book stands well on its own. There are mentions of events and people from previous books but they are not too revealing and provide just enough information to keep up. My advice is to start with the first one and enjoy all of them. Each one is better than the last.
I love Kozak's take on Hollywood. As an actor in movies and on soaps, she has an insider's view of that lifestyle. Her characters and dialog ring true. I also find her laugh-out-loud funny. Be careful where you read her books. People are bound to interrupt you to find out what you are laughing about.
Armchair Interviews says: A book that will tickle your funny bone and your mystery-loving gene.
terrific amateur sleuth investigation with a deep insightful look at the world of soap operas.......2007-08-11
On December 26 someone lacked the Yuletide spirit when they shot and killed soap opera producer of the fittingly titled At the End of the Day David Zetrakis. Although she knows she should stay out of it, SoapDirt talk show reporter Wollie Shelley wonders who killed David, a man at the top of her Mr. Wrong date list; considering most of Southern California is on Wollie's list means David was dead wrong to be at the top.
LAPD and the media agree as rare as that seems, the former End of the Day actress Joey Rafferty is the prime suspect; like Wollie she dated David, who ended their turbulent relationship by firing her off his show several years ago. Shockingly she is named in his will as are others, but the priceless Klimt painting keeps her high on the suspect list. Wollie investigates to prove her pal's innocence but when Joey's husband dies in a surfing accident and she disappears, even Wollie begins to believe.
The third Wollie wacky adventure (see DATING IS MURDER and DATING DEAD MEN) combines a terrific amateur sleuth investigation with a deep insightful look at the world of soap operas and much more. The whodunit is intelligently designed so that the audience will agree with Wollie that there are plenty of suspects until the second death and the disappearance. Readers will enjoy this wonderful lighthearted romp starring a charming reformed serial dater.
Harriet Klausner
A charming, funny mystery.......2007-08-11
Greeting card designer and serial dater Wollie Shelley returns in Harley Jane Kozak's delightful third novel, DEAD EX. When Wollie's ex-boyfriend, a terminally-ill soap opera producer, is murdered, her best friend (who also dated him) is the prime suspect. Wollie must jump headfirst into the shark-infested waters of Hollywood to find out what really happened and clear her friend's name. DEAD EX is a charming book with a well-done mystery and plenty of fun characters.
Intelligent, Fast-Paced Amazing Mystery.......2007-08-08
I can't say enough good things about this book. Where so many mysteries pander to the mundane or brutal, Kozak's latest excels in its intelligence, wit and charm. It's not just the mystery that's compelling - it's the characters like unique Fredreeq, drunken Joey and Wollie, the protagonist who thinks in greeting card captions, who set this book apart. Plus, there is an underlying theme of Greek classical literature. Yes, it's also peeks into the world of soap operas and Hollywood and that would be enough. But this has Kozak's sparkling dialogue and hysterical asides. It's funny. It's sexy. It's smart.
There are so many awful mysteries written these days. This is not one of them. That's why Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review. Enjoy!
Average customer rating:
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Tinseltown Tawdry
Sophia Bailey
Manufacturer: Chances Press
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Book Description
Forget adultery, baby-switching, and long-lost evil twins, on the Los Angeles based daytime soap Ocean Boulevard, the real drama takes place backstage! Tonya Thomas, once the queen diva of daytime television, sees her star power floundering. When the network exes decide to kill her character due to budget cuts Tonya decides to do whatever it takes to secure her job and regain her place in the daytime acting elite. Enter Mary, Tonya's long-lost much younger look-a-like half-sister, who surprises Tonya by appearing on her doorstep one morning. While getting caught up in the glamour of the TV industry, Mary begins to fall for Tristan, the soap's resident hunk, who has spent years going from one starlet to another, including Tonya. However, one look at Mary and Tristan begins to questions the way he's lived his life. Behind the TV network's closed offices is Agnes, the lesbian head of the network's daytime division. Will she let her obsession with destroying Tonya's career in an act of revenge for a past misdeed ruin her current love affair? Agnes's pawn, Mac, is Ocean Boulevard's executive producer who shares a scandalous secret with Tonya. Mac is forced to take serious action against the soap's top ingénue, Lauren, who can't seem to stay out of trouble even if her life depends on it. From the sidelines is Dexter, Tonya's mentally deranged ex-husband, who has an explosive conclusion plan for all of them. Tinseltown Tawdry is an over-the-top, satirical page-turner that celebrates the fabulousness of the trashy glitz novel!
