gone girl

I recently finished reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I wanted to read it before I saw the David Fincher film. In a way, I wish I had seen the film first, as the book was so fresh in my mind, and so riveting a read, that I may not have been as blown away by the movie as I could have been.

Gone Girl is structured as a "he said," "she said" novel. It would not be giving too much away to say that both the he and she in the book, husband Nick Dunne and his wife Amy Elliott-Dunne, are unreliable narrators. The fun and the dread of the experience of reading their story is guessing just how unreliable they are. Even when one has finished the book, and ostensibly all the secrets have been revealed, the reader may not be entirely sure just how much of what they have read really happened. That is what takes Gone Girl from just being a thriller or police procedural to a twisted look at modern life.

Rosamund Pike is stunning — and stuns — as Amy in Gone Girl

A lot of people who have read the book and have watched the film view Gone Girl as the ultimate take-down of marriage. It is true that Flynn, in the voice of both her narrators, shows how difficult it can be to sustain a relationship. There are passages when Amy especially voices a female frustration with what men want, and her needing to play a role, the "cool girl," to keep her husband happy, that should resonate with many women. But the sorts of lies and deceptions and masks that we wear are not just found in marriage, but in all aspects of our lives. Flynn and her characters just take things to extremes.

I expect that I will have to watch the film again, at a later date, when I have a bit more distance from the book, to truly appreciate what Fincher and Co. have done. But I will say that Rosamund Pike was sensational as Amy. She was as compelling as her alter-ego Amy and Amazing Amy (wink). Ben Affleck was good as Nick, although I found him to be a bit too world-weary all the way through, without the All-American naiveté that I might have expected, at least at the start of the story. Especially good was Kim Dickens as Detective Rhonda Boney and Carrie Coon as Nick's twin sister Go (short for Margo). Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris were also good in smaller but pivotal roles. The only bum note was Emily Ratajkowski as Andie. Fincher and Flynn (who wrote the screenplay) chose to beef up the role of Boney, and play down the role of Andie, which both turned out to be excellent choices.

The women of Gone Girl, L-R: Kim Dickens, Rosamund Pike, Gillian Flynn, Carrie Coon, by Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times

Gone Girl the novel was also about writing — truth vs. fiction. We live in a world where that line is consistently blurred, from reality television to anything and everything we read online. Being writers, authors, is the meat and potatoes of the novel. Amy's parents are (once) successful authors of a children's book series, Amazing Amy, where they plundered their daughter's life for "teachable" content. Nick and Amy have both lost their jobs at New York magazines — Nick as a popular culture writer for a men's magazine, and Amy as a quiz writer for women's magazines. These authors have become obsolete, the content they used to provide easily available via the internet. Flynn would know all about this, as she was former television critic for Entertainment Weekly whose job was downsized in 2008. As their narratives unfold, Nick's seemingly in the present and Amy's in the past, via her diary, the reader can judge for themselves who is the better writer. And yes, it is a competition. And yes, it is Amy. Gone Girl is also a book, a mystery, that may benefit from a re-read, to see all the clues and signs one missed the first time around. I am definitely interested in reading whatever Flynn comes up with next.

lawrence block's pulp fiction: borderline

Lawrence Block is one of the country's best-known and successful mystery and crime novelists (8 Million Ways to Die, When the Sacred Ginmill Closes, The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart). He has created memorable characters like the hard-boiled detective Matthew Scudder and the charming burglar-turned-bookseller (and crime solver) Bernie Rhodenbarr. But many of his most ardent admirers may not know that Block started his writing career in the pulp field, frequently using pseudonyms to churn out stories mixing crime and sex. Hard Case Crime has been reissuing these lost dimestore novels, now under Block's name, and the latest, Borderline, is a doozy. Originally published in 1962 (but according to the book's copyright may have been written as early as 1958) as Border Lust by Don Holliday, Borderline centers around four people who all converge on the U.S./Mexico border, with tragic results.

Author Lawrence Block

...

