HERE ARE A COUPLE OF DISHY TOMES FOR A RAINY NIGHT!
Love salacious gossip? Love hearing the dirt on the Royals? The perils of being a movie STAH! Well you'll love these bits of trivial pursuit!
Publishing gadfly Tina Brown's THE DIANA CHRONICLES is probably one of the funniest, well researched, entertaining books on Princess Diana ever. No one comes out unscathed! The Queen Mum appears as a Gin Guzzling prig; The Queen as cold and uncaring about much more than the Royal Jewels (she called France to see if Diana was wearing any hours after the crash); Prince Charles a gloomy wastrel; Princess Anne a gun toting nilly; Diana a dumb broad (her loopy, school girl scrawl is ridiculed throughout) with a media savvy genius. The boyfriends make appearances hither and yon, nattering on about their affairs with The Princess. But more interesting is the history of Diana's family, going all the way back to Charles II, who was married to a woman that was barren, but managed to father several children to different courtesans in his day. If and when Prince William ascends to the throne, he will be the first direct descendant of CII to rein! Brown, who was editor of the glossy English tabloid TATLER during Diana's spectacular rise from nothing, has plenty of inside contacts on the Royals. The main thing is her writing is stylish and witty. Once I started to read this (it was foisted on me....I could care less) it was non-stop pleasure. A surprise indeed.
THE STAR FACTORY, from prominent film historian Jeanine Basinger is a fascinating look into the inner workings of the old Studio System: How stars were groomed, tested, re-tested, re-groomed and sold as products to the world, then ultimately discarded as popularity waned. The writing, again, is insightful and witty. You can tell Basinger clearly loves what she does. Some of her observations are laugh out loud hilarious! On Bette Davis rival Miriam Hopkins (portraying a Western saloon singer in Virginia City): "The role requires her, without a shred of musical talent, to "entertain" at the Virginia City nightspot. There she is, can-canning around the stage and dancing among the men in the audience, all of whom look vaguely frightened." This is good stuff. If you love classic film, you will LOVE this book.
Happy reading!
Love salacious gossip? Love hearing the dirt on the Royals? The perils of being a movie STAH! Well you'll love these bits of trivial pursuit!
Publishing gadfly Tina Brown's THE DIANA CHRONICLES is probably one of the funniest, well researched, entertaining books on Princess Diana ever. No one comes out unscathed! The Queen Mum appears as a Gin Guzzling prig; The Queen as cold and uncaring about much more than the Royal Jewels (she called France to see if Diana was wearing any hours after the crash); Prince Charles a gloomy wastrel; Princess Anne a gun toting nilly; Diana a dumb broad (her loopy, school girl scrawl is ridiculed throughout) with a media savvy genius. The boyfriends make appearances hither and yon, nattering on about their affairs with The Princess. But more interesting is the history of Diana's family, going all the way back to Charles II, who was married to a woman that was barren, but managed to father several children to different courtesans in his day. If and when Prince William ascends to the throne, he will be the first direct descendant of CII to rein! Brown, who was editor of the glossy English tabloid TATLER during Diana's spectacular rise from nothing, has plenty of inside contacts on the Royals. The main thing is her writing is stylish and witty. Once I started to read this (it was foisted on me....I could care less) it was non-stop pleasure. A surprise indeed.
THE STAR FACTORY, from prominent film historian Jeanine Basinger is a fascinating look into the inner workings of the old Studio System: How stars were groomed, tested, re-tested, re-groomed and sold as products to the world, then ultimately discarded as popularity waned. The writing, again, is insightful and witty. You can tell Basinger clearly loves what she does. Some of her observations are laugh out loud hilarious! On Bette Davis rival Miriam Hopkins (portraying a Western saloon singer in Virginia City): "The role requires her, without a shred of musical talent, to "entertain" at the Virginia City nightspot. There she is, can-canning around the stage and dancing among the men in the audience, all of whom look vaguely frightened." This is good stuff. If you love classic film, you will LOVE this book.
Happy reading!
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