Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus [Hardcover]

Gilbert L Gigliotti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2010

Literary Nonfiction. Fiction. Poetry. This anthology of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry about Ava Gardner includes work by Margaret Atwood, Robert Graves, Allan Gurganus, Pere Gimferrer, Mario Cabré, Peg Boyers, Margaret Meyers, David Lloyd, Alain Souchon, Suzanne Vega, Kirpal Singh, Virgil Suarez, Alton Rivers, Jim Harrison, Michael S. Harper, and Clarence Major.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gilbert L. Gigliotti is a Professor in the Department of English at Central Connecticut State University. A specialist in the classical influences on early American literature, he has taught courses on such Puritan writers as Cotton Mather, Anne Bradstreet, and Edward Taylor, as well as on Greek and Roman literature and the literature of Sinatra. He is the author of AVA GARDNER: TOUCHES OF VENUS (Entasis Press, 2010), A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit (Greenwood Press, 2002) and the editor of Sinatra, but buddy I'm a kind of poem (Entasis Press, 2008). He has mounted several exhibits of his Sinatra memorabilia collection, lectures frequently on the singer, and hosts a weekly radio show on Tuesday mornings on WFCS 107.7 FM (New Britain/Hartford) and at www.wfcsradio.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Entasis Press (September 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0980099951
• ISBN-13: 978-0980099959
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,712,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gilbert Gigliotti is a professor of English at Central Connecticut State University and the host of "Frank, Gil, and Friends" on Tuesday mornings on WFCS 107.7 FM New Britain/Hartford. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, he earned his H.A.B. and M.A. degrees at Xavier University and his Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. His books on Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra belie his academic interests in American Puritans (like Cotton Mather and Edward Taylor) and the late 18th-century writers The Connecticut Wits. He has been married for 20+ years, has two daughters, and takes tap dancing lessons.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a review, but to tell you what this book is like, and what it is July 7, 2010

By Den NC USA

Format:Hardcover

I found this book via the WIKI entry

[...] under Further reading

For a famous star, with thousands of fans, this very interesting sounding book is quite mysterious.

Touches of Venus... a collection of reminiscences like the Sinatra work of Mr. Gigliotti?

I found this, which whetted my appetite: [...].

But since I must buy the book from the publisher, I'd appreciate a link here on this page giving me the literary equivalent of a "COMING ATTRACTION" trailer.

OK, here it is. I went to the web again.

[...].

Ava Gardner
Touches of Venus
Gilbert L. Gigliotti, Editor
Gilbert L. Gigliotti is Professor and Chairman of the English Department at
Central Connecticut State University.
He is the editor of Sinatra: But Buddy I'm a Kind of Poem (Entasis, 2008), and
author of A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit (Greenwood,
2002), the foreword to The Gospel According to Frank (New American, 2009),
and an essay in Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture (Praeger, 1998). He is a
sought-after speaker on the singer's life and career and has curated several
exhibitions of his extensive Sinatra memorabilia collection.

Since 1993, he has hosted "Frank, Gil, and Friends," a weekly radio program
on WFCS 107.7 FM New Britain/Hartford and on-line. Trained as a Neo-
Latinist, he has published articles on the classical influences and Latin
writings of such writers as Cotton Mather, Philip Freneau, Girolamo
Fracastoro, John Beveridge, and Louis Rou. He blogs at connecticuthalfwit.
blogspot.com.

OK, here's the request I made, found....

03 MAY 2010

"Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus" is now available!...

My third book, Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus, has just been published by Entasis Press in Washington DC. The website is [...].

The book is an anthology of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and song lyrics, each of which treats Ms. Gardner in some direct (or indirect) way. It is, in concept, a sequel to my 2008 volume Sinatra: But Buddy I'm a Kind of Poem, which looks at the many different Sinatras that poets and songwriters have created over the years. And, while Sinatra, not surprisingly, also makes appearances in this volume, the focus always remains on Ava and her compelling mix of talent, strength, beauty, insecurity, and, yes, excess.

Some selections see the actress as a symbol of beauty or tenacity, others as a marker of times past and glories gone, and others as an unattainable dream or a keen reflection of the strong women in their own lives. In selection after selection, the power of Ava's work in film also rings out: Mogambo, Pandora..., On the Beach, Show Boat, Night of the Iguana, and The Barefoot Contessa, etc., a body of work that resonates still.

The authors whose works are included are quite varied: from the very well known (Margaret Atwood, Robert Graves, Allen Gurganus, Suzanne Vega, and Ava's own Mario Cabre) to those perhaps known primarily in poetry circles (Michael S. Harper, Virgil Suarez, Peg Boyers, Kirpal Singh, and Pere Gimferrer), from Ava's contemporaries to those from almost every generation since.

Reflecting Ava's own cosmopolitanism, the anthology also boasts authors not just from North America, but from all around the world: Spain, France, England, New Zealand, Greece, India, and the Philippines.

I'm pretty sure there's no other book on Ms. Gardner like this: It celebrates not just who she was, but the meanings the world has made of her -- not to mention the fascination her life, her films, and her spirit still hold for us all.

As Lee Server, the author of the internationally best-selling biography Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing of Ava, writes about the collection:

For nearly a hundred years she has inspired and inflamed her idolators, from matador to billionaire, guttersnipe paparazzo to head-in-the-clouds poet. Professor G.'s unique anthology--a rich mix of hymn, recollection, random invocation--is a divine tribute to the Goddess of sex, glamour, and passion.

NOW, THIS SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TO ME.
I like biography, literary and famous people gossip and recollection, and Ava Gardner.
If you do too, now you know more about what Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus by Gilbert L. Gigliotti delivers. Read more ›