Melanie Benjamin
Autor de The Aviator's Wife
Sobre El Autor
Melanie Benjamin was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and attended college there. She has been an avid reader all her life and firmly believes that a lifetime of reading is the best education a writer can have. After college Melanie married and moved to the Chicago area to raise her children, but the mostrar más desire to write was always there in the background. Soon she began writing for local magazines and newspapers before venturing into fiction. As Melanie Hauser she published two contemporary novels. Now writing as Melanie Benjamin, she's incorporated her passion for history and biography into ALICE I HAVE BEEN her first historical novel; THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB is her second, and was published July 2011. Her book,The Aviator's Wife, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. The Swans of Fifth Avenue made the iBooks best seller list in 2016. Melanie and her family still live in the Chicago area where she enjoys writing, taking long walks, and gardening. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Créditos de la imagen: credit Todd Rennels
Series
Obras de Melanie Benjamin
Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion (2014) — Contribuidor — 131 copias, 9 reseñas
Reckless Hearts (Short Story): A Story of Slim Hawks and Ernest Hemingway (Kindle Single) (2015) 11 copias, 2 reseñas
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Nombre canónico
- Benjamin, Melanie
- Nombre legal
- Hauser, Melanie
- Otros nombres
- BENJAMIN, Melanie
HAUSER, Melanie - Fecha de nacimiento
- 1962-11-24
- Género
- female
- Nacionalidad
- USA
- Lugar de nacimiento
- Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- Lugares de residencia
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA - Educación
- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
- Ocupaciones
- writer
- Agente
- Laura Langlie
Miembros
Debates
The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin en Early Reviewers (abril 2013)
Reseñas
DNF @ 23%
As Kenny Rogers famously sang, "You got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run."
This book seemed like something that should have been right up by alley (two strong women making their way in the early days of Hollywood -- sign me up!), but it was just such a slog to read. It felt like I had been reading for at least 30 mins, but I'd only covered a page or two. The siren song of my mountainous TBR is calling, so I'm calling it quits on this one.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a galley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)
As Kenny Rogers famously sang, "You got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run."
This book seemed like something that should have been right up by alley (two strong women making their way in the early days of Hollywood -- sign me up!), but it was just such a slog to read. It felt like I had been reading for at least 30 mins, but I'd only covered a page or two. The siren song of my mountainous TBR is calling, so I'm calling it quits on this one.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a galley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)
Tell me -- What is your greatest fear?
There was a long silence. No sounds but the low hum of the pool filter, the faraway grazing of a lawn mower, and the determined "clip clip" of a gardener on the other side of some tall azalea bushes, trimming away.
"That someone will see," Babe whispered, while at the same time, Truman murmured, "That someone will find me out."
"That no one will love me," Truman added after another moment. While at the same time, Babe admitted, "And that I'll never be loved, truly."
In her latest novel, Melanie Benjamin peeks behind the curtain of the famous friendships (and infamous exploits) of Truman Capote and his "Swans" -- the best-known New York socialites of the early and mid 1960's, including Babe Paley, Slim Keith and others. For years Capote and his Swans, particularly Babe, were inseparable, until Capote published a scathing short fiction piece in Esquire magazine that was a thinly-disguised portrait of the most embarrassing aspect of the Swans' lives. After publication, a schism developed between Capote and the group, and he was ostracized from their circle for good.
I found this book to be fascinating. On one level, it could just be read as a story of the glitterati gallivanting around the big city (and the world) doing nothing more than spending money and being "fabulous." But I looked at it as more as a character study -- both of the individuals involved and of personality types in general -- and a tale of love and friendship.
I know a bit about Truman Capote, but I haven't read about him extensively or seen any of the biopics about his life. Benjamin describes for us a man who is simultaneously overconfident about his talent and importance, yet still desperately longing for approval and acceptance.
"If he only told the best stories, dished the most delicious gossip, dropped the grandest of names.
Then, perhaps. Then. Would he truly belong?"
Why would Capote, who seemed to find pure (though platonic) love with Babe Paley, turn around and betray her in such a public way? Was it hubris? Did he think that they were so close she'd forgive him? Did he think he was so smart that no one would know who he was writing about? I don't know. It's a question as old as time -- why does any friend betray another?
I knew nothing about the famous 1960's socialites, but their worries and concerns are the same the world over, particularly for women obsessed with beauty, who think they're going to be "traded in" for a newer model when their husbands get bored.
