Ecstasy and Me: My Life As A Woman [Unabridged] [Paperback]

Hedy Lamarr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett Crest Book (1967)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0006DD35K
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #692,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not high literature but a good read, June 29, 2010

By 

Dick Grune (Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ecstasy and Me: My Life As A Woman (Paperback)

True to the subtitle "My Life as a Woman", the book reports only about those aspects of and events in the life of the author, Hedy Lamarr, in which the fact that she was a woman played a major role: marriages, sex, and movies, in about equal parts and in considerable detail. Her achievements and her patent in electronics are not mentioned at all, not even hinted at.

Although the over-all story is roughly chonological, there are many flash-forwards and flash-backs. Whether the narrative can hold up agianst these, is a matter of opinion; I could have done with a little less. The main time line starts with her birth and shows repeatedly how here life was influenced by the movie "Extasy" she made when she was 18 years old (hence the title). It ends with the infamous shoplifting affair, of which she gives a vague account, clearly unwilling to tell the whole truth, but equally clearly unwilling to lie. This tension is, to a lesser extend, discernable throughout the entire book. The book ends with about eighty small paragraphs of personal wisdom and advice.

Not high literature but definitely a good read, if you are interested in H.L. or in the Hollywood movie industry of 1935-1965.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not by her, November 8, 2010

By 

Pat Luther (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasy and Me: My Life As A Woman (Paperback)

This book was ghost-written for her by Leo Guild without her input. He got so many facts wrong, and took so many liberties, that she ended up suing the publisher over them.

There are much better books written about Hedy Lamarr, truly a remarkable woman worth reading about, but sadly she never wrote one herself.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars CONFESSIONS OF A NYMPHOMANIAC, July 9, 2009

By 

C. Chandler "baseball doctor" (Whitesboro, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman (Mass Market Paperback)

.....Miss Lamarr sued the publisher for inserting false assertions by her ghost writer that she claimed were not true. So how much of the book is fact and how much fiction is up for grabs. One thing is certain, if only one half of the book is factual then Miss Lamarr had a serious problem with her sexuality. She claims that she was over sexed and was under the care of psychiratists for many years. The word nymphomaniac was never used but most certainly must have been the case.

.....I think Miss Lamarr's world class beauty turned out to be a curse instead of a blessing and kept her from ever realizing true contentment or happiness. She admitted as much in her book ..."My face has been my misfortune. It has attracted six unsuccessful marriage partners. It has attracted all the wrong people into my boudior and brought me tragedy and heartache for five decades. My face is a mask I cannot remove: I must always live with it. I curse it." ...

.....I was disappointed that the book did not discuss her patent for frequency hopping which today is called Spread Spectrum Technology and is one of the foundations for modern wireless communications. This to me was the most interesting part of her life. That such a great mind could be smothered and hidden behind a beautiful face is a tragedy.

.....I believe that Miss Lamarr was used and exploited by Hollywood for the money her beauty would generate but I also belive that she was a willing accomplice.