Borderline and its accompanying short stories are a time capsule of what publisher's thought would excite the American male in the late '50s, early '60s. The girls are all very busty and aiming to please, and the men are hardly PC in their behavior. It must have been quite risqué at the time to include gay characters, both male and female. Pornography is so readily available these days that it is hard to imagine the role books like Borderline played in many lives, brown paper wrapping and all. But it does show what a training ground pulp fiction played for such a good and prolific writer as Lawrence Block.

You can read my complete review on Cinema Sentries

katharine hepburn: the making of the african queen

In the extremely engaging The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind actress Katharine Hepburn recounts her adventures in Africa while making the film classic The African Queen. She set off with director John Huston and Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall in 1951 for what she still calls (more than thirty years after the fact) the adventure of her life.

The intrepid Hepburn, always the iconoclast, stylish as always

Hepburn is endlessly self-deprecating, the first person to admit her quirks and foibles, but she also makes it quite clear that she is also persnickety, demanding, and at times, a real pain to deal with. She is, as Spencer Tracy called her, "A rare bird," and more than a bit old-fashioned about her creature comforts and her focus (even as a 40-something woman at the time) on her Father with a capital "F." She asks him for a letter of credit for her big African trip (didn't the successful actress have her own money?) and is very particular about selecting the perfect gift for him — a hand-carved to order ebony cane.

“Heaven to be the first one up and to eat breakfast all alone.”

She knows what she wants and thinks ahead — carrying her own furniture and other accoutrements. She decides to go off on her own to explore the flora and fauna, refusing to help Lauren Bacall arrange their meals (or take the traditional woman's role?) Hepburn was a vanguard for the time with her style and predilection for menswear, but it really paid off in the jungle, protecting her from bugs and being less binding and layered than women's clothing. Where she ran into trouble was with her holier-than-thou urologist's daughter's insistence on drinking lots of water. She ended up getting sick as a dog. Bogie and Huston stuck to whisky and never got sick.

Reading between the lines, she most definitely seems to have had a crush on Huston. She complains about him constantly, but her brief description of her life with Spencer Tracy suggests that she was used to, and attracted to, difficult men. Although she is against the hunting and killing of animals she is beyond thrilled to join Huston on one of his hunting forays into the jungle. Bogie had no interest. She praises Bogie's bravery and professionalism, but it is clear that he was too no-nonsense, direct, and practical for her to fall for him. But she and Bogie did form a lifelong friendship after making the picture. She briefly describes visiting him frequently with Spencer Tracy when he was dying of esophageal cancer.

“To put it simply: There was no bunk about Bogie. He was a man.”

Bogart and Bacall, having breakfast in their cabin

Some of her statements about blacks and whites are far from poetically correct. But Hepburn is a reflection of the times, and frankly, her class. It is clear from how she approaches the trip and life in general that she comes forms privileged background and was used to having servants and helpers.

Quibbles aside, hers is a fascinating account — it's amazing the film ever got made, with the difficult physical conditions and Huston taking off to shoot elephants whenever he got the chance. Huston's laissez-faire attitude on set and his ability to come up with a classic film makes me want to read White Hunter, Black Heart and his autobiography, An Open Book, next.

Hepburn, Bacall, and Bogart relaxing between takes

The Making of The African Queen is chock-full of behind-the-scenes photos, too. But it is Hepburn's unique voice and perspective that shine through. What an odd assortment of individuals. What a strange experience. And what a great film that came out of it all.

vb6, by mark bittman

The latest "alternative cookbook" that I have checked out recently is VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good by Marl Bittman. Bittman is the well-known New York Times food writer, and author of the very popular How to Cook Everything series. Bittman has spent his life loving and eating food, so it must have come as a blow to him when his doctor suggested that he change his diet to a vegan one, if he wanted to avoid developing diabetes and heart disease:

"He’d laid out the depressing facts for me: “Your blood numbers have always been fine but now they’re not. You weigh 40 pounds more than you should. You’re complaining of sleep apnea. You’re talking about knee surgery, which is a direct result of your being overweight. Your cholesterol, which has always been normal up until now, isn’t. Same with your blood sugar; it’s moved into the danger zone.” 

