A Life Discarded

Masters, Alexander. A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2016. Print.

First Sentences:

One breezy afternoon, my friend Richard Grove was mooching around Cambridge with his shirt hanging out, when he came across this skip [dumpster]. 

...Clustered inside a broken shower basin, wedged into the gaps around a wrenched-of door, flapping in the breeze on top of the broken bricks and slates, were armfuls of books.

Description:

Who can resist a story about 148 notebooks recovered from a trash bin in Cambridge, England? And when these notebooks turn out to be a multi-volume, 15,000-page diary covering over 50 years, well, I'm hooked. Such is the lure of Alexander Masters' A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash, and his dogged journey to read these missives and discover the identity and life of the author. And, incidentally, who threw these books into the dumpster? And why?

Covering the years from 1952 through 2001, a few months before they were discarded/found, the diaries recount the thoughts, events, and dreams of one unknown person. But Masters slowly uncovers certain interesting facts about this writer. First, the person, referred to as "I" (male or female?) was 13 years old when the first entries appeared, a date known because there were entries throughout the volumes describing the diarist's birthdays, Such chronicles continued until the author was 62.

A person can write five million words about itself, and forget to tell you its name. Or its sex.

Masters refers to the author as "I" or "Not-Mary" since there was an entry about a teacher who forgot the diarist's name, called the writer :Mary," and was corrected that her name was "not Mary." Of course, that meant the writer was a woman. [Sorry, this is not exactly a spoiler since the discovery occurs in the first few pages of the book.]

But where did the diarist live? Where did she go to school? What did the numerous cartoonish drawings appearing throughout the notebooks mean? And who were the fondly-referred to but highly critical "E" (a lover?), the detestable Peter ("Stinky Peter", her "gaoler") and the caricatured, flat-faced "Clarence"?

Masters consults with a graphologist to understand what traits the diarist's handwriting might reveal and why the lettering drastically changes over the years. He also meets with a private detective who specializes in missing persons, and talks with archivists who look at histories of the areas mentioned. He visits a potential school where 'Not-Mary" might have attended, explores the ruins of a manorial house that might have been her home, and interviews a former art teacher (who does not remember any student, much less the diary's "I").

The diaries are the frenzied writings in tiny script of the events of an unknown mind as she works her way through life, people, jobs, and loves. She seems to be artistic, sensitive, troubled, and a bit of a hypochondriac. Other that these brief peeks into her life, it is dogged work for Masters to uncover and interpret any writing to reveal the diarist.

...the rotted pages were filled with handwriting, right up to the edges, as though the words had been poured in as a fluid.

Challenging, fascinating, frustrating, and humorous, A Life Discarded is a true-life detective tale with real people with genuine emotions and thoughts. It can be eerie, as Masters discovers, to read a woman's innermost thoughts, but he continues on with his quest to unravel the mystery. But always in the back of his mind is a slight hesitation, even after five years, to find the answers to his questions and solve her identity, and thus end this fascinating journey. 

What drives the book is the honesty and truthfulness of the diarist who writes what she feels, thinks, and dreams, always, on good days and bad. An intimate look into the mind of one person over five decades as she lives her life.

"I cling to life very desperately -- feel I could do great things -- very afraid of physical disaster, nothing could be worse --could not bear to die before I had given of my gifts to the community -- have already worked & suffered so to bring my gifts towards fruition."

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Lansky, Aaron. Outwitting History

One man's effort to discover and preserve Yiddish books from the trash and discarded libraries of people who brought them when they fled Europe during World War II. (previously reviewed here)

Waterman

Davis, David. Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

The precise moment when Duke Paoa Kahanamoku slipped into the shimmering blue waters of the Pacific Ocean is lost to history.

Duke himself recalled only that he was around four years old when his father, so proud of his namesake, the first of the Kahanamoku children to survive infancy, tossed him over the side of a canoe somewhere off Waikiki Beach.

"It was save yourself or drown," he said, "so I saved myself."

Description:

Is there a more fun name to say than "Duke Kahanamoku" (Kah HAN ah MO koo)? And was there ever a better swimmer and ambassador for everything related to water sports? From surfing to open water swimming, paddle-boarding, outrigger canoeing and upright paddling to body surfing, Duke was The Man of the early twentieth century as recounted in David Davis' fascinating biography, Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku.

