A gripping glimpse into 20th-century Hollywood.
In this memoir, a Hollywood writer, director, and producer reminisces about his career and pays tribute to his legendary father.
Few are as closely associated with Hollywood’s golden age as George Stevens, the Academy Award–winning director and producer of iconic films like A Place in the Sun, Shane, and Giant. In this work, George Stevens Jr. both celebrates the life of his acclaimed father and recalls his own distinguished career. The book begins with his father’s upbringing in California as the son of silent film star Landers Stevens, and it delights readers with behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Hollywood stars from the 1940s through 2000s. The volume recounts, for instance, how James Stewart rejected a leading part in a film about racial violence in Georgia because the role supposedly did not “align with Jimmy’s conservative views.” The author also devotes significant space to interactions with politicians, in particular his close relationship with American presidents that spanned his early involvement with the Lyndon B. Johnson administration in creating the National Endowment for the Arts through his tenure as co-chair of Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. As founder of the American Film Institute (which received initial financial support from Johnson) and co-founder of the Kennedy Center Honors, the author provides a rare glimpse into the intersection of Hollywood and Washington, D.C., and their occasionally conflicting agendas. The author recalls, for instance, John F. Kennedy supposedly relaying an obscenity-laden remark to Jack Warner of Warner Brothers after shutting down a screening of the movie Marines, Let’s Go in disgust. The book also relates a subsequent tense conversation between Kennedy confidant Pierre Salinger and Warner about the would-be director of the film PT 109. And while at times self-indulgent, the volume is written by a born storyteller who is at his best when regaling readers with intimate stories from his heyday as a central figure in Hollywood and representative of the film industry in Washington. In addition to ample name-dropping, the work includes myriad historical photographs, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters from celebrities and presidents, and other visual aids, making for an engaging read that will intrigue any fan of classic cinema.
A gripping glimpse into 20th-century Hollywood.Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8131-9524-7
Page Count: 536
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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