Customer Reviews:
Soap opera at its best!.......2007-04-04
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (3/07)
I've never been a big TV fan, so my knowledge of soap operas is limited to the ones I was more or less forced to watch while visiting my grandma or my neighbors, who used to have them on all the time. No, I do not think I am above them; it is just that I could not devote that much time to them every day and on a regular basis. This is a book that reads like a soap opera; now that is a winning proposition if you ask me. Everybody needs something light, wicked and slightly naughty from time to time.
Sophia Bailey's "Tinseltown Tawdry" fills all of the above criteria and then some. It is wickedly, over-the-top funny. It has characters that one just loves to hate and others that one would not exactly push away if they were to cross one's way while unattached. It has so many plots and subplots that one nearly needs a roadmap to keep them straight. It is so outrageous that it could very well be true.
Let's just take a look at some of the characters here. Tonya Thomas, an aging soap opera star, seems to have been involved with just about every male she ever encountered. Her long-lost sister, Mary, is an innocent from a small town, thrown into the deep and shark-infested world of Hollywood intrigue. Tristan, the reigning hunk, was once involved with Tonya, but now seems to be seriously falling for Mary. Dexter, Tonya's ex, is a man with some decidedly strange habits. There is Agnes, the lesbian head of the network's daytime division. Mac, the executive producer, shares more than just the soap opera with Tonya. Lauren, the young starlet, gets in some interesting trouble. Then there is Zeke, who truly gets around. And my favorite character is Aunt Edith, on her long drive with a bucket of chicken legs and a Tammy Wynette CD playing. So many people, so many agendas, so many plots...
I found the book highly amusing and a really relaxing read. While I wished for more-developed characters and somewhat better crafted dialogue, which at times sounded a bit stiff, I enjoyed the humor and the highly tangled story. The very many interwoven plots made it slightly difficult to follow at times and some of those subplots could - and probably should -- be developed into separate stories instead of trying to fit them all into one relatively short book.
Overall, "Tinseltown Tawdry" was a hugely relaxing read. Have a go at it if you are not easily shocked - if you are, you will not get past the first page!
Book Description
If you are already the head writer on a daytime drama, can you say your life is just like a soap opera? That's the question facing Bailey Connors, who is dumped by her girlfriend, saddled with the 22-year-old daughter of a network executive and driven close to madness by a friend's attempt at matchmaking. To top it off, she has been ordered to kill off the soap's leading lady on a special live episode, which will either be a disaster or the triumph of her career. But either way, love may be waiting on the other side in a very unexpected manner.
Sharon Stone is the author of Love Letters in the Sand and lives in Tampa, Florida.
Customer Reviews:
Light and frothy.......2006-10-30
This book does have its comic moments, hence the three-star rating but is not a lesbian romance, or, in fact, a lesbian anything. I can't say I fault the writing in this one, the author, Sharon Stone, has a nice easy flowing style and, on the whole, this is an easy read. It's just that I don't think I was prepared for the story nor, may I say, the characters to be so. . .well, soapy. I know, this is probably my fault as I am not a great fan of, nor do I watch any of the daytime soaps.
So how did I end up reading this book? Ah, well, that my, dear reader, we both may never know.
All that said, if you are a fan of watching the soaps and in the crazed frenzy you imagine goes on behind the making-of and the running-of a daily soap, then, by all means, this book will be both a delight and a charm. The humour is light and, at times, does sparkle. . .that is, if you like to see bubbles erupting from your mouth occasionally. Okay, so I'm teasing here.
Light, frothy, funny and, at times, a delight, but still. . .wasn't my personal cup of tea.
Boldly hilarious.......2006-06-26
If you've ever wanted to get an insider's look of a soap opera and be captivated by a lesbian romance, then look no further than ALL THE BOLD DAYS OF MY RESTLESS LIFE, the laugh-out loud novel that takes place on a daytime drama. Author Sharon Stone concocts a wild ride with main character Bailey Connors, the head writer on the soap billed with the same name as the book.
Though it seems like a dream to work on a wildly popular show, Bailey doesn't have it easy. She not only has to cater to the stuffy suits of the network executives, but she also has to wrestle with the demands of the spoiled, egotistical actors who don't always agree with the scripts they've been given. It's enough to make a girl pull her hair out. And Bailey's not trying to hear it right now, especially after being dumped by her longtime girlfriend.
Never fear, her trusty assistant Peter is there to save the day. Her flamboyant friend has a few prospects up his sleeve to help butch-looking Bailey to get back on the horse. But the women he sets her up with are horrible, to say the least.
And if Bailey's life could get any worse, she is stuck with one of the dumbest writers to ever live and has to rewrite months of scripts to kill off one of her favorite characters on the show. Talk about drama!!