Duke grew up on Waikiki beach in the 1890s when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom. He spent his youth playing in the water, diving for coins tossed from tourist ocean liners, paddling outrigger canoes, and of course swimming. He also mastered "wave-riding" (surfing) using a 16' redwood board that weighed 150 pounds. At that time surfing was unknown outside of Hawaii, so it was Duke who later introduced the sport to California, Australia, and every other beach internationally that he visited.

Duke entered and set world records in AAU swim meets held in the open waters of Honolulu and again in amateur national meets on the Mainland. Duke went on to win Olympic medals in 1912, 1920, and 1924 in the Games held in Stockholm. (with Jim Thorpe), in Antwerp, and Paris (with teammate/rival Johnny Weissmuller). He turned his international recognition turned world tours and swimming demonstrations in Europe, Asia, and Australia. 

But back in Hawaii Duke faced racial discrimination and lack of employment. As an amateur, he could not make money from anything swimming-related, so the only work he could find was as a janitor/caretaker of the Honolulu government buildings, mowing lawns, sweeping halls, and cleaning bathrooms. He later owned a small gas station where he pumped gas below his surfboard hung outside as a promotional sign.

Author Davis details story after story of Duke's life in the water. In 1925, Duke performed a heroic rescue of eight passengers of a sinking boat in dangerously heavy seas in Newport Beach. Using his surfboard he performed "the most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen" according to the Newport Chief of Police. Seventeen other passengers from that same perished. After that incident, all California lifeguards started using surfboards for their rescues.

But he always remained upbeat, uncomplaining about his slights in his life. He remained the unofficial ambassador of Hawaii, greeting incoming tourists and VIPs with leis, tours, and surfing lessons. Eventually he became the Sheriff of Honolulu, a small job that became important overnight when nearby Pearl Harbor was attacked. He even made two dozen movies with Paramount Pictures.

Duke Kahanamoku was an international figure in an era when the sport of swimming was as eagerly followed as baseball and boxing by a sports-hungry world. This well-researched book is a wonderful detailing of his life, his skills in the water, and his bigger-than-life personality that brought Hawaii into the consciousness of the world in the twentieth century. Highly recommended for lovers of swimming, history, and Hawaii.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Checkoway, Julie. The Three-Year Swim Club The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory

True story of the non-swimming elementary school teacher who developed 
children from poor sugar cane workers' from splashing around in an irrigation ditch in Maui, Hawaii to winning national and Olympic championships in the 1930s.

Brown, Daniel James. The Boys in the Boat

True story of the men who rowed to Olympic history and a gold medal in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. (previously reviewed here)

Davis, David. Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze.

Historical re-telling of the events of the 1908 Olympic marathon, the controversial finish (where one runner ran the wrong way in the stadium and was disqualified after being assisted by officials) and the training these pioneer runners endured.

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit

Seal, Mark. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall  of a Serial Impostor. New York: Plume. 2011. Print.

First Sentences:

The public's first glimpse at the "real" Clark Rockefeller was on May 28, 2009 at the Suffolk County Superior Court in downtown Boston

Hordes of spectators and press were eager to finally get a good look at the mystery man who had simultaneously fascinated and horrified Bostonians for nearly a year.

Description:

Whoever said "Truth is stranger than fiction" must have had the odd life of Clark Rockefeller in mind - mainly because there never was a "Clark Rockefeller." There was only Christian Gerhartsreiter passing himself off at parties, in communities, in marriage, and even fatherhood for twelve years as Clark Rockefeller, the distant cousin of the famous Rockefeller family.  

Mark Seal in his utterly chilling, fascinating research into this man, brings readers deeply into the weird, unique world of  The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall  of a Serial Impostor.

We are introduced to "Clark Rockefeller" in the opening pages as he kidnaps his own daughter and tries to flee the country, only to be caught and brought to trial. It is during this trial that the court discovers there is no background data on this man and thus his impostor role is revealed.

Christian Gerhartsreiter previously had assumed many identities and personalities including a Wall Street trader and a relative of British royalty. Hitting on the idea of becoming an obscure Rockefeller was his most brilliant con. Everyone wanted the honor of rubbing shoulders with a Rockefeller, so no one bothered to check whether there actually was a "Clark Rockefeller."

