Customer Reviews

Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is a really bad book with full of lies. Diana Maychick says that Audrey Hepburn asked her to interview during the last few months of her life. Well, Audrey was too busy: She worked with UNICEF, and when she learned she had cancer, she flew to Switzerland and stayed there till her death. Its not a book with truth in it. Read either Barry Paris' bio of Audrey or Warren Harris' bio of Audrey

This book has so many errors and untruths that it really should be classed as fiction. As has already been mentioned, Audreys family are taking legal action against this author - she claims to have spoken to Audrey at a time when Audrey was infact dying! I read this book before I was aware of the above and was struck by the inaccuracy of some of it's contents - in particular her plot synopsis for the film Roman Holiday was inaccurate - did she actually watch the film!! Also she had some pretty nasty things to say about Audrey which seemed strange coming from someone who claimed to love and miss her. I have ripped the book into shreds, keeping only the photographs of Audrey which are the only part of this book worth keeping. There are, of course, plenty of facts that are correctly stated which the author probably gleaned from other biographers - and anything that was not already known has probably been invented, the problem being that once you know a book to contain some falsehoods it's hard to believe any of it. If you love Audrey, don't read this book, choose another that is more credible, if you can possibly wait then buy her son, Sean Ferrer's book when it is published, hopefully later this year. I am only sorry that the author of this piece of fiction has already benefited from my, and a lot of other people's money.

What's to say that hasn't been said already, and in a way, there's little point since this piece of garbage has thankfully all but disappeared from the market (and one can hope, circulation in general). However, it got me so infuriated in reading it that I have to add my two cents, for others who come across this book or these reviews.

Until now, I've known little of Audrey aside from that she was my favorite actress, and probably one of the classiest, most beautiful human beings to have graced this planet. As it happens, I stumbled across a copy of this book in the library, entirely by chance, so I decided to check it out and see if I could learn more about this wonderful woman. Well, before I was halfway through, even with my limited knowledge, I was disappointed and angry at what I was reading, though I couldn't entirely put my finger on it. Yes, there were the mistakes with describing the movies. There was a lot that was not only unflattering but didn't ring true, not only about Audrey but those in her life as well. There was the ongoing "posing" tone in it, where the author tries to come across as Audrey's confidant and close friend. The whole thing smelled somehow, and left me with an uneasy, angry feeling, and I didn't quite know why.

It was at that point that I decided to look into information and reviews of the book on the Internet, only to discover that it was even worse than I suspected. As it is, this book is full of mistakes, full of what is likely complete fabrication, and full of something else that shall go unmentioned (with which I'd say Diana Maychick is similarly afflicted). It is a slap in the face to the intelligent reader, an affront to anyone who loves Audrey Hepburn, an insult to her, and a disgusting testament to what some people will sink to in chasing a dollar.

In any case, if you do run across a copy of this tripe, don't waste your time and stress level with it...from what I understand, there are several other good sources of information on Audrey, any of which would be better. If there's one good thing that's come out of my encounter with this book, it's that it's at least given me the impetus (out of anger if nothing else) to dig up quality information on this marvelous woman. This "book" isn't even worth using as a Bathroom Reader replacement.

Overly obsessive about her weight, marred with factual errors, and written awkwardly, this book is not the greatest biography of Audrey Hepburn. Her own family protested the introduction which states that Audrey helped the author with the book. It does include some gorgeous photographs, though.

I enjoyed the presentation of Audrey's life. Maychick gave the reader just enough information about Audrey that was relevant, instead of a lot of information no one cares to learn.

The most fascinating part of her life is her early years - her father being a Nazi sympathizer, her mother being a spy, she passing messages through her shoes.

I bought and read the biography of Audrey Hepburn by Diana Maychick and thought it was pretty well written. I have no way of knowing if it was very accurate but was fairly well satisfied with the book.

I have emailed twice and now have filed a claim. I have not recieved the book and it has been a few weeks now. Byer beware!

This is the definitive biography on Audrey Hepburn, written by an accomplished biographer, although this is not an authorized biography. For that, you need the Barry Paris or Sean Hepburn Ferrer books (the first is the 'unoffical authorized' version by a friend of the family, the second is by the son, done most likely for the book revenues one would presume).

What makes the Maychick book realistic is her access to Hepburn near the end of her life, in which details about Hepburns history of eating disorders were first revealed and subsequently reported. There are many other new tidbits revealed, but that had to be the most vivid.

Interestingly, several of the facts about Hepburn's life from Maychick's book that had been previously unreported were featured prominently in the 2000 TV movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as Audrey. Maychick's book did not receive a film credit, but if this isn't enough to substantiate the accuracy of Maychick's excellent and thorough biography, I can't imagine what would be. Most likely, the Hepburn estate had a strong influence on the movie production and depiction of Hepburn.

Sean Hepburn Ferrer is suing the author and publisher of this piece of trash for lible.

I don't think this book was as horrible as most of the other reviewers thought; I found it very average. This book was obviously a complilation of interviews (quotes I've seen in other books), plot descriptions of her films, a few lackluster photos and some creative filling-in of the blanks. What irritated me was the descriptions of the films: there were so many mistakes I doubt the author even bothered to watch the films! As a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, I would hope there were many other, better books out there.