A more conventional doc would’ve simply put me on a drug like Lipitor, and maybe a low-fat diet. But Lipitor, one of the statin drugs that lowers cholesterol, is a permanent drug: Once you start taking it, you don’t stop. I didn’t like the idea of that. Furthermore, its effectiveness in healthy people has never been established, and it’s also been implicated in memory loss and other cognitive complications; I didn’t like the idea of any of that, either. And at this point, low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets have essentially been discredited: They might help you lose weight, but they’re not effective for maintaining that loss in the long term, and they may even wreak havoc on your system. 

But becoming a vegan? A person who eats no animal products at all? Calling that a radical change to my lifestyle was more than a bit of an understatement. Yet it was clear that something had to be done. I asked Sid, “Is a compromise possible? Any other ideas?” 

“You’re a smart guy,” he said. “Figure something out.”

Bittman did just that. He developed a diet, or more correctly, a way of eating, that would benefit his long-term health but also allow him to continue to enjoy the foods he craved and loved. The basic idea of VB^6, or Vegan Before 6pm, is pretty straightforward. Eat fruits and vegetables in abundance all day and after 6pm you can eat whatever you like. Of course he advises one to indulge sparingly. One should start thinking of meat as a condiment, not a centerpiece of a meal.

There is also a lot of information - about how foods are absorbed and processed in our bodies, if one is interested in the science of food, too. And Bittman is always an engaging and interesting writer. But I have to admit, I want dot just cut to the chase and get some meal ideas. And he did not disappoint. Bittman includes diet and menu plans for different eating styles - the restaurant regular, home cook, grazer, etc. He also includes pantry-stocking ideas and lays out a broad eating plan:

Before 6 p.m.
Eat as many of these foods as one wanted - vegetables, fruit, condiments (spices)
Eat sparingly - beans, whole grains, calorie dense fruits and vegetables (avocado and coconut), nuts and seeds, oils, sweet condiments, nut milks

After 6 p.m.
Eat these "treats" (sparingly) - meat, dairy, fish, seafood, processed grains, white flour, alcohol, dessert, junk food

VB6 also includes many recipes, all with  nutritional information. A few seems like ones I would like to try: easiest vegetable soup (p.160), falafel and tahini (p.180), vegan "creamsicles" (he substitutes yogurt for silken tofu). There was only one recipe, his homemade cereal, that I felt strong enough about to go pick up a few missing ingredients

Homemade Cold Cereal (p.138) 

3.5 cups rolled oats,
.5 cup mixed chopped nuts and seeds
.5 cup raisins or other chopped dried fruit
.25 cup unsweeteneded grated coconut
.5 tsp cinnamon or cardamom to taste
pinch salt
4 cups soy or other nondairy milk

Combine dry ingredients and store in airtight container in fridge for up to 2 months. To serve, put about 1 cup of cereal in bowl with .5 cup of milk. If you have time, let bowl sit for 5-10 minutes to let oats absorb milk and soften.

There was one recipe that completely put me off. I have to draw the line at his "Eggplant un-Parmesan." What is the point of making a Parmesan without cheese? Just wait until after 6 p.m. to have some mozzarella and parmesan.

For the most part I think VB6 is a good guideline for eating healthfully. You may just lose a little weight while you're at it, too.

the untethered soul by michael singer

I am continuing my journey to relax and enjoy life more and a friend recently suggested that I read The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, by Michael Singer. Written in 2007, the book is still profiting from excellent word-of-mouth, and was even profiled recently on Oprah's OWN network.

The book is designed as a guide to helping to suppress one's ego and seek true enlightenment. It is the sort of book that one may want to go back to again, and again. Singer uses easy-to-understand prose to convey deep spiritual concepts, such as opening one's heart and finding one's true self. He begins by discussing the voice inside your head, the one that never shuts up, and narrates the world. The first exercise is to try to still the constant chatter of what he calls "your inner roommate."

"True personal growth is about transcending the part of you that is not okay and needs protection. This is done by constantly remembering that you were the one inside who notices the voice talking."

Another important step is to open your heart, and keep it open. Closing is a habit.

"... Closing your heart does not really protect you from anything; it just cuts you off from your source of energy. In the end it only serves to lock you inside "

Once your heart is open, you can let all things, good and bad, move through you, rather than getting caught up in very little thing that might bother you. He acknowledges that we all still will have things that bug us, from minor to major events, but the key will be not to to hold onto them in future.

