4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to follow, but still fascinating, June 21, 2010
This book, the sequel to "Once Upon a Time", is the second volume of Gloria Vanderbilt's autobiography and picks up when Gloria is about 17 years old. Gloria has been living with her elderly Aunt Gertrude, who raises her strictly and keeps her away from potential bad influences like Gloria's own mother, "Big Gloria". Big Gloria is living in California with her twin sister Thelma, the erstwhile mistress of the Prince of Wales, and entertaining numerous Hollywood stars and filmmakers, as well as international jet setters and other assorted hangers-on. Teenage Gloria not only misses her mother, but also longs for the freedom and fun of the Hollywood life. When she's finally allowed to visit her mother and Aunt Thelma, she dates the likes of Van Johnson and Howard Hughes followed by a "jailbreak marriage" to Pat DiCicco, one of Hughes' henchmen, who has bad manners, a mean temper and a shady past. After a few miserable years married to DiCicco, the "black knight", Gloria finds a savior in the person of the famous older conductor Leopold Stokowski. She divorces DiCicco, marries Stokowski (who once again estranges her from her mother) and has children with him before the marriage comes to an end, this time with Frank Sinatra as the means to an escape. There, the book ends; other aspects of Gloria's life, such as her happy marriage to Wyatt Cooper and her ill-fated fashion business dealings, came later on.
The good things about this book include Gloria's poetic and imagery-filled writing style. At its best, she can make you really feel like you're visiting Howard Hughes at his mansion, or Gene Tierney and her husband at their wartime digs. She deftly illuminates the subtle differences between "the twins", her mother and aunt, who look alike and are inseparable but have very different tastes and personalities. She covers a host of subjects ranging from her own insecurity about her physical looks (even though she is lovely, she worries because she's not nearly as thin as Constance Bennett) and breathless outings with her dear friend Carol (who later married Bill Saroyan and Walter Matthau and was the model for Holly Golightly - check out Carol's book "Among the Porcupines").
The bad thing about this book is that Vanderbilt's stream-of-consciousness writing style is heavily idiosyncratic. If you haven't read "Once Upon a Time" or better yet, some third-person biographies of Little Gloria, you're going to have a very hard time understanding the actual plot behind the lovely writing. Also, while it's crystal clear why she had to get away from DiCicco the abusive jerk, it's far less clear why the relationship with Stokowski broke down. Perhaps it is something that couldn't be well put into words, but the impression one gets is that she's very happy for years and then all of a sudden they can't communicate anymore and off she goes with Sinatra, who she admits she is just using as the "bridge" to get away from Stokowski. Nevertheless, the book is worth it for the prettily told tales of a rich girl's coming of age in a more elegant era - just be sure to read up on the bare facts in another book first, and then enjoy the recounting from Gloria's very own special point of view. And yes, she is angsty, not happy all the time. For most of the book she is in her late teens and early 20s. Most thoughtful people are not a big barrel of fun filled laughs at that age, even if they're rich, and especially if they had a highly dysfunctional and messed-up childhood like Gloria did.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Poor Little Rich Girl Waste of Time, May 17, 2010
The book picks-up after the infamous custody battle for little Gloria Vanderbilt. We see Gloria come of age before WWII and date many famous people, like Howard Hughes before she marries Pat Dicecco. She soon realizes he is a monster, but must meet Leopold Stokowski, her "white knight" before she can leave Pat. Although she spends a decade with Leopold and they have two sons, she is miserable in this marriage as well, living much of it alone. Her dreams appear to be largely ignored. She finally finds the strength to save herself as the story ends.
The book is a true testimony to the value of ghost writers. She has such an exciting past, but instead of interesting stories, we are forced to wade through her boring, mundane descriptions of being bored or unhappy in a life most people would never be able to dream of having. We all dream about what it would be like to be rich and famous. This book doesn't satisfy and doesn't make Gloria a sympathetic character either.
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