Gerhartsreiter as Clark was able to marry a wealthy woman and produce a daughter. He also might have killed two men. It was his wife and her family who first began to have doubts about his true identity and began to investigate his origins, leading to divorce and his plans to kidnap his daughter.

It is an incredible, yet true story that cannot be put down, one of the best non-fiction accounts I can remember reading. Seal interviewed over 200 people about their experiences with "Clark," with many embarrassed to have been so completely taken in. But facing Gerhartsreiter's total command of the Clark character and strong personality would have been hard for anyone to have doubted his authenticity at the time.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a gem, all the more fascinating for being true. Certainly it is stranger than fiction.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Abagnale, Frank. Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Astonishing true memoir of Frank Abagnale who successfully passed himself off as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, lawyer, and college professor, as well as a forger/casher of bogus checks. Riveting, clever, unbelievable story that is all real.

The Millionaire and the Bard

Mays, Andrea. The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

William Shakespeare died in April 1616 on or around his fifty-second birthday.

He was mourned by a small group of devoted family members, friends, and theatrical colleagues. His most productive years and major creative accomplishments were long behind him...Whatever ended Shakespeare's life, he died within one hundred yards of the place where he was born.

Description:

Maybe you are not very familiar with William Shakespeare, his influence on drama and literature, his era, and his lasting popularity. Maybe you are not clear that, without the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio which was the first collection of all his plays, we would not even know of Hamlet, Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. And maybe you don't know about the obsession of one man, Henry Folger, who tried to collect every existing copy of the first folios to preserve them and relish in his possession of them.

Fear not. Andrea Mays clearly answers all questions Shakespeare- and Folger-related in her wonderful, fact-packed narrative of The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio. First we get an introductory, but solid detailing of Shakespeare's life, his work as an actor and playwright, and his power to astonish audiences from commoners to royalty. Then there is a short retelling of how the collected plays came to be published, and finally how they became the rarities sought by collectors, especially Folger, in the twentieth century.

It was soon after that and the death of Shakespeare in 1616 that John Heminges and Henry Condell, actors and share-holders in Shakespeare' company, set out to preserve all eighteen plays and publish them together in one folio (book). But plays at that time were not written down mainly to protect against other companies performing the plays without authorization. To the public, plays were to be watched, not read, so there was little call for printed version of drama. Also, many actors were illiterate so did not need complete copies of the play, relying instead on the directions of the playwright and director and their own memories. 

Using their recollections of company members, pirated versions copied by rival companies, and other sources now unknown, Heminges and Condell painstakingly created the First Folio which was printed over two years in a small run of 750 copies with 900 pages in each book. Details of the printing of such a massive volume were fascinating. 

If they had waited any longer, it might never have been printed. Within a generation, a Puritan dark age of antitheatrical mania, an attempt to "appease and avert the wrath of God," would create an eighteen-year gap in theater history. There would be no stage performances to keep the plays alive, no passing of Shakespeare's torch from one generation of actors to the next. By 1660, and the renaissance of English theater under the patronage of Charles II, it would have been too late; the age of Shakespeare's King's Men would have long passed, and with it all hope of recovering what, a generation earlier, Heminges and Condell had saved.

At that time the First Folio was in little demand, taking nine years to sell out. This First Folio, created by two men who knew and worked with Shakespeare, became the only authentic version of Shakespeare's plays as they were performed to Renaissance audiences. Other folios came later, but none matched the accuracy or completeness of the First Folio. Less than 200 copies survive today with only about 35 complete with all pages, title page, and woodcut of Shakespeare.

Enter Henry Clay Folger, a brilliant accountant with the new Standard Oil Company. Folger, as he rose in the ranks in responsibility and salary, began to collect Shakespearean rarities, including First Folios. At that time, the folios were not in high demand (indeed, some libraries and museums discarded First Folios and replaced them with Second, Third, and Fourth Folios, versions that superseded the First, but were actually full of errors, revisions, and plays not written by Shakespeare). Folger initially could only buy battered copies fairly cheaply. Soon, though, the better, more complete (and expensive) copies lured him and his wife and the passion to purchase grew to an obsession.