"Learn to be centered enough to just watch this stuff come up. Once you sit deeply enough inside to stop fighting the stored energy patterns, they'll come up constantly and pass right through you."

The best thing a person could do is act as their own witness. An impartial observer. Don't listen to your psyche, which are just your fears talking. Be an observer. Take a position behind yourself, behind your fear. Let your fears pass through you.

"People don't understand that fear is a thing. It's just another object in the universe that you are capable of experiencing. You can do one of two things with fear: you can recognize that you have it and work to release it, or you can keep it and try to hide from it."

Singer uses an analogy of the inner thorn. We work so hard to protect ourselves, so that nothing touches our pain or our fears. But we should instead decide to pull out the thorn, or at least to let it work itself free.

"Just keep doing this with all those little things that come up each day. It is a very private thing you do inside yourself. You will soon see that your mind is constantly driving you crazy over nothing. If you don't want to be like that, then stop putting energy into your psyche. That is all there is to it. If you follow this path, the only action you ever take is to relax and release. When you start to see this stuff going on inside, you just relax your shoulders, relax your heart, and fall back behind it. Do not touch it. Do not get involved in it. And do not try to stop it. Simply be aware that you're seeing it. That's how you get out. You just let it go."

I have to say that since I started reading this book I have already felt a lightening, a relaxing. I have made the decision to choose to be happy, and it seems to be making a difference. Singer warns that almost as soon as one chooses to be happy, that the universe will throw you a curve ball. I have to admit that he was right. But when I got a phone call that could have freaked me out, I simply chose not to. It was about something over which I had no control. I have really been trying to just accept things and move on, let them move through me.

This is one of those books that I think everyone should read. If you are open to being open, it is likely to have a profound effect. I borrowed it from the library, but I may have to go pick up my own copy. It would be helpful to pick it up and read a page or two from time to time, as a reminder, as reassurance.

the happiness project by gretchen rubin

I have been reading a lot of books lately about clearing out the clutter of one's home (and mind), for an easier life. A friend suggested I might want to check out The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin, so I gave it a try. I can't say that there was anything new or startling in its pages, but it was a quick, mostly fun read.

The book begins with Rubin wondering one afternoon if she is really happy, and what that means for her life and for our modern society. The former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a born researcher — she started reading every book on the subject of happiness and has compiled tons of quotes and distilled theories from great minds through the ages, which she shares here with her readers. After doing a little research of my own I discovered that she also lives in much tonier digs and has a much comfier lifestyle than the "just us folks" tone of her book might suggest.

Gretchen Rubin, happy at home

"... Happiness has four stages. To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory."

Rubin is also a compulsive list-maker and in love with charting and graphing her progress, so she offers ideas about keeping a "happiness chart" and different projects or areas of one's life that could be examined month-by-month for an entire year. The rigid structure of the book left me kind of cold. I like to change things in my day-to-day life — the position of the furniture in a room, what I might eat or drink to see if it has a beneficial effect, but I would tend to feel overburdened if I had to keep a resolution chart to keep tabs on my progress. That would feel like taking a test. I hate the idea of a food diary. It just makes me feel bad if on Monday a turkey sandwich agreed with me and on Wednesday it didn't. But Rubin, as she keeps reminding us ad nauseum throughout The Happiness Project, is addicted to gold stars and recognition for her efforts. She likes writing happiness commandments and setting resolutions. That all seemed a bit gimmicky for me.

So while I might find her a bit overbearing to hang out with on a regular basis (enough about how you live in New York City, and over sharing about the hubby and kiddies, blah, blah, blah), I did enjoy some of the quotes and ideas about happiness that she culled and shared. A quote from the poet William Butler Yeats resonated, "Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth." I like that. Rubin, thankfully, is not all serious, all the time. She can be funny, too, "Love is a funny thing. I'd donate a kidney to Jamie [her husband] without a moment's hesitation, but I was intensely annoyed if he asked me to make a special stop at the drugstore to pick up shaving cream."

