Book number 61 is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.
https://blog.silentphotoplay.com/2024/0 ... ernight-1/
Book Reading
Re: Book Reading
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Book Reading
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Book Reading
Congratulations on your signed copy! 
Re: Book Reading
I've finished Penrod Jashber, the third and last ( 
) of the Tarkington Booth Penrod books. I think this was probably overall the best of the three. 
A couple of thoughts:
) of the Tarkington Booth Penrod books. I think this was probably overall the best of the three. A couple of thoughts:
► Show Spoiler
I have to admit that was pretty ingenious to use his speech impediment as a strategic coding method.-
BettyLouSpence
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Re: Book Reading
Having just plowed through it in a several hour sitting, these are my thoughts on The "It" Girl: The Incredible Story of Clara Bow, a... "biography"... by Joe Morella and Edward Z. Epstein published in 1976. I've had a morbid fascination with it for some years now, and have finally had the opportunity to read it via the Internet Archive.
Ah... where to start.
The book is an ostensibly biographical work, but its first and foremost aim is to shock and titillate. There are no notes, no sources, no bibliography, not even an index... not a good sign. Whatever kernels of truth it has are suffocated in the many lines of made up dialogue and the authors' added fluff. Once that crap is sifted out, all we're left with are the bits of recollections from the interviewees, and in the end that's all we have to go on.
The interviewees are: columnist Adela Rogers St. Johns, Buddy Rogers, Edith Head, Clara's publicist and friend Teet Carle, photographer John Engstead, actor Neil Hamilton, and songwriter Abel Baer. To be fair, I think there is some value to be found in their recollections... emphasis on some as a reminder to keep your grain of salt handy - not everyone is a reliable narrator, and anecdotes are not always borne out by the facts.
We're off to a bad start with the prologue, a piece of creative writing in which Clara wakes up with a start in Glendale Sanitarium in February 1931. In a bout of confusion, she pleads with her nurses that she doesn't want to have another abortion (emphasis mine) before being sedated. Really shitty, low blow imo. Blatant, often tasteless fanfiction is a constant throughout the book.
There's an unshakably sleazy quality that pervades the narrative, a strange obligation to constantly remind the reader that, zomg, Clara Bow had the s e x, and was having the s e x as often as possible with as many men as possible! Did I mention Clara Bow was having sex???
The previous paragraph may have you wondering, and yes, the USC football team urban legend does come up, with the entirety of chapter 10 devoted to it. Conveniently anonymous reports from "other people on the scene" and the ever present dialogue embellishments serve as a sneaky nudge nudge, wink wink, we're not outright saying it happened, but...
That sleaziness and fanfiction meld into a massive WTF moment in pages 31-34, when the authors regale us with their version of Clara waking up to her mother holding a butcher knife to her throat.
...wut. Ok... how do you know Clara was sleeping naked on the bed? How do you know that Sarah "stood transfixed" at the sight? Sarah was the only other person in their apartment when this happened. Did Sarah tell husband Robert and/or Clara that she "stood transfixed" after she snapped out of it...?
This is just one of many WTF moments to be found. One especially cringeworthy instance is a 16 year-old Clara having multiple sexual liaisons during the shooting of Down to the Sea in Ships (p41-42). The commentary really, really doesn't help.
A prime example of the made up dialogue: on page 253, Clara confronts Ben Schulberg about wanting to be released from her contract. A snippet:
I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a nice little fanfic and all, but... you're presenting this as though it did happen. Again, how do you know this is what was said if they were the only two in the room? Did Ben or Clara write it all down when they got home? Which brings me to a tangential point: how the hell are people remembering entire conversations verbatim from decades ago??? I can't even remember half the crap I said last week.
I will say this, though: for all the faults the book has, it is entertaining. Yeah, yeah, there's annoying errors scattered everywhere, and that's not even getting into the straight up falsehoods, HOWEVER... if you approach the book as it is, a trashy old Hollywood fantasy novel, you can at least appreciate the trashiness and the unintentional hilarity of the phony dialogue.