Folger became a Shakespeare expert, acquiring all things Shakespeare. Author Mays tells the gripping tales of discovery of rarities, bidding, and acquiring (or losing out on) these items. One First Folio took four years to negotiate at a cost of $50,000, more than the much rarer Gutenberg Bible. One copy was nearly discarded as trash after being found in a barn loft in Sweden. He lost out on several very rare copies due to his cheapness and lack of urgency, but he did not repeat those failings often. What he wanted, he got, keeping his identity a mystery so sellers would not know of his passion and raise prices. Eventually, Folger acquired 82 copies of First Folios, about a third of all known existing copies.

But what to do with the collection? Folger in his later years designed and build the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. to preserve his works under one roof. The trials from 1921-1930 of acquiring land and worrying every detail of the building (install the new invention of air conditioning?) kept him occupied to his death in 1930. When the Folger Library opened in 1932 the collection included:

Two hundred fifty-six thousand books; 60,000 manuscripts; 200 oil paintings; 50,000 watercolors, prints, and photographs; dozens of sculptures; half a million playbills; plus theater programs, musical instruments, costumes, and more. Each book, artwork, and artifact spoke to the others in a magical resonance that recreated the spirit of Shakespeare's age. 

Author Mays is a storyteller with few equals. Her thorough research provides fascinating details about the life and times of Shakespeare, the passion of Folger, and the world of rare book dealers, The Millionaire and the Bard never wavers in its goal to provide a great story full of interesting facts to its readers. There is genuine tension as Folger seeks out long-lost first folios, bidding anonymously, wondering whether the article is genuine, and whether he overpaid/underbid in his one opportunity to acquire a treasure. He is a strong, determined man on a quest and Mays lets you into his brain and his world in all its richness and dogged pursuit of Shakespeare's rarities.

Whether you are interested or not in Shakespeare, Folger, or First Folios, The Millionaire and the Bard is a rip-roaring tale of history, rare books, riches, and passion that will engross any reader. Highly recommended for any history-lover, Shakespeare-lover, or just lovers of a gripping tale.

When a lonely little old man hoards thousands of pounds of stacked newspapers and trash, we call him compulsive and crazy. When a multimillionaire industrialist squirrels away tons of rare books, manuscripts, artworks, and memorabilia, we call him a great collector and a man of exquisite taste.

(P.S. Here's a look at the First Folios and also the Folger Shakespeare Library).


Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare

If you want to attend a Shakespearean play and not only understand the plot but realize the background behind the action, nod your head at the historic element of the characters, and chortle at the jokes, then this book is the best, most readable way to that end. Asimov tackles all the plays, providing explanations of important lines and bring the plot and characters into a new light. (previously reviewed here)

King of the World

Remnick, David. King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. New York: Random House. 1998. Print

First Sentences:

Cassius entered the ring in Miami Beach wearing a sort white robe, "The Lip" stitched on the back.

He was beautiful again. He was fast, sleek, and twenty-two. But, for the first and last time in his life, he was afraid.

Description:

I am not a boxing fan, but the figure of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and the radically-changing era in which he lived is well worth reading about. And David Remnick delivers a lively, in-depth, often sad picture of both the man and his world in his King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero.

Remnick focuses on the early years of 1960 - 1965 when Ali first burst onto the boxing scene as the Olympic gold medal winner, and then moves through his heavyweight championship bouts with Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson. His history concludes just as Ali decides to serve five years in jail rather than fight in Vietnam. An Epilogue brings Ali and all other characters up to date as of the late 1990s.

Cassius Clay was internationally famous at 18 after winning the US gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, but at the time boxing promoters considered him to be just a light-hitting kid and were unwilling to promote a match for him with a contender like Liston or Patterson. 

So Clay creates a new persona as a loud-mouthed, insulting, self-promoting braggart to gain public attention for himself. He begins to taunt Liston unceasingly to rile him, posturing, ranting, and insulting the reigning champion. To the boxing world, this is unacceptable behavior from a newcomer. Liston, his pride and manhood at stake, finally agrees to a title fight, fully confident of victory over this punk, but it is Cassius Clay who is victorious. 

Immediately, the new champion declares to the world his conversion to the Nation of Islam and his new name, a polarizing revelation to the public facing racial tensions and riots throughout the country. Immediately, Ali becomes a hated figure, someone not worthy of the heavyweight title. 