The saving grace of the sometimes overly pushy Rubin and her project is that she is human, as the above quote proves. Her happiness project is a work-in-progress, and not a be-all or win situation. It has also turned into a highly lucrative career for her, as the book and its follow-up were both best sellers. It also generated a blog and other associated merchandise. Who's happy now?

So was reading The Happiness Project at all helpful to my own personal journey? I have to say yes. Rubin admits to being an impatient person, but one month she decided to let a bit of that go, and remind herself to give other people some slack. I think that is a helpful reminder on how to deal with that person who cut you off on the road or in line at the grocery store. Instead of your go-to response to curse them out or get ticked or upset or whatever else such bad behavior usually elicits, take a step back and give them some slack. You don't know what their story is, what their hurry is. Yes, the answer may even be that they are a rude jerk, but so what. Let it go. It really doesn't matter, and the foul mood it puts you in simply isn't worth it. Since I read The Happiness Project I have been trying to deal with frustrating people and situations by giving them — and myself — a bit more slack. And I have to admit it helps.

some more feng shui reading — done

My quest continues, to improve my health, my life, my surroundings. I have recently been making some changes around the house, utilizing the age-old practice of feng shui to improve our surroundings. Feng shui must be big in the British Isles, because three out of five of these books on this list were written by Brits. I'm not sure if that means anything, but it is interesting that most of the books that I am picking up to research the subject turn out to be either written by, or published, in Britain. Here are the latest from my reading list.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui, Third Edition, by Stephen L. Field, Ph.D. 

There was altogether too much math in this book. I found myself doing all sorts of calculations to try and determine what my Personal Trigram is, and what the most (and least) auspicious directions would be in my house. Once I got to the Four Pillars of Destiny I gave up. The emphasis is squarely on improving one's luck and fortune, rather than a harmonious living space, which is more what I'm after. The luck, I believe, will come, once I am feeling happier and more at peace in my home. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui also tries to debunk, in a very snobbish way, some common feng shui "cures" which can be found in just about every other book that I have consulted, such as mirrors used to fix problem areas in the home. According to this book, only the five phases (fire, earth, metal, water, wood) can be used to remedy and enhance feng shui. So with all that math and very little return I am filing this book as a big flop. 

The Feng Shui Handbook: How To Create A Healthier Living & Working Environment (Henry Holt Reference Book), by Master Lam Kam Chuen 

This is a nicely illustrated, general guide to feng shui principles. It includes a good history of feng shui, and has some sample room layouts and cures for common problems. The focus here may be more on the exterior of homes, and would come in handy if one was purchasing a new home and was wondering if its position was auspicious — how it relates to nearby hills, water, and other influences. A nice book to dip your toe into feng shui, but not one to consult if you are looking for some real, practical things to do inside your current home. 

Feng Shui for Your Home: An Illustrated Guide to Creating a Harmonious, Happy and Prosperous Living Environment, by Sarah Surety 

Another nicely illustrated book that offers both feng shui basics and some real-life feng shui cures. The author talks about cleansing a space, which I did recently, as well as other elements to introduce into your home to increase prosperity, such as plants, mirrors, and light. It is an easy, user-friendly read, and one that I might go back to often to consult, if I was going to rearrange some furniture in a bedroom and wanted some tips on where to best position the bed, for example. 

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui: Free Yourself from Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Clutter Forever, by Karen Kingston 

This is a nice little book that makes the connection between clean house, clear mind. I like how the author covers not only the real day-to-day clutter that we all accumulate and should regularly clear out, like paperwork, old clothes, magazines, etc., but also focuses on how that clutter, whether it is your own, or a partner or family member's, affects your health and energy. A quick and easy read, but one that will make you think a little bit about what you hold onto. Hopefully you will decide that you don't need to be featured on the next episode of Hoarders after reading this book. 

Feng Shui In A Weekend: Transform Your Life and Home in a Weekend or Less, by Simon Brown 

This is a very user-friendly, how-to sort of book, with bright, bold graphics and lots of photos. It includes loads of tips and projects — there are actually many weekend projects to choose from. The author doesn't intend the reader to be able to completely rearrange their home in one weekend, but they could implement many of these cures over time. Like Clear Your Clutter, I liked that the emphasis was as much on taking care of your personal well-being as that of your surroundings. One thing feeds off the other, and the greater goal is to achieve harmony in all aspects of one's life. This is another book that I could find myself going back to for suggestions on quick fixes, such as what colors to paint my daughter's room to help her study, or ways to enhance a bathroom or the wealth area of my home.