Stone's All the Bold Days novel is hilarious not to mention outrageous. It has a quirky sense of humor that reads sharply and very quickly. She creates a great peek into the world of daytime TV, giving tidbits into the soaps. The ending wraps up well, as you root for Bailey to land on her feet.
Pick this one up if you need a good laugh.
Enjoyable.......2006-02-20
I enjoyed this book very much and will keep it in my collection to read again some day. Buy it...you'll like it.
Zany to say the least.......2005-09-19
If there was ever a book that fit the definition of zany, this one is it. Very few things make me laugh out loud, but I found myself in hysterics at the closing scenes. I'm not a fan of soap operas, but I do appreciate their spoofs. Bailey is the head writer for a show called All the Bold Days of My Restless Life. Every horrible cliche that applies to this type of show is attached to this one. What can you say about a show that has a main character named Aruba, her mother is Myrtle Beach and her stepsister is Bermuda Schwartz? Bailey's private life could be a feature story on her soap. After her girlfriend dumps her, her friend Peter arranges the three blind dates from hell. The first is with a woman who has a midnight online sex show and likes to use her dates as her "special guests." The second regales Bailey with details about why she has six children and how that has convinced her to start dating women. The last is a cop who gets drunk and starts shooting rats as they walk down the street, causing an encounter with some of New York City's finest. And then there is the fact that the two major stars of the show spend all of their time trying to do each other in professionally. Yes, it's light reading, not great literature, but sometimes it's just fun to read that.
If you love satire, this one's for you..........2005-09-14
I'm not a big fan of satire, so did not thoroughly enjoy the humorous side of this book. However, I was completely drawn into the underlying story. Bailey, the head writer for a daily soap opera with the same name as the book, seems to have a black cloud over her head. Her long-time girlfriend dumps her, her sarcastic response to a script change earns her a trip to the "Big Guy's" office, she is stuck mentoring a useless new writer who is related to a studio bigwig and ends up wreaking havoc, and she has to write off her favorite character. Of course, she has friends like Peter who want to help, but they only make things worse. While going through all of this, Bailey doesn't even realize she's falling in love with someone at work until it hits her square in the face.
I found this book to be similar in structure / intent as 'Castaway' by Advocate. The story was great, the characters were fun, but the comedy was a little over-done. This book is a great lazy-day read, but it won't be a permanent addition to my bookshelf. Enjoy it and pass it on.
Book Description
Though wildly popular, daytime soaps are arguably the most denigrated and parodied of any contemporary entertainment form. For this reason, even the most devoted soap opera fans are often reticent or even secretive about the shows they love. Watching Daytime Soap Operas is a meditation on the pleasures--and displeasures--of watching and talking about daytime soap operas. In this multidisciplinary study, Louise Spence talks to 25 women about their mostly solitary viewing practices and observes many Internet chat rooms. Over 20 years in the making, the book explores the varied critical and creative ways in which the women use soap operas in their lives. Spence draws on work in reception studies, and pays particular attention to the question of what it means to be a fan. She ultimately challenges the accepted belief that soap opera viewers are passive consumers of escapist fantasy. Her study expands the current literature of this largely misunderstood television genre while making an important contribution to the field of film-TV studies.
Book Description
An exclusive makeup artist reveals the beauty tricks of today's favorite soap stars in this guide to beauty—inside and out. In addition to enough makeup tips to prepare any woman for every conceivable situation, there are intimate one-on-one conversations with some of today's hottest soap opera actresses, including Judi Evans, Crystal Hunt, Eva La Rue, Amelia Marshall, and Hillary B. Smith. Practical, funny, and entertaining, this book provides readers with Tinseltown tales as they learn more about their favorite stars from such shows as All My Children, Days of Our Lives, Guiding Light, and Passions.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2006-03-11
I really liked it because it had alot of ideas in regard to makeup for the various soap opera vixens. The pics were beautiful and the artist and his work are excellent. Definitely something to check out.
looking for something new.......2006-03-07
I was really looking for something new since I have sooo many of the modern make-up books out, but this wasn't it. If you're a beginner or you're really into soap operas this might be the book for you, but it's not for me.
Beautiful and informative.......2006-02-15
I loved this book. It was beautiful and informative. The photos were some of the best I've seen of some of the most beautiful soap actresses out there. Plus there were descriptive color photos detailing how to achieve the looks presented. The interviews were fun and the helpful tips were actually helpful.
You've got to read this one!.......2005-11-05
Timothy Alan's Two-Faced: Confessions of a Soap Opera Make-Up Artist, was fun and informative, detailed and dishy, and overall a most enjoyable read. As a soap fan, I loved the brief interviews with the actresses - their outlook on life and beauty was down to earth and enlightening. It revealed that they're real people, with a lot of the same concerns we all have; some of which can be assuaged with the right make-up.