But this book is more than a biography of Ali. It shows the history and the people of the boxing world in the 1960s. Remnick, through interviews, articles, and other transcripts, brings to light the major people and influences, both good and bad, that shaped Ali's life. Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and even Mike Tyson are given thorough treatments, depicting their personal lives, ambitions, and failures with episodes often narrated in their own painful words. 

Remnick also portrays the rise of Elijah Muhammad and his Nation of Islam at this time, as well as Malcolm X and his Black Panthers spin-off movement. Under the influence of Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, Ali became more than just a good boxer; he became an aware and radicalized Black man. 

While this is Ali's story, Remnick also carefully describes the fighters he faced. Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson, the reigning champions, are portrayed in detail, contrasting Liston's illiterate, criminal, brutal appearance with Patterson, the docile, passive, more "acceptable" Negro to white fans. 

The book also offers a shocking insider look into the organization behind boxing. Historically, boxing had always been under the total control of the Mob and a few powerful White men who put boxers under contract, arranged fights (and sometimes controlled the outcomes), then took all the money for themselves, giving only pocket change to the boxers. It is Ali who breaks this dependence of boxers to the Mob by placing himself under the control of the Nation of Islam, an equally powerful, dangerous group.  

The book soars in its details. There are fantastic front row descriptions of Ali's fights with Liston, Patterson, and others. The training, threats from Muslims and mobsters, the front-row celebrities like Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor, the boxing reporters, the Phantom punch that stopped Patterson in the first round (fix or genuine?), the beatings of Liston... all are described in detail. Readers experience the hoopla that leads up to individual fight, the battles themselves, the thoughts of participants, and the repercussions. Remnick even includes interviews with opponents which show their interpretation of their fights with Ali, their overwhelming desire for victory, and their devastating sadness after a loss. 

The Epilogue in King of the World brings readers to the present day with very brief references to Ali's prison sentencing; his later bouts with Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Shavers, Holmes, and Spinks; Ali's Parkinson's Disease; and his acceptance as the international figure holding the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta. Remnick also brings us up to date with the tragic lives of Liston, Patterson, as well as Mike Tyson talking about his similarities and respect for the tragic Sonny Liston.

It is an era of upheaval between Whites and Blacks, between Hawks and Doves, and the mobster and the boxing world. Remnick weaves these people and social elements together into a compelling snapshot of this time. Even Floyd Patterson, once battered by Ali in a title fight, in later life came to understand this man, this heavyweight champion, and his unique impact on his era. Patterson remarked,

"I came to love Ali...I came to see that I was a fighter and he was history."

For boxing fans and those who hate fighting but are interested in the forces and people who create an utterly unique era, King of the World is highly recommended.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Brunt, Stephen. Facing Ali: 15 Fighters / 15 Stories  

Interviews with 15 fighters who faced Muhammad Ali, including Frazier, Norton, Foreman, Wepner, Shavers, and Holmes.

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940

Wilson, Victoria. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

It has been written about Barbara Stanwyck, born Ruby Stevens, that she was an orphan.

Her mother, Catherine Ann McPhee Stevens, Kitty, died in 1911, when Ruby was four years old. Following Kitty's death, Ruby's father, Byron E. Stevens, a mason, left his five children and set sail for the Panama Canal, determined to get away and hoping to find work at higher wages than at home.

Description:

I just flat out love A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson  - all 860 pages of it. I also love the additional 140 pages of appendices, notes, index, and the 270 photos. There, I've said it.

Admittedly, I am a fan of Barbara Stanwyck, the noted film actress of Stella Dallas, So Big, and my favorite, Ball of Fire. (For you youngsters, she also won Emmys for roles on TV's Big Valley and The Thorn Birds miniseries and played a variety of roles in her career from hard core prisoner, gun moll, gold-digger, rancher, single mother, grifter, and bombshell). 

Steel-True fills in the details of the first 34 years of Stanwyck's acting and private life; the complex, fascinating world of vaudeville, theater, and film; and the important actors, directors, writers, and family who created the era and contributed to her career. And all of it, and I really mean ALL of it, is fascinating for anyone even only slightly interested in stage, film, and life in Hollywood and New York during those formative years of entertainment.