I'm not completely done on my feng shui project yet, but I have to say that just a few of the changes I have made around the house since I started, such as reclaiming a space and introducing more plants and changing the flow of our main living space seem to already have made an impact. I feel like our home is more beautiful, more peaceful. There is alway room for improvement, of course, but I really do feel like I'm on the right track. Wish me luck as I continue my journey.

cameron diaz — the body book

"Oh great," you might think, "Another celebrity diet book." But Cameron Diaz has taken a different spin with The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body. Yes, it will most likely garner interest because of its celebrity association. But Diaz is not interested in anyone who might pick up this book to not eat or eat less or grab it as a quick guide to losing weight. She wants to celebrate bodies — hers, yours, everyone's.

That sounds a little goofy, and, as Diaz is the first to admit, she is, a little. But there is also a lot of common sense in The Body Book. It can even be viewed as a tour of the human body (primarily geared towards women's bodies), with Diaz sharing anecdotes on how she got herself strong and healthy over the years. Things seemed to come together for her while she was making Charlie's Angels back in 2000. The role required a lot of training, and she had to change the way she ate and the way she worked out to get strong enough for the physically demanding role. She admits that she has always been physically active, which is half the battle to staying healthy, but at the same time her diet was in a shambles — fast food and cheeseburgers seem to have been her go-to cuisine, which resulted in skin and stomach problems.

"If you are what you eat, I was a bean burrito with extra cheese and extra sauce, no onions."

The Body Book, which Diaz has written with the help of Sandra Bark, is divided into three sections, Nutrition, Fitness, and Mind. With the help of many credited experts, Diaz covers all of the body's amazing abilities, from digestion to exercise to sex. She also points out that discipline is at the core of her health regime. One has to be pretty consistent about eating right, moving their body, and getting enough sleep if they want to live long and prosper. Yes, a lot of this is what your mom or grandma has been telling you forever, but it is presented in a witty and enthusiastic manner. It's a modern day self-help textbook, reminding us how the body works — you know, all the stuff you might have dozed through in high school biology class but now might find pretty interesting.  And Diaz wants to get you interested. She is so jazzed about amino acids and the true nature of calories (energy, people!)  and what our bodies have been designed to do that it is hard not to get excited along with her. Plus, she's funny.

"Just because you can put something in your mouth, chew it, swallow it, and then poop it out does not mean it is food. It just means you can chew it, swallow it, and poop it out!"

She has some good tips for folks who need a little push to get started to clean up their diets. She recommends drinking a big bottle of water every morning, first thing — and continuing to drink water throughout the day. She relates why sugary mochaccinos and sodas and the like are just not good enough. She has some simple, practical advice for getting a good night's sleep — create a routine and stick to it, including keeping things quiet and dark and gadget-free. One chapter that really resonated with me was towards the ending of the book, "Unpacking Your Habits," which points out how much more control we have over our choices, our habits, than we think. That afternoon run to Starbucks — do we really need it, or have we convinced ourselves we do because we have chosen to do it so often that it has become a habit? On the plus side, we can take a walk, do some exercise, skip the sugary snack too, make those a habit, if we start do them on a regular basis.

I really liked The Body Book. I have already instilled a new habit inspired by Diaz — drinking a big glass of water first thing when I rise. A lot of the other information shared by Cameron Diaz and her advisers I am taking as a nudge to keep on the healthy path, or to amp things up a little, especially in the realm of getting moving, as a lot of the things I like to do — write, read, watch movies — are sedentary activities. Diaz has obviously had fun putting this book together and I had fun reading what she had to say.

barbara stanwyck: steel true 1907-1940

Victoria Wilson's new biography, A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 is impressive, if just for its length and heft. It is just the first half of a two-part exhaustive look into the life and career of one of Hollywood's most enduring, yet shyest stars. Stanwyck, born Ruby Stevens, started life in Brooklyn as a quasi-orphan. Her mother died when she was quite young and her father disappeared soon after, leaving young Ruby and her brother Byron to be raised by friends and family. Her three older sisters tried to help with the two younger children, but had families and struggles of their own, and Ruby and Byron were frequently separated. Her older sister Mildred was in show business, a chorus girl in traveling shows, and as soon as Ruby could, she joined her sister on the road, and eventually, after watching and learning, tried to pursue similar opportunities for herself.

