Customer Reviews

The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

First things first: I love Clint Eastwood and his films, but just as with Albert Goldman's The Lives of John Lennon, I can read a book that details the sordid aspects of a person's character and still retain my love for their work and for them as an artist. Personally I find the fact that Eastwood, like Lennon, is no one's ideal as a person is irrelevant to my appreciation of their art, though it does seem that dysfunctionality is a hallmark of the best artists.

Sondra Locke's autbiography is a must read for all Eastwood fans as it does help give a fuller picture of Eastwood. The book is well-written and, when focused on her relationship with Eastwood and the movie industry, quite a fascinating read...a real page turner. I don't know quite what to think about Ms. Locke's relationship with her husband Gordon, but you can always skip over those pages!

The book is entertaining on some level, providing a behind the scenes look at the underbelly of Hollywood. Locke paints Clint as pretty much a heartless, stingy, egomaniacal liar and herself as the victim. But an honest reading would also reveal that Locke left herself open to be hurt and had some "issues" as well.

The fact that she was married to an openly gay man (a childhood friend) prior to and during the entire time she was with Clint gives one a clue as to the level of mind we are dealing with. Then we have the detailed accounts of supposedly supernatural events that began to wear on me after awhile. Most of these incidents could be explained away yet they are given enormous significance as if they are some sort of prophecy.

I came away from the book liking Clint somewhat less, and thinking Ms. Locke was a few cards shy of a full deck. I also expected more detailed accounts of the films she and Clint made together, there isn't much about that at all. Hollyweird indeed...

I found this book at the library and took it out on a whim. I had no recollection of the lawsuits Sondra Locke had pressed on Clint Eastwood and was a big fan of his movies. I figured it would be a good, light read on a lazy summer day - as insubstantial as cotton candy, and just as sweet. Was I ever wrong!

When I started reading it after looking at the flyleaf, I was fully prepared to dislike Sondra and write off her motivations as callous greed and self-pity - a means of staying in the public eye at the expense of Eastwood. After the first dozen pages, I started to like her and relaxed my judgment. This is the story of the journey of a strong, intelligent woman who refused to roll over and play dead despite the brick walls she ran up against.

I ended up disliking Clint Eastwood and liking her. Although the relationship was over, she had the courage to try and leave it on a more positive note and to resolve things. She grabbed at one olive branch he proffered between lawsuits, unable to see the hidden thorns. That, to me, meant that it wasn't a vendetta or sour grapes. It was Clint Eastwood's own actions, as relayed by Locke, that caused him to tumble off his pedestal. Indeed, she showed restraint in her portrayal of him and their relationship.

However, I found that the true star of the book was Gordon Anderson. He was depicted as quirky, unique, spiritual, kind, understanding and strong - what a contrast to Clint's true nature. (Had this been a work of fiction, I would have found the contrast a rather blatant literary device the difference was so profound.) I wanted to read more about him, less about the narcissistic Eastwood. Their incredible journey together made this book special - an examination of avatars and Karl Jung, cats that thump on freezer doors and the synchronicity of licence plates. I wanted more of this - more of the descriptions of their homes, and Gordon's designs - outward manifestations of their inner lives, more insight into Gordon's mind, and more about the incredible coincidences that shaped their lives!

Thank you for this book, Sondra. Good for you for pursuing your lawsuits and for writing this!

One of the strangest Hollywood stories I've ever read - strange largely because it is so sensitively written in spite of the nastiness of the "plot." Locke paints a truly terrifying, creepy portrait of Mr. Eastwood, the American hero who is apparently a self-centered, manipulative, sociopathic control freak. What gives Locke so much credibility is the love she still clearly feels for her ex-lover, the fact that she is not writing out of anger but out of love and sadness. Eastwood's two-faced twists and turns are too peculiar not to be the real deal. This is an amazing book. My heart goes out to Locke, who seems to have been black-balled in Hollywood, and who was bumped from many TV talk shows (unable to adequately promote this fine memoir) and whose rave review in Entertainment Weekly was even pulled from publication by execs at the last minute - and replaced with a negative review! Entertainment Weekly was part of AOL-Time Warner - Warner being Clint's studio. (SO much for freedom of the press!) The man instills fear in peoples' hearts - and he'll instill it in yours after you read this bizarre love story.

I quite literally could not put this book down until the last page -- even reading it at the dinner table with my five-year-old looking on in amazement. When she saw the cover and how beautiful Locke is, she said, "Mommy, that's a movie star and I want to be one!" The book itself is beautifully written, and while I was looking forward to reading about Locke's longtime relationship w/ Clint Eastwood, the real surprise was hearing about her childhood friend, mentor, spiritual guide and first husband, Gordon Anderson. Don't we all wish we could have someone as extraordinary as this in our corner! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

This memoir is as interesting for its revelation of the real Clint Eastwood as it is in the unfolding of the three manifestations of Sondra Locke.