Believe me, I never thought, even as a Stanwyck fan, I would be interested enough to conquer an 800-page biography. But this book is about more than just Barbara Stanwyck. It brings to life the world of stage and screen and the numerous factors that influence how a film or play is created. Author Wilson covers them all in a detailed, but concise description of these factors. 

Just check out the book's first sentences quoted above. In under 70 words, author Wilson, a senior editor at Alfred Knopf publishing, introduces readers to the title character, her family, her given name, the loss of her mother at age 4, her father's profession, and his departure to Central America along with his reasons. Even gives her mother's nickname. It is impossible to cram more information into the first paragraphs but equally impossible to delete any of these details. Each is critical to the big picture of Stanwyck's life and therefore deserves a place in this book. 

And it's equally impossible to stop reading since each paragraph also raise questions that need answering. "Wait, what? Stanwyck was an orphan?" "Who took care of her and her siblings?" "Did the father ever come back?" "Did they become a family again?" The next paragraphs answer those questions, but then raise new intrigues. 

It's a self-perpetuating style: set the scene, explore the people and history behind the event, follow the actions that occur, describe the repercussions and then introduce the next setting and people that flow from the previous one. You cannot help but hunger for more details, resolution to situations, actions of principal people. You are teased to continue to read on and on and on until the book is completed. Each page makes readers feel like savvy insiders to each film, knowledgeable about the nuances that make a production rise or fall. We know the who, what, where, when, why, and how of each movie, every relationship, the stage and film industries, and the world at that time ... and we want to learn even more about the next production or item in her personal life. 

The catalyst to all this historical detail is Barbara Stanwyck. By age 4 Stanwyck (born in Brooklyn as Ruby Stevens) had lost both her father (who left family to work on the Panama Canal) and her mother (in a freak trolley car accident), so spent her early childhood years shuttling between foster homes and her three older sisters. 

One sister was a vaudeville performer who sometimes took Ruby to watch performances from the theatre wings. Soon Ruby is working on her own energetic dancing act, performing in the chorus for small clubs alongside 14-year-old Ruby Keeler and Mae Clarke. She eventually landed small jobs with musical revues on Broadway. By age 16, she was a "dancing cutie" in Keep Kool and the 1923 Ziegfeld Follies, earning $100 per week while learning about dancing, shows, men, and life. She also had a botched abortion in her early teens that left her unable to have children. 

Her breakthrough performance came when Ruby, acting in a serious play as a background chorus girl with only a few lines, has her part expanded based on her voice and the magnetism she projected towards the audience. Her name is then changed by the producers to convey a more serious actress and "Barbara Stanwyck," a conglomeration of several current actors' names, was born. Her 1926 expanded role in The Noose attracted the attention of Hollywood and soon she was enticed to Hollywood during the age when silent films were first experimenting with talkies. 

Stanwyck's lush, emotional stage voice, her strong work ethic, and the varied personalities she could convey to audiences, from triumphant to ferocious to sexy, made her a popular actress for a wide variety of roles, including gun molls, prison inmates, mothers, and gold diggers. Gradually, the parts became stronger, the scripts better, and her performances more nuanced, gaining starring parts with the most famous directors of the age: Frank Capra, William Wellman, King Vidor, Cecil B. DeMille, and Preston Sturgess. 

From 1925 through the Depression years, she made $4,700 per week while other new actors made less than $40. After the successes of Night Nurse and The Miracle Woman, Stanwyck demanded $50,000 per picture, an astonishing salary for that era, making her the highest paid actress at that time. She had star power enough that she refused to be under contract with one studio as was the norm, allowing her the freedom to select her own movie roles, but also increasing her insecurity since no studio was obligated to provide roles for her. She also alienated film industry personnel by refusing to honor the screenwriters strike, continuing to make films when most other actors stopped working until writers received better pay. At one point she made 14 films in four years, including four with Capra.

But off the stage, her life was solitary. She was too shy and disinterested in the glitz of parties, choosing to spend nights at home quietly reading books rather than going out. Her marriage to Frank Faye, wildly-famous vaudeville emcee and comedian, was trying. He was the person who moved them to Hollywood when films beckoned him, but also introduced her to people who could start her with movie roles, and even financed one of her early films. His drinking, violent nature, controlling behavior, and disinterest in their adopted son strained Stanwyck's life. But she remained fiercely loyal. Even as her fame increased, she insisted on being referred to as "Mrs. Frank Faye" rather than her actress name. His abusive nature was the inspiration for the major character in the film, A Star Is Born.