This is just one passage that made me legit lol:
There is one anecdote I really liked, and I like to think it's true. It comes from Neil Hamilton, her leading man in the lost Three Weekends (1928); I hope one day to confirm he actually shared this. He describes driving up to a lookout point on a mountain top with Clara (her car had broken down and she needed a ride home). Once there, Neil starts to recite Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. Clara surprises him by finishing the stanzas for him.
In conclusion...
If you want to read a comprehensive researched biography of Clara Bow that sticks to the facts and has actual notes, sources, and bibliography, please, I beg of you, do yourself a favor and read David Stenn's Runnin' Wild, either order a copy from Amazon or borrow it from Internet Archive for free.
If you want to read Clara Bow fanfic that at least tries to stay respectful, read Laini Giles' wonderful The It Girl and Me, an entry from her Forgotten Actresses series. It's a novel told from the perspective of Daisy DeVoe, Clara's ex-secretary/hairdresser/bestie. Again, either order a copy from Amazon or borrow from Internet Archive.
If you want to read Clara Bow fanfic that focuses on her wacky venereal misadventures... well, I guess Joe Morella's your guy. Just... keep in mind, this shit is almost entirely made up, ok? The only value to be found is in mining the recollections from the interviewees and gawking at the trashy fanfic.
Ah... where to start.
The book is an ostensibly biographical work, but its first and foremost aim is to shock and titillate. There are no notes, no sources, no bibliography, not even an index... not a good sign. Whatever kernels of truth it has are suffocated in the many lines of made up dialogue and the authors' added fluff. Once that crap is sifted out, all we're left with are the bits of recollections from the interviewees, and in the end that's all we have to go on.
The interviewees are: columnist Adela Rogers St. Johns, Buddy Rogers, Edith Head, Clara's publicist and friend Teet Carle, photographer John Engstead, actor Neil Hamilton, and songwriter Abel Baer. To be fair, I think there is some value to be found in their recollections... emphasis on some as a reminder to keep your grain of salt handy - not everyone is a reliable narrator, and anecdotes are not always borne out by the facts.
We're off to a bad start with the prologue, a piece of creative writing in which Clara wakes up with a start in Glendale Sanitarium in February 1931. In a bout of confusion, she pleads with her nurses that she doesn't want to have another abortion (emphasis mine) before being sedated. Really shitty, low blow imo. Blatant, often tasteless fanfiction is a constant throughout the book.
There's an unshakably sleazy quality that pervades the narrative, a strange obligation to constantly remind the reader that, zomg, Clara Bow had the s e x, and was having the s e x as often as possible with as many men as possible! Did I mention Clara Bow was having sex???
The previous paragraph may have you wondering, and yes, the USC football team urban legend does come up, with the entirety of chapter 10 devoted to it. Conveniently anonymous reports from "other people on the scene" and the ever present dialogue embellishments serve as a sneaky nudge nudge, wink wink, we're not outright saying it happened, but...
That sleaziness and fanfiction meld into a massive WTF moment in pages 31-34, when the authors regale us with their version of Clara waking up to her mother holding a butcher knife to her throat.
Sarah's eyes fell to the undersized high-backed brass bed where her sixteen-year-old daughter lay asleep. The oppressive summer heat had caused the young girl to shed her cotton nightgown. But her deranged mother interpreted the disrobing as a further sign of wantonness. Sarah stood transfixed. She was aghast at the sight of her daughter's nakedness. It reinforced all her dreaded fears.
...wut. Ok... how do you know Clara was sleeping naked on the bed? How do you know that Sarah "stood transfixed" at the sight? Sarah was the only other person in their apartment when this happened. Did Sarah tell husband Robert and/or Clara that she "stood transfixed" after she snapped out of it...?
This is just one of many WTF moments to be found. One especially cringeworthy instance is a 16 year-old Clara having multiple sexual liaisons during the shooting of Down to the Sea in Ships (p41-42). The commentary really, really doesn't help.
A prime example of the made up dialogue: on page 253, Clara confronts Ben Schulberg about wanting to be released from her contract. A snippet:
"Damn your schedule, Ben," she said, close to tears. "I'm sick. I'm tired, Ben. I want out."
"You've got a contract, Clara."
"I don't care, Ben. I'm not gonna work for you. I'm not gonna work for anybody."