Ruby Stevens, c. 1927

She became a chorus girl and landed a spot, in 1922 and '23, as a dancer for the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1926 she was given the opportunity to step out of the line and play the part of a chorus girl in a play on Broadway called The Noose. During the run of the highly successful play it was suggested that she change her name, and Barbara Stanwyck was born. Two years later saw Stanwyck on the way to Hollywood with her new husband Frank Fay. He was the toast of Vaudeville and Broadway and was, like many stage performers of the time, being wooed to star on the silver screen. But Fay and movies didn't quite mesh.

Wilson mentions the rumor that their relationship might have been the basis for the film A Star is Born, but just as quickly dismisses the possibility and offers other examples. According to Wilson, Stanwyck was unhappy staying at home and playing at being a housewife, something a woman with her vagabond existence had no talent for. Fay asked his connections at the studio to put her in a picture as a favor — it was soon discovered that she was the real deal, and Fay was not, at least as far as Hollywood was concerned. As Stanwyck's star began to rise, Fay's began to decline, not helped at all by his alcoholism. Stanwyck never forgot how he helped start her career and was grateful. She also loved him, but stayed with him far too long.

Wilson, who is also an editor at Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, goes on far too long about the marriage, and how frustrated Stanwyck must have been on a day-to-day basis. Editor, edit thyself? This book may win awards for tenacity and veracity, perhaps, but not really readability. There is altogether too much repetition throughout the lengthy tome. How many times can Wilson mention that Stanwyck was private, shunned parties and such? Or that Fay was a drunk? The book is meticulously researched and detailed, but it is also sooooo loong. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck is only the first in a planned two-volume set. Would the star really want such a detailed accounting of her life and work? After being reminded by the author for the umpteenth time how much the private Stanwyck shunned the limelight, the reader is forced to focus on how intrusive the subject of this biography might find this voluminous undertaking.

On the plus side, Wilson gives as detailed a description of Stanwyck's films as she does the times they were made - notable news events like the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the Depression — highlighting how insular Hollywood was, with it's inflated salaries, from the real struggles going on in the country. The author works hard to bring 1920s New York stage and 1930s Hollywood to life, and much is fascinating. But she is sometimes so wedded to her "just the facts, ma'am" approach that when she finally does have a chance to reveal some folks from Stanwyck's early days - who became who in Hollywood - it falls flat. Friends like roommate Violet Mary Klotz who became actress Mae Clarke (The girl who had Jimmy Cagney infamously shove half a grapefruit in her kisser) and her acquaintance the wild Bille Cassin, later Lucille LeSeur, later her very good friend ... Joan Crawford — names any classic movie buff would know, so why be coy about revealing them? There is a distinct lack of foreshadowing throughout, which would have made this so-serious book a lot more fun.

Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Capra

For fans of Hollywood gossip, there is some, interspersed with all of the descriptive text. Director Frank Capra had a crush in her. Stanwyck had a botched abortion as a teenager that left her infertile. Fay may have hit her and had mental problems. But for the most part, A Life of Barbara Stanwyck is a collection of facts, dates, and research. The author gives blow-by-blow descriptions of each movie plot, but with no interpretation or review of Stanwyck in the role. She does, however cite other current reviews of the time, but no modern look at the films. The quality of the photos in the book were disappointing too — for such a mammoth undertaking couldn't higher quality movie stills be found?

Conflicting or contrasting facts or quotes are included, too. Wilson spends the first half of the book emphasizing how much Stanwyck hated Hollywood and parties,

"I wouldn't wear an ermine coat to a Hollywood opening if I was offered the coat and $1000 bonus. All of the ermine coats the furriers had in stock were rented to movie people for the opening of Grand Hotel. Imagine putting on a show like that just to let people think you're more prosperous than you are. Not for me."