Sondra is no sterling intellect but she tells her story in an engaging way. It all begins with Good Sondra growing up Shelbyville, Tennessee, a gorgeous babe with large soulful eyes of Keanesian proportions and an ambition to be an actress. Through a miraculous series of events, she lands the role of Mick Kelley in the motion picture "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", for which she receives a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

From a career standpoint, it's all downhill from here as Sondra lands roles in increasingly shoddier films from the mildly disturbing "Willard" (a boy and his rats) to such forgettable trash as "Death Game." She is well along in her metamorphosis from Good Sondra to Bad Sondra when she becomes Clint Eastwood's concubine.

Though she and Clint are already married to others, she moves in with him. They make movies together and the arrangement lasts fourteen years. Then Clint grows tired of her, kicks her out of the Bel Air house she has lived in for years, changes the locks and ships her personal belongings in moving boxes to a storage locker.

Bad Sondra describes Eastwood as cruel, selfish and immature. While one can understand her disappointment at the breakup, it is hard to understand how she could express shock. She underwent two abortions and a tubal ligation to please Clint and complains, "I put my faith in a monster who thought nothing of destroying anything inconvenient to him." Where in her long association with Clint Eastwood did she think this relationship was headed?

It was said of Citizen Kane that "...he had some private sort of greatness. But he kept it to himself. He never gave himself away. He never gave anything away. He just left you a tip." The same might be said of Citizen Clint.

Bad Sondra is blind to her own culpability for her predicament. Her tale is one of sacrifice to unbridled ambition to be a movie star. Perhaps it is this realization that triggers her slide into the persona of Crazy Sondra.

Midway through the book she relates incidents, dreams, images and other phenomena that she describes as absolutely "numinous." Go ahead and look it up. She uses this odd word six times on five pages, like a child playing with a new toy, and then unceremoniously discards it.

In Chapter 12 she advises that "...you have just entered a world where there are no longer distinctions between scientific reality and mythic reality." No kidding. She relates a weird tale involving a curious cat and a toilet bowl containing strange emanations and symbols. She regards this as a case where "God has turned our toilet into an Etch-A-Sketch."

So who comes out worse in this `tell all' book, Clint or Sondra? You be the judge. This book is definitely worth the read.

It's unfortunate that Sondra Locke wasted 14 years of her life with Clint Eastwood.
It was disgusting that any person could treat another human being with such disregard, let alone someone you claimed to love for many years. The levels to which this man stooped was unbelievable. And not just him, but everyone and everything connected to him, too. She's much better off without such a small minded peon in my opinion.

I was much more interested in reading about Gordon Anderson. I wish she would write another book entirely about him! All the funny stories and anecdotes relating to him were great fun to read.It was a relief to read these lighter parts after all the back stabbing by her boyfriend and a lot of her so called "friends". It made me think with friends like that who needs enemies?


I was glad her lawsuit against him ended well for her. You can't help but hope she can find happiness with a man who will truly love her for herself, and find some friends who are loyal and can't be bought.

I have to admit that I never really liked Sondra Locke or Clint Eastwood and only read the book because it was handed to me as something that I just had to read... Sondra Locke's ability to tell her story is absolutly breathtaking. She is someone I have now come to admire. I do not beleive the book is as much about Clint Eastwood as most people would have you believe, but instead it is about a woman's journey through life and Hollywood - Clint is mentioned because he was part of it - I found the sections of the book that had nothing to do with him a lot more interesting anyway. One of the things that touched me the most about this book is the author's ability to honestly state that she never thought to tell Clint to have surgery himself - it never even crossed her mind. She admits her mistakes in life and speaks about the lessons she learned along the way - something we all go through daily. Her relationship with Gordon Anderson is something very special - How many of us in the world can honestly say that we have had, ourselves, someone that has loved us and we have loved equally in return since childhood - through the good times, tears and triumphs? Both Sondra and Gordon are very special people in my opinion and this is a book everyone should read. Forget Eastwood!

I admit I wasn't expecting to like this book at all but Sandra seemed to tell her story in such a way that I was unable to put the book down. She didn't just put Clint down she tells about the good times and the bad and describes it in such detail that you can really imagine how her life with and without Clint was. I think it took a lot of guts to tell her story. She is a remarkable women and a very talented writer. I can't describe in words how much I enjoyed her book I would like to be able to tell her personally that I think she is a great writer and I wish her the best in the future.

I bought this book because I had met Sondra Locke a couple of times in business and social settings and liked her immensely. She was unpretentious, kind, funny, focused and very intelligent. I was saddened that she had to carry the burden of people's negative expectations until they could see the real Sondra. What created this misperception? I simply had to find out what had transpired between her and Clint Eastwood to merit all the vitriol.

It's a cliche, but I couldn't put this book down and I never wanted it to end! As a previous reviewer has already stated, the parts of this book about Mr. Eastwood are the least interesting. Sondra has had a "wonder-full," almost magical life, like a character in a fairy tale. I was so pleased that, by the end of the book, she seemed to have found her Prince Charming. With luck and synchronicity, we shall meet again and I can tell her myself (maybe she'll sign my book!).