"Blond, brunette, tall, short, European or Californian, they were still the same; only the exteriors were different. And they devoted their lives to maintaining this difference, striving to shine, be the one jewel who stood out. Yet at night, they took off the diamonds, and gowns and went to empty beds resigned to the fact that they were just women, after all. Women with a shelf life."
4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (más)
There was a long silence. No sounds but the low hum of the pool filter, the faraway grazing of a lawn mower, and the determined "clip clip" of a gardener on the other side of some tall azalea bushes, trimming away.
"That someone will see," Babe whispered, while at the same time, Truman murmured, "That someone will find me out."
"That no one will love me," Truman added after another moment. While at the same time, Babe admitted, "And that I'll never be loved, truly."
In her latest novel, Melanie Benjamin peeks behind the curtain of the famous friendships (and infamous exploits) of Truman Capote and his "Swans" -- the best-known New York socialites of the early and mid 1960's, including Babe Paley, Slim Keith and others. For years Capote and his Swans, particularly Babe, were inseparable, until Capote published a scathing short fiction piece in Esquire magazine that was a thinly-disguised portrait of the most embarrassing aspect of the Swans' lives. After publication, a schism developed between Capote and the group, and he was ostracized from their circle for good.
I found this book to be fascinating. On one level, it could just be read as a story of the glitterati gallivanting around the big city (and the world) doing nothing more than spending money and being "fabulous." But I looked at it as more as a character study -- both of the individuals involved and of personality types in general -- and a tale of love and friendship.
I know a bit about Truman Capote, but I haven't read about him extensively or seen any of the biopics about his life. Benjamin describes for us a man who is simultaneously overconfident about his talent and importance, yet still desperately longing for approval and acceptance.
"If he only told the best stories, dished the most delicious gossip, dropped the grandest of names.
Then, perhaps. Then. Would he truly belong?"
Why would Capote, who seemed to find pure (though platonic) love with Babe Paley, turn around and betray her in such a public way? Was it hubris? Did he think that they were so close she'd forgive him? Did he think he was so smart that no one would know who he was writing about? I don't know. It's a question as old as time -- why does any friend betray another?
I knew nothing about the famous 1960's socialites, but their worries and concerns are the same the world over, particularly for women obsessed with beauty, who think they're going to be "traded in" for a newer model when their husbands get bored.
"Blond, brunette, tall, short, European or Californian, they were still the same; only the exteriors were different. And they devoted their lives to maintaining this difference, striving to shine, be the one jewel who stood out. Yet at night, they took off the diamonds, and gowns and went to empty beds resigned to the fact that they were just women, after all. Women with a shelf life."
4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (más)
There are two perfectly suited readers for this audio book that I got from the library’s Overdrive collection, Paul Boehmer and Cassandra Campbell.
Listening to this book, I could just hear my Mom, back in the day when we watched old movies together, responding to the many names of yesteryear in that nostalgic way, “Oh Noel Coward, I wonder what became of him.” And then she would relay some personal tidbit like, “His sister was my best friend Anne’s frequent lunch companion when we were in college.” (I’m making that up, but you get the gist.) That’s not the only reason I enjoyed this book. I had not heard of many of these people and found their pride and their vulnerabilities all very human and compelling. And yes, it did make me sad that the glamour, elegance, and standards of earlier decades have been so thoroughly supplanted by the informalities of subsequent generations.
… (más)
Listening to this book, I could just hear my Mom, back in the day when we watched old movies together, responding to the many names of yesteryear in that nostalgic way, “Oh Noel Coward, I wonder what became of him.” And then she would relay some personal tidbit like, “His sister was my best friend Anne’s frequent lunch companion when we were in college.” (I’m making that up, but you get the gist.) That’s not the only reason I enjoyed this book. I had not heard of many of these people and found their pride and their vulnerabilities all very human and compelling. And yes, it did make me sad that the glamour, elegance, and standards of earlier decades have been so thoroughly supplanted by the informalities of subsequent generations.
… (más)
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- Obras
- 13
- Miembros
- 6,823
- Popularidad
- #3,583
- Valoración
- 3.8
- Reseñas
- 753
- ISBNs
- 118
- Idiomas
- 9
- Favorito
- 8
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Rich in details but a little too long for my liking.… (más)