Customer Reviews

Child Star: An Autobiography

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the book itself may be a little long but it was still a great read. mrs. temple is a fascinating woman and she tells some very amusing stories about her movie career and people she has met,for example, marlene deitrich and her daughter maria riva came onto the set and maria said she was only to be photographed on the one side, she was told by her mother and shirley pointed out there was nothing wrong with the other side and marlene rushed off in a huff. i would reccomend this book to silver screen fans. its classic and amusing.

Shirley Temple was clearly a genius; she was obviously a very precocious and talented child. Her book about her young life is riveting - I cannot believe the details she clearly remembers.

I felt so sorry for her as I read on...her parents basically stole all the money she made so that they could live the high life. But you can see what type of person she is when you read of how she forgives her parents. Very touching. A very interesting book; it was hard to put down.

This fine, well written book by Ms.Black sets the facts of her life straight, and reveals the truth of her life as it was lived by her. For example, other books state that her mother tried and tried to get her into the "Little Rascals/Our Gang" comedy shorts produced at the Hal Roach Studios. Shirley states that she recalls no such ploy on her mother's part. Usually, the best books about famous folk, especially movie stars, are those written either by the star themselves ("Child Star", by Shirley Temple Black, "Shelly", and "Shelly 2" by Shelly Winters)or by members of that person's family, such as the books on Sinatra written his daughters Tina and Nancy (I'm still waiting for one by Frank Jr.) for, they're penned by those who lived the life being written about, or by those who lived with the one who's story they're writing.

If you are a big fan of Shirley Temple, this is a must read. It certainly gives you insight into her life and personality to which the average person is not privy.

However, if you are looking for something that tells you all about Hollywood in the old days, like Niven's "Bring On the Empty Horses," this is not it. I suppose this is quite understandable, as she was very young when at the height of her fame, and could hardly be expected to have been cognizant of all that was happening in the world of the adults around her. And, yes, she did continue to make films into adulthood, but one gets the impression from her own account that her acting career began to fizzle long before the ringing down of the final curtain. Much of the accounting of these later years seems almost overshadowed by stories of contractual and legal wrangling, interspersed with those of personal relationships. Interesting to many, I am sure, but not really to me.

While there are certainly stories of the (somewhat) broader Hollywood to be found in this book, I thought it all too quickly departed from her life as a star, and moved on to the more mundane, like her marriages and financial problems resulting from her father's management of her money. As I said, though, Shirley Temple fans will no doubt enjoy all this. It is well written, for the most part, informative, and many people would probably be disappointed if all it contained were accounts of her days as a child star.

While I did not enjoy the book as much as I had anticipated, I know the difference between a bad book and one that is simply not to my taste. This is a good book, depending on what you are looking for, hence my rating of four out of five stars.

I thought this book would be an interesting read, and I was a little disappointed.

The writing style was only mediocre - readable but not fabulous.

Plus for a famous person she had no controversy so that made it a little dull - there were some interesting bits, for example, when she suspected another famous personality of leaking her opinions of her movies to the press. Plus a few others including her difficult times at school and financial abuse by her father...but

This book was another skillful dodge of controversy by Shirley Temple Black, I think this book would've been better if she had written from the heart and given her opinions instead of just reciting events chronologically.

I think this was a wonderful book, it is great for Shirley Temple fans and for those who know nothing about her! It is filled with facinating stories that will be interesting to all! Some say it is long and, yes I guess thats true but, after reading it most people still want to know more!

It is about ten years ago since I first read Shirley's autobiography and I can still remember what chair I sat in while reading her book, it was that riveting for me. I recall much of what she said for her writing style is very clear and flows beautifully, thus keeping the readers interest as well as her storyline stays clear and uncluttered. Without spoiling the book for new readers I can summarize saying Shirley became all any of her public would have wanted her to become as an adult. She is loyal, loving and forgiving, not that Shirley says that herself, however she does bring to light her life's blessings as well as unpleasant situations, and there were amazingly tough times for Shirley even though the public would like to believe Shirley was untouchable in cases of difficulty. Shirley had more than a busy life, she worked very hard, her actress work as a child (and teen) was not just playtime as much as her mother tried to make it so... Shirley grew up on screen and became a lovely woman who continued her life in a few focused directions, which as I bring that up, it seems to me her book promised Volume 2. It has been a number of years Shirley, so please make Volume 2 available before I get too old!!

I am now reading this book for a report , and some horrible things have happened to her , but I thought her life was very interesting . But then again I admire Shirley Temple Black for everything she has done .

I've always loved and admired Shirley Temple. Her life is fascinating and I especially enjoyed reading about her days as a child in the studio. This is a must-read book for Shirley Temple fans.