Customer Reviews

The Audrey Hepburn Treasures

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With clips of her lithe figure spotlighted in the Gap's new ads for their skinny black pants (anachronistically accompanied by AC/DC's "Back in Black"), screen legend Audrey Hepburn continues to engender new fans with her unearthly gamine qualities and timeless sense of style. Two years ago, her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer penned a loving tribute filled with remembrances from colleagues and family friends (he also wrote the foreword to this book) , and celebrity biographer Donald Spoto just released a somewhat more objective but still fawning account of her life. This one falls securely into the same perspective, as it is a relatively pricey volume which takes a more souvenir scrapbook format complete with a stunning gallery of photos, many never before published, and most creatively, copies of personal mementos slipped into thirteen glassine envelopes inserted in the book.

One definitely gets a sense of Hepburn's voice in the numerous handwritten notes, most particularly in a personal letter to her then-husband Mel Ferrer while preparing for what was to be her most powerful screen performance in Fred Zinnemann's "The Nun's Story". Compiled and written by Ellen Erwin and Jessica Z. Diamond, the coffee table book covers all the familiar events of her life - her beleaguered childhood in Belgium and Holland during WWII, her days as a London cabaret dancer, her brief but successful stint on Broadway, her unparalleled screen career, and finally her unyielding devotion to starving children on behalf of UNICEF toward the end of her life. It should come as no surprise that there are no particularly new insights introduced by the co-authors since it is really their creative approach that is meant to induce a cathartic experience for Hepburn's most die-hard fans. The most worthy aspect of the book is that some of the proceeds from this book will benefit the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

This book is a beautifully executed loving depiction and moving tribute to the extradordinary and profound life of Audrey Hepburn. This book is unlike any other in the way you are allowed to know Audrey Hepburn as if you were her close friend. Through the exquisite writing and amazing photos (some never published before) to her personal notes, letters and other items you are able to get an unique insider's look into the person she was, stripping away the icon everybody knows, to reveal someone who transcended her celebrity to change the way the world saw and helped children in need. It is a must if you a fan, but even if you're not, it is still worthwhile to experience her journey as a woman of heart and purpose.

I love this book! You feel as if you are going through her family albums. This would be the ultimate gift for any Audrey fan.

The Audrey Hepbrun Treasures book is a treasure trove indeed, for it contains pictures and mementos from Audrey's amazing life. The book contains a foreword by Audrey's son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, and is chronologically arranged, starting with Audrey's early childhood, her first role as a dancer, and goes on with her move to the silver screen, her marriages, her work with UNICEF, and finally her legacy. What makes this book truly unique is its format: it is presented in the form of a scrapbook, with reproductions of baby photos, family pictures, a wartime ID card, programs of Audrey's performances, and numerous other personal documents [birth certificate of her son, personal letters etc.]. These help to give us an insightful look into Audrey's amazing life, and help us to better understand this beautiful and graceful lady, who has inspired many by her beauty, her talent, and her convictions.

This Audrey Hepburn Treasures is a wonderful autobiography, where you can physically handle many of the extraordinary memorabilia from her life. It is a uniquely designed book and enjoyable to read or just peruse.

This book is a great coffee table book and would be a tremendous gift for under the X-mas tree (or Hannaukah bush!).

This book has the perfect name. It truly is a treasure. I received it from my sister for my birthday as she knows what a huge Audrey Hepburn fan I am. This book helps you to feel like you were somehow a part of her life. You get to own copies of her actual momentos. Photo albums, her first contract, notes written to her by Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and others. Theres a baby picture that her mother had sent out with her mothers handwriting on the back teling family members how sweet Audrey was even back then.
It is a priceless book for Audrey fans. I sincerely appreciate the work that was done to give us this amazing opportunity to put ourselves in her place for one moment. I held the copy of her contract and thought, what must she have felt in that moment, holding that?
I also learned that Audrey had many miscarriages. 5 in fact. I just went though a miscarriage. When I read that she said of all the things in her life that were painful (and there were a lot of tough times for her- read the book) her miscarriages were the most painful. I was so able to understnad her feelings. I love and always have loved children as much as she did. It comforted me somehow.
Get the book- you'll love it!

Love it, the book has replica of her handwritten letters, cards, family pictures and more...

When i was reading it, i was so afraid that i might dirty the book...

A must have if you are a Hepburn fan.

Reading (or more accurately, experiencing) this elegant volume of memorabilia recalls dead ideals, not just of decorous celebrity behavior, but of the quiet conviction of deeds rather than publicized pronouncements from Hollywood's movie stars. This book captures a sense of a life lived in the limelight, but never blinded by it, and conveys an archetypal and emotional journey through a minefield of tempting superficialities, all the way to self-discovery and meaning.

It's moving to see and feel how Audrey Hepburn's roles reflected her best selves at every turn -- resolutely alert, attuned, engaged, yearning, striving, feminine, human -- and be reminded of how a life can really be exemplary, after all.

Not only is the book an excellent read about Audrey Hepburn, but the envelopes throughout the book that are filled with keepsakes and memoralbilia are wonderful! Great gift idea, also!

i have been a huge fan of audrey hepburn and have read nearly all the books published on her...but this is a true gem, and a collectors piece. the momentos they provide the reader with from her life and just fantastic, from copies of her birth certificate to a v.i.p pass to the premier of "breakfast at tiffanys" the greatest film of all time.