Life became better for Stanwyck after her divorce from Faye and with her relationship with Robert Taylor, a $35-a-week pretty-boy newcomer to Hollywood and the leading man in one of her films. She helped him understand the nuances of roles, rehearsed his lines, created a stronger image of him, and turned him into the most popular actor of the 1930's. They had a long friendship which gave her new freedom, but she shied away from marriage. She felt:

Friendship was more powerful than love, that when one reached the heights of romantic love, there was no place to go but back, but with friendship there was a goal that could never be completely attained. It could be built upon by years of devotion, but it was always possible to intensity it; friendship grew with the years, while love can only lose....'If you could fall in love with your best friend I suppose such a marriage would come as close to perfection as marriage can come.

With Taylor beside her she finally blossomed socially, attended parties, purchased a horse-breeding ranch with her agent, Zeppo Marx, and cultivated strong friendships with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Joan Crawford, Jack Benny and Mary Livingston, Wallace Berry, and William Holden. Eventually, to alleviate the public's concern over her living with a man, she married Taylor and settled into life on the ranch and in Hollywood.

Wilson extensively researched and interviewed many people from this era who knew Stanwyck as her contemporaries from the Vaudeville and early film era. Armed with this insider information, Wilson eagerly shares fascinating details about the people of that world, such as:

• John Garfield - the premier star of silent films was unsuccessful in talkies not because his voice was poor (as is usually reported), but because he slugged Louis B. Mayer for a lewd remark Mayer made at Garfield's wedding to Greta Garbo (she did not show for the ceremony). After that Mayer, as head of the studio, only gave Garfield poor roles with inexperience directors who allowed Garfield to look bad and say ridiculous dialogue that made him appear a fool and lose the love of the public;

• William Holden - could walk "on his hands along the outer rail of Pasadena's suicide bridge with its 190-foot drop" but as a new actor was terrified during the first days of shooting "Golden Boy" with Stanwyck;

• Producer/Director Darryl Zanuck - felt Stanwyck "had no sex appeal." But Stanwyck felt his criticism "had more to do with how 'he couldn't catch me,' ... than it did her allure or her acting ability. 'He ran around the desk too slow'";

• Screenwriter (at that time) William Faulkner - wrote "beautiful speeches but impossible for an actor to perform";

• John Ford, director - When told by a producer he was three days behind schedule, he "ripped out ten pages from the script. 'Now we are three days ahead of schedule' he said and never shot the sequences'";

• Stanwyck - was an insomniac who read a book a day, subscribing to book clubs, looking for stories that would make good movies for her. She gave most books away after finishing them but did collected a large number of first editions

It is not often I can recommend with utter confidence a biography that is almost 1,000 pages long. But Steel-True is totally different from other tomes of this size (cough, cough, The Goldfinch) that one feels must be read to its bitter end just because of its reputation. To me, despite Steel True's length, there is no over-writing, no dull spots, no filler chapters. At no time did I ever think to give up on this long book. To quit would mean I might miss out on some fascinating detail, the final product of the film, its success or failure, and its impact on the performers, directors, and audiences. A cliff-hanger for every paragraph ... you just have to read just one more paragraph, one more page, then one more, then one more until you are done with that film and introduced to another.

Can one person deserve1,000-pages? Of course not. But the era and people of Vaudeville, early Talkies, and later classic films around her do deserve such attention. This book is chock full of absolutely fascinating details, yet each is a brick necessary to contribute to the architecture of the world of stage, film, and the actress, Barbara Stanwyck. From her abandoned childhood, poverty, burlesque, stage, film, talkies, marriage, self-sufficiency and finally stardom, her story is marvelous to envision from the historical, theatrical, cinematic, and personal perspectives. 

And remember, since Steel True only covers Stanwyck's life to 1940 (she died in 1990), there surely will be a Volume Two to cover her last fifty years. Probably (hopefully) it will be just as crammed with juicy, fascinating details as was Steel True. 

