Bernard F. Dick

I am not a fan of criticism of the type that deconstructs books and explains the meaning behind what the writer wrote. However, this book was filled with Vidal the person, juxtaposed with his writing, showing how much of his own biography he incorporated into his works. It starts with his first book published at age 20 which brought him fame and covers many of his other books, screenplays, plays and essays. This is an unique book about a unique American icon. He is considered the American Montaigne for his essays, however he is known for his novels...none of which has been used in any school curriculum...despite the historical bent and best seller status of some of them. Actually, at least one school had Myra Breckenridge as part of its study which from any point of view is strange. I wonder if the day will come when any other of his books are part of a Literature course? He stands with Henry James and Edmund Wilson as titans of a century.… (más)

Too much information! This turned out to be more of a filmography than the biographies of three very interesting individuals. There were endless details on film roles - movies made by Wyatt, Reagan, and Davis. The author did a wonderful job putting their movie careers into perspective, but I didn't need the endless details of other films being made at the same time - too much! There is some interesting information revealed about their personal lives, but then the author veered off in another direction - usually about more films.

Some interesting information on the personal lives ---

Reagan was Jane's third husband, she was his first wife and Nancy was his second. To the press, Jane and Reagan, known as "Jane and Ronnie," were the perfect couple. Wyman won an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Reagan never earned an Oscar nomination, never truly a star, but went on to much greater fame. Nancy became known as "the puppet master pulling Reagan's strings."

Jane Wyman - Hardened by a childhood of desertion, Jane developed the will to succeed. As a Hollywood star, she vowed to let nothing stand in her way, and nothing did, including her husbands. Unfortunately, marriage was not Jane's strong suit - there were five in all. Jane was never able to be a politician's wife. She felt inferior to her politically savvy husband. Politics were Reagan's forte, but certainly not Jane's. They had two children - Maureen, born one year after the marriage, and Michael, an adopted son. Jane was too immersed in her career, and being a mother was not a good role for her.

Ronald Reagan - After graduation from college as a sociology major, Reagan was not able to find a job and developed a movie career, but never became a great screen icon. He was a natural politician and was destined for something higher. After a failed marriage to Jane, he married the perfect wife for his political career, Nancy Davis. He became governor of California in 1966 and then on to be the 40th president of the United States in 1980.

Nancy Davis - Born Anne Francis Robbins, but she became known to movie goers, in the 1950s, as Nancy Davis. She continued in the movie industry until 1957, but she was not meant for stardom. After marrying Reagan, she took on his vision of himself as presidential material, and they begin their journey to the White House. They had two children, Patti and Ron.

I was hoping for more insight into the personal lives of these three individuals, but this was revealed in very small doses in the book. If you're a movie buff, the book might appeal to you. I wavered between a rating of 2-3, finally deciding on 2.5 stars. This book failed to captivate me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions shared are my own.… (más)

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

From Goodreads: "Hollywood Madonna explores the full saga of Loretta Young's professional and personal life. She made her film debut at age four, became a star at fifteen, and many awards and accolades later, made her final television movie at age seventy-six. This biography withholds none of the details of her affair with Clark Gable and the daughter that powerful love produced."

I was a bit disappointed that this book had very little information about Loretta Young's personal life compared to the onslaught of information regarding her body of work. It did talk about Loretta Young's younger life before she started acting at age 4, but after that the majority of the book, at least until she retired from acting, was all about movies and television. This might not have been so bad if the author didn't constantly veer off into talking about other movies and other television shows that were airing or being made at the same time as Loretta's movies and shows. If this information had been given as a short little aside, it would have been a bit more understandable, but whole sections were given over to discussing what else was going on in Hollywood at the same time, and that really wasn't why I wanted to read this book. It stated in the description of the book (see above) that it explored her professional AND personal life, and I really felt like the majority of her personal life was not mentioned at all. The fact that she had other children besides Judy (her daughter with Clark Gable) was barely touched on, or even mentioned at all, and although their births were not scandalous like Judy's was, they are still important when telling the full story of her personal life. I was glad to learn about the professional side of her story, but I didn't expect that to be the end all and be all of what made Loretta Young who she was.

The author also spoke a lot about Ms. Young being a staunch Catholic, and while this definitely played a role in who she was, it seemed like that was the only part of her personal story that Mr. Dick found interesting. I understand that she was a devout Catholic, but I think she was much, much more than just a Catholic and an actress, and I feel like I don't know much more about that than I did before I read the book. I just wish I had gained more insight into who she was as a person.

I found myself getting frustrated and having to put the book down for long periods of time because of the sheer volume of information given about movies and actors who had nothing to do with Loretta Young and her story. I think the book could have been cut down considerably and still told the story of Loretta Young, as the author sees it.

For film buffs, this book would be terrific! There was tons of information regarding movies from the 20's to the 50's which would appeal to them.

Another problem that I had was how many times the author said, "Ms. Young might have thought ...", or "Ms. Young may have decided ...", etc. I wasn't looking for inferences from the author, but facts about the actress.

I don't want to sound like I thought this was a terrible book, because it wasn't. It just wasn't what I thought it would be from the description. I'm sure it would appeal to people who are most interested in Loretta Young's professional life, and that's why I gave it 3 stars :)… (más)