Timothy's approach invites the reader to sit in on a make-up session where he engages the actresses in a conversation about their lives and priorities and how they view themselves. As for the make-up, he provides detailed diagrams of how he achieved the looks, two for each model. He talks about the proper tools, techniques and products, all of which are well within the reach of any woman. Timothy's love of his work and the actresses featured in the book are obvious.
I'd highly recommend this title even if you don't know the actresses - there's just that much good information in it.
This is a must-read!.......2005-10-07
Definitely a must-read book for any soap opera fan out there! You're bound to read about one of your favorite daytime diva's, because Tim seems to have worked with them all!!
Fantastic tips and tricks are found all over this great book, and you'll also find fun and entertaining interviews with some of daytime's most popular ladies. The photos and mock-ups that accompany the interviews are fantastic! If you ever wanted to look like a soap opera star, this book will help get you there!
Both educational AND entertaining, this book is one I wasn't able to put down until the very last page. I would recommend this book to every woman out there, even if you may not be a fan of the daytime scene, because there is so much to learn from this Master of Makeup. You are guaranteed to find something to make you smile, make you think and make you realize that you too can look just like "a star."
Average customer rating:
- The Theory in this book doesn't fit the facts.
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Love and Ideology in the Afternoon: Soap Opera, Women, and Television Genre (Arts and Politics of the Everyday)
Laura Stempel Mumford
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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Soap Operas
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General
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Culture
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ASIN: 025320965X |
Customer Reviews:
The Theory in this book doesn't fit the facts........1998-10-04
This attack on soap opera attempts to tell the readers that soap opera, like other forms of popular entertainment, glorifies the role of the father and brainwashes its viewers to be submissive to patriarchal imperitives However, the theory in this book simply panders to the most narrow-minded of extremist feminists. The theory does not fit the facts. Soap opera is one of the major popular entertainments that permits critical questions about the excesses of the father's prerogatives to surface. By discussing small fragments of soap opera story arcs as if they were the whole thing, this book distorts its subject and renders a major disservice to its reader.
Average customer rating:
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Love Is Murder: A Daytime Mystery
Linda Palmer
Manufacturer: Wheeler Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Soap Operas
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General
| Mystery
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Mystery & Thrillers
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Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books
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ASIN: 1587247690 |
Book Description
Morgan Tyler is the head writer of Love of My Life. Her imagination is always at work, churning out the scenes that fill many a fan's daytime with drama. Then Damon Radford, the head of daytime programming, is found dead - and it's revealed that, in spite of their prickly relationship, he left Morgan a fortune. Her life is beginning to look like one of her scripts, especially when the detective assigned to the case falls for her.
Average customer rating:
- READ IT FOR THE TITLE ALONE!
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No End to Her: Soap Opera and the Female Subject
Martha Nochimson
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Television
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History & Criticism
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Soap Operas
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Similar Items:
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Watching Daytime Soap Operas: The Power of Pleasure
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Speaking of Soap Operas
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Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera
ASIN: 0520077717 |
Book Description
In this incisive defense of a much-maligned genre, Nochimson demonstrates how soap opera validates an essentially feminine perspective, and responds to complex issues of women's desire and power.
Even though soap opera commands a vast and loyal audience, it has been trivialized by the mainstream media and even libeled as a form of pornography designed to keep women in their place. In this incisive defense of a much-maligned genre, Martha Nochimson demonstrates how soap opera validates an essentially feminine perspective and responds to complex issues of women's desires and power by creating strong, active female characters. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory and feminist film criticism, Nochimson explores the ways in which soap opera has inverted the typical male-centered narrative characterized by a domineering, Oedipal father-son relationship that serves to control female energy. Instead, women in soap operas resist their stabilizing role in male hierarchies. In breaking with traditional narrative, soaps create a distinctly feminine, open-ended format capable of tolerating ambiguity and lack of resolution. Soap operas emerge as vessels of a subterranean female power and defy women's "assigned" place in male-designed social structures.
It is time, Nochimson argues, to take a fresh look at one of America's few original art forms. Anyone interested in television, American culture, and gender roles will find No End to Her a startling and compelling read.
Customer Reviews:
READ IT FOR THE TITLE ALONE!.......2000-12-31
This is a terrific book on an underrated cultural phenomenon. Soap operas thrive because the medium is the message: Women survive, they continue unto tomorrow and tomorrow and tommorow (to borrow Shakespeare). Soaps are the female viewpoint, their desires, their powers, their failures. And they very often were the trendsetters in female culture and liberation. I know it's hard to believe, but read this history and never feel guility about your "stories" again - Scheherazade didn't!
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