Helpful Score: 2
A great telling of the story of a woman who has lives in three centuries. She was born in the last 1800's and was "discovered" by a film writer looking to interview some one who had lived that long and seen , lived the changes in America. From her start in vaudville to her retirement in an upstate New York nursing home, it was certainly a great ride. The book does jump from present to past but they tell you the year at the beginning of each chapter. I did not find it a problem but i know some people dislike that.
Hardcover
The birth of the film industry and the advent of the world's first film star, Florence Lawrence, the original "Biograph Girl," form the basis of this fictionalized account of one woman's life in a burgeoning industry that changed the parameters of entertainment. The real silent film actress Lawrence committed suicide in 1938 by drinking ant poison. In Mann's version, Lawrence, who was at the height of her fame in 1910, but by the late '30s had faded into oblivion, and a besotted physician-fan use the suicide of Lawrence's housemate as a ruse to allow Lawrence to disappear gracefully from an industry that no longer wants or cares about her. The fictional Lawrence not only goes on to have her own life, but lives to the ripe old age of 107.
The birth of the film industry and the advent of the world's first film star, Florence Lawrence, the original "Biograph Girl," form the basis of this fictionalized account of one woman's life in a burgeoning industry that changed the parameters of entertainment. The real silent film actress Lawrence committed suicide in 1938 by drinking ant poison. In Mann's version, Lawrence, who was at the height of her fame in 1910, but by the late '30s had faded into oblivion, and a besotted physician-fan use the suicide of Lawrence's housemate as a ruse to allow Lawrence to disappear gracefully from an industry that no longer wants or cares about her. The fictional Lawrence not only goes on to have her own life, but lives to the ripe old age of 107.
Excellent fun read!
An unusual story line, not a cookie-cutter plot. A good read.
you gotta read this boook.... i loved it!
Grab your seat for a wild roller-coaster ride through the 20th century, led by a sassy,chain-smoking 107 year old actress named Florence Lawrence. From her vaudville childhood as "Baby Flo, the Child Wonder Whistler" to the snowy backlot where she shot her first picture, the lovely Florence demanded, commanded attention. Yet,inevitably, the rabid interest in her faded and she was reduced to walk on parts. In 1938 she finally ended her life with a lethal dose of ant paste...or did she????
Entertaining
For some reason this just didn't hold my interest enough to finish it over half way through.