I cannot wait.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

McCracken, Elizabeth. Niagara Falls All Over Again

Fictional memoir of one member of a two-man old time vaudeville comedy team similar to Laurel and Hardy, as they work individually and later together on their comedy act, achieving tremendous success in performances, but varying results in their personal relationships. Captivating, revealing, and tragic/funny on all levels.

Hammerstein, Oscar Andres. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family

Everything you could possibly want to know about the earliest days of theatre in America, starting with the first Oscar Hammerstein who established theatres all over New York, to his grandson who wrote the classic musicals such as Showboat, Oklahoma, The King and I, The Sound of Music and many more. Loaded with great photos of the era as well. Highly recommended. (Previously reviewed here.)

A Curious Man

Thompson, Neal. A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley. New York: Crown Archetype. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

Isaac Davis Ripley, whose son would one day explore all corners of the earth, fled his dead-end Appalachian home at age fourteen and headed west.

He didn't get far before the Ohio River blocked his path. Unable to pay for a ferry crossing, Isaac swam solo across the turbulent river, eventually making his way to Northern California, seeking gold but instead finding work as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. By 1889, having settled in Santa Rosa, he fell in love with a woman fourteen years younger.

Description:

Is there anyone not familiar with the "Believe It of Not" cartoons portraying our unusual and astounding world and its residents? But who knows anything about the man, Robert Ripley, behind these cartoons, his origins, his inspiration, and his life as a famous celebrity?

To fill in the gaps is Neal Thompson, in his new book, A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley. He carefully takes readers on a journey through the life of Ripley and reveals all aspects of this wonderfully talented artist, social eccentric, international traveller, and one of the wealthiest men in the world of print journalism.

As a boy in Santa Rosa, California, Ripley was a buck-toothed, jug-eared stutterer who obviously hated oral reports. After convincing his high school English teacher to let him substitute an illustration instead of writing an essay or giving an oral presentation, his drawing career was born. 

Comics were just entering newspapers in 1907 and when teenager Ripley discovered that staff artists could earn $1,000 a year "drawing pictures for a living," he was hooked. Life magazine published his first drawing that year for $8.00, and he was off, taking a job at the San Francisco Bulletin at $8.00 a week "with the promise of a $2 raise if you make good." He didn't, and was fired after four months.

Eventually he landed at the New York Globe as its sports reporter/cartoonist. His cartoons depicted sports in a new way and the prolific output from "Rip" impressed his bosses. He was given plum assignments to travel to Europe, Asia, and eventually around the world to draw what he saw and submit entertaining stories. This travel became his lifelong passion, and his resulting cartoons about the strange people and customs he found were immensely popular. 

In December 1918, desperate for an idea to meet a deadline, he skimmed through the folder he had collected of odd facts about baseball. Pulling a few together, he quickly knocked off "Champs and Chumps," a paneled cartoon featuring unusual players and records. Ripley's next cartoon of oddities did not appear until 10 months later under the new title, "Believe It or Not!" and then appeared only sporadically over the next two years. Ripley didn't care for this hastily-drawn cartoon that much, but his editors encouraged this style and Ripley soon realized he had hit on his winning formula.

Author Thompson's smooth style describes Ripley's rise to international fame and riches based on the popularity of "Believe It or Not!" He lets readers accompany Ripley on his fabulous world travels, his hectic social life, his ongoing research into library archives, and his successful ventures into television. Thompson lets us marvel at the museums Ripley sponsors to house his artifacts, the peculiar homes he builds, the books of cartoons he compiles, and the parade of women who are always at his side. 

Ripley, the homely kid from Santa Rosa, California, became a larger-than-life figure, fabulously wealthy, and well-travelled. His work was (and still is) read worldwide. I know I learned to read by examining his drawings and compelling facts in his cartoon found in our Sunday newspaper. "Believe It or Not!" has had a lasting impact on my interest in words, pictures, and the world, so I was fascinated and immensely satisfied to read that the cartoonist responsible for such exotic pictures lived a life suitable to someone so full of interesting facts.

Highly recommended for all readers who know of "Believe It or Not!" - in other words, everyone.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Ripley, Robert. Ripley's Believe It or Not: In Celebration, A Special Reissue of the Original  

Republication of the original book of his collected newspaper cartoons.