But once Fay is finally out of her life, her feelings about such things change. She little by little begins to venture out, with the help of her friend and agent Zeppo Marx and his wife. Once she left Fay she suddenly became more social, going to parties and nightclubs — even wearing (gasp) ermine. There are more than a few such contradictory passages in the book. Of course Stanwyck could have changed her mind, but after 500 pages of stating (over and over) how she hated to socialize, dress up, etc., why present the opposite so matter-of-factly? The author leaves the reader to come up with the real answer — that Fay — who was tyrannical and abusive, kept Stanwyck close to home. He didn't like to socialize and certainly didn't want her to. This could have been a portrait of a woman who was strong in many ways, in her career and elsewhere, but was also in an oppressive, abusive relationship.

Readers (those with stamina) have to slog through Stanwyck's unhappy relationship with Fay for more than half the book until we and the star finally get a glimpse of the handsome Robert Taylor.

Stanwyck and Taylor

Is it worth the wait? It is certainly interesting that (understandably marriage-shy) Stanwyck and Taylor were pressured by Hollywood's skewed morals squad to make their long-term romance official, as they did with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard and other unmarried celebrity couples. But most readers may be bleary-eyed before they get to this part of the over-1000 page book. It takes until page 610 to really read about one of the few of Stanwyck's early film efforts that even the most dedicated film fan may have seen, Stella Dallas (1937).

Barbara Stanwyck was undeniably a great actress. She made some wonderful movies, although her real Hollywood heyday, and most of her classic  films, the ones for which she is best remembered, will not turn up until the second volume, whenever that one comes out — The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, Christmas in Connecticut, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Sorry, Wrong Number, The File on Thelma Jordon, Clash by Night, Titanic — not to mention her easy transition to television later in her life in The Big Valley and The Thorn Birds. Barbara Stanwyck and her career is certainly worthy of biography. One just wishes that she and her films could have been approached in a more critical and more concise manner.

Originally published on Blogcritics: Book Review: ‘A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel True, 1907-1940,’ by Victoria Wilson

the tucci cookbook

I heard that the actor Stanley Tucci had written a cookbook — not a surprise from the star and moving force behind the cinematic delightful ode to Italian food, Big Night. But until I picked up The Tucci Cookbook I had no idea how deeply his love of food and cooking went. Readers of this cookbook will be happy to find included his step-by-step directions for the movie's signature dish, timpano, and its many variations.


This is not just a book of recipes, but a collection of stories, as Tucci records variations on dishes from both sides of his family, dishes he has learned from professionals (most notably chef and co-author Gianni Scappin, who is the executive chef at Castellano in New York), and basic Italian recipes he has perfected on his own. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated, with photos that are apt to make one's mouth water. To be perfectly honest, however, there are many dishes that tend to be either fried or deep-fried, or center around starches, that in my new way of eating I am not likely to try. But there are still enough to tempt me:

Eggplant antipasto (his take on the classic Sicilian dish caponata), p. 10

Vegetable tart, p. 17 and Stuffed Pizza, p. 104 - which both sound a bit like my family's special dish, sfincioni


Basic Vinaigrette, p.48 and Sherry Shallot Vinaigrette, p. 49

Chicken Soup with Tiny Chicken Meatballs, p. 52 and Grace's Chicken Soup with Mozzerella, p. 64


Walnut Bread, p. 91 - I haven't done a lot of baking, but this bread makes me want to try

Rice with Sage, p. 192

Ponticello's Orange Cookies, p. 328

Tucci is a respected actor who has had success on stage, television (Murder One, ER), and screen (The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia, Easy A, Burlesque, Muppets Most Wanted). The busy actor seems to be in every movie these days, from his Academy award-nominated role in The Lovely Bones, to his colorful character in The Hunger Games films.

It is clear after reading The Tucci Cookbook that Tucci is not only comfortable in the kitchen, but spends most of his free time there, preparing food for himself and his family. Whether one is up to a multi-staged and prepped dish like timpano, or just looking for a nice twist on a pasta or other favorite Italian dish, the basic lesson one can learn from Tucci and his friends and family is that good food, prepared with fresh ingredients and love is the way to go. Bravo.