"You owe us something," he said, observing her. "Look at what you've put us through these last two years!"
"Put you through? What the hell did I ever get from you? You've done nothin' but bitch at me. My pictures have made millions, and don't think I don't know it." She was on her feet now. She was angry.
I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a nice little fanfic and all, but... you're presenting this as though it did happen. Again, how do you know this is what was said if they were the only two in the room? Did Ben or Clara write it all down when they got home? Which brings me to a tangential point: how the hell are people remembering entire conversations verbatim from decades ago??? I can't even remember half the crap I said last week.
I will say this, though: for all the faults the book has, it is entertaining. Yeah, yeah, there's annoying errors scattered everywhere, and that's not even getting into the straight up falsehoods, HOWEVER... if you approach the book as it is, a trashy old Hollywood fantasy novel, you can at least appreciate the trashiness and the unintentional hilarity of the phony dialogue.
This is just one passage that made me legit lol:
When a newsman from the Dallas News cornered her, Clara said, "I don't wanna talk," waving him away.
"Just one question," persisted the sly reporter. "Is it true you're here to give Mrs. Earl Pearson forty thousand dollars?"
"Forty thousand bucks?" Clara yelled, falling into his trap. "My understandin' was fifteen thousand dollars."
"Thank you," said the reporter.
"Son of a bitch," muttered Clara.
The next day headlines screamed: CLARA BOW IN DALLAS TO PAY $15,000 IN ALIENATION OF AFFECTIONS SUIT. (p205-206)
There is one anecdote I really liked, and I like to think it's true. It comes from Neil Hamilton, her leading man in the lost Three Weekends (1928); I hope one day to confirm he actually shared this. He describes driving up to a lookout point on a mountain top with Clara (her car had broken down and she needed a ride home). Once there, Neil starts to recite Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. Clara surprises him by finishing the stanzas for him.
When she finished, Clara shot an amused glance at Hamilton. He was obviously flabbergasted. "Neil," she said. "You've been reading too many fan magazines. You didn't think I could read, could you?"
Hamilton phumphered for several seconds, regaining his composure. Clara was not angry, just amused. She kidded him as they got back into the car and continued on to Malibu. (p152)
In conclusion...
If you want to read a comprehensive researched biography of Clara Bow that sticks to the facts and has actual notes, sources, and bibliography, please, I beg of you, do yourself a favor and read David Stenn's Runnin' Wild, either order a copy from Amazon or borrow it from Internet Archive for free.
If you want to read Clara Bow fanfic that at least tries to stay respectful, read Laini Giles' wonderful The It Girl and Me, an entry from her Forgotten Actresses series. It's a novel told from the perspective of Daisy DeVoe, Clara's ex-secretary/hairdresser/bestie. Again, either order a copy from Amazon or borrow from Internet Archive.
If you want to read Clara Bow fanfic that focuses on her wacky venereal misadventures... well, I guess Joe Morella's your guy. Just... keep in mind, this shit is almost entirely made up, ok? The only value to be found is in mining the recollections from the interviewees and gawking at the trashy fanfic.
I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show
a fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
and celluloid heroes never really die...
a fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
and celluloid heroes never really die...
Re: Book Reading
Beautiful review! You should put this one on Goodreads.BettyLouSpence wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 4:04 amHaving just plowed through it in a several hour sitting, these are my thoughts on The "It" Girl: The Incredible Story of Clara Bow,
As for the excerpt that you said you hoped to confirm, I'm willing to bet that something like this did happen with her at one point. It's such a generic joke that one can make, that it probably happened at some time in her life time. This exact scene, given the fanfic nature of the rest of it, probably didn't happen, in my guestimation, though.
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Book Reading
Thanks for your detailed review! Oh, man. This sounds like Garbáge with a capital G.
No. I don't think I could appreciate it on any level.BettyLouSpence wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 4:04 am...HOWEVER... if you approach the book as it is, a trashy old Hollywood fantasy novel, you can at least appreciate the trashiness and the unintentional hilarity of the phony dialogue.
I second that! What bothers me more than this kind of writing per se (same with “biographical” films of similar quality) is that many people will take it for gospel truth. It's good to have the record set straight, as you’ve done here.