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Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Jennifer Grant
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 3, 2011
Jennifer Grant is the only child of Cary Grant, who was, and continues to be, the epitome of all that is elegant, sophisticated, and deft. Almost half a century after Cary Grant’s retirement from the screen, he remains the quintessential romantic comic movie star. He stopped making movies when his daughter was born so that he could be with her and raise her, which is just what he did.

Good Stuff
is an enchanting portrait of the profound and loving relationship between a daughter and her father, who just happens to be one of America’s most iconic male movie stars.

Cary Grant’s own personal childhood archives were burned in World War I, and he took painstaking care to ensure that his daughter would have an accurate record of her early life. In Good Stuff, Jennifer Grant writes of their life together through her high school and college years until Grant’s death at the age of eighty-two.

Cary Grant had a happy way of living, and he gave that to his daughter. He invented the phrase “good stuff” to mean happiness. For the last twenty years of his life, his daughter experienced the full vital passion of her father’s heart, and she now—delightfully—gives us a taste of it.

She writes of the lessons he taught her; of the love he showed her; of his childhood as well as her own . . . Here are letters, notes, and funny cards written from father to daughter and those written from her to him . . . as well as bits of conversation between them (Cary Grant kept a tape recorder going for most of their time together).

She writes of their life at 9966 Beverly Grove Drive, living in a farmhouse in the midst of Beverly Hills, playing, laughing, dining, and dancing through the thick and thin of Jennifer's growing up; the years of his work, his travels, his friendships with “old Hollywood royalty” (the Sinatras, the Pecks, the Poitiers, et al.) and with just plain-old royalty (the Rainiers) . . .

We see Grant the playful dad; Grant the clown, sharing his gifts of laughter through his warm spirit; Grant teaching his daughter about life, about love, about boys, about manners and money, about acting and living.

Cary Grant was given the indefinable incandescence of charm. He was a pip . . .

Good Stuff
captures his special quality. It gives us the magic of a father’s devotion (and goofball-ness) as it reveals a daughter’s special odyssey and education of loving, and being loved, by a dad who was Cary Grant.

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Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant + Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Photographs from Good Stuff
Après ski on one of our rare trips to the snow. Dad didn't ski but filmed me making a mess of it. Here we're stuck on some Rubik's Cube–type game. Vail, Colorado, circa 1976. Cary Grant and Jennifer, circa 1969. A restaurant in New York, 1969. One of my favorite pictures of Mom (Dyan Cannon), circa 1967. The summer hat, the dignified gaze . . . gorgeous.


From Publishers Weekly

While Cary Grant's private life has always been open to wide speculation, as a father he kept a thorough family archive for his only child. Grant's daughter pays loving tribute to her father in a memoir interspersed with intimate photos, notes, and endearing transcripts of a parent dedicated to love and learning; along the way she gives insight into Cary Grant as caregiver, friend, teacher ("Dad ÿhomeschooled' me in life seven days a week"), traveler, style icon, businessman, and husband to his last wife, Barbara Harris. She fondly notes his favorite pursuits like the racetrack and Dodger games, but she also addresses being the daughter of a star ("inherent fame left me entirely ill-prepared for the realities of the world), money matters (one Christmas Grant gave his seven-year-old stock shares), and even addresses the gay rumors. She writes sparingly here of her mother, Dyan Cannon (she and Grant divorced when Jennifer was one), but records her feelings as Grant remarries and a new family emerges as the octogenarian Grant struggles to father another child. Grant nicely chronicles for her father's fans the life behind the legend and the authentic image of parental love off the screen. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (May 3, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780307267108
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307267108
  • ASIN: 0307267105
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.9 x 8.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

This was a sweet life story between Jennifer and her father Cary Grant. Tammy Crapanzano  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
I read the book the first night of the release and finished same day. Tim Swartos  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
Very endearing and heartwarming book. lurfchocolate  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Up Close And Personal With Cary May 22, 2011
Format:Hardcover
What I liked about this affectionate love letter that Jennifer Grant has created to her father's memory is that it gives its reader a glimpse into the very private life of Cary Grant. While Grant was no doubt one of those bigger than life personalities that romanced his way across the screen when most of his contemporaries eyed retirement, there was a totally different person who turned to jelly when in the hands of his only child who was for certain the great love of his life.
For me, this book brought back memories. I remember reading about him having a kid when he was in his sixties. I was a kid myself and wondered if he knew what he was letting himself in for. Apparently he knew only too well and he made the time he had with his daughter count. Grant was a superb and doting dad who probably gave more of himself because he was exiting a full time movie career and he realized the importance of what probably really was his greatest work. I also remember hearing that he died suddenly in Iowa. I wondered what recollections his daughter would have to carry her through the years.
This book is crammed with anecdotes that only a daughter could tell. There are tender moments, adventures, mementos, and memories shared that put a new light on Cary Grant. The many pictures in this book speak volumes of the bond they shared and that couldn't be broken by death. While this book may peripherally provide insight into the life of a celebity's child such as dining with royalty and globe hopping, the real message here is what a wonderful and unforgettable parent Cary Grant was.
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48 of 59 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and remarkably unrevealing June 15, 2011
Format:Hardcover
As an ardent Cary Grant fan, I had high hopes about this book, written by a loving daughter about her much-admired and celebrated father. I was disappointed, though, by the rambling, redundant quality of the writing (where was the editor?), and the tightly controlled version of her father's image that Ms. Grant chose to reveal. The author poses many questions -- apparently to herself -- and doesn't answer any of them for the reader. This book would perhaps make a good memoir for her son, but there's nothing here to invite the public in.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Babblings July 26, 2011
Format:Hardcover
I love Cary Grant, and was very excited to received this book as a gift. While I loved that it showed an aspect of Cary's character that I had never learned about before and enjoyed the relationship that Cary Grant shared with his daughter, I found the book extremely poorly written. There were so many parts that I had to reread a few times before I realized what the author was trying to say, or I never really understood her random babblings anyway. I'm sure the book made sense to her, but I was confused a couple of times by what the author was attempting to express.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Insight
In the era of "Mommie Dearest" type books, this one was charming and written lovingly about such a beloved Hollywood Actor. Read more
Published 18 days ago by CT
3.0 out of 5 stars Expected more
I had read Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon and wanted more from the child's perspective.
Thought the book was boring. Wanted more on the family.
Published 21 days ago by jane altobelli
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff
Great tribute.
Shows the love of a daughter to her father. I highly recommend this book. It is Good Stuff.
Published 1 month ago by Linda Langner
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written
I love Cary Grant. It gave me a good insight as to the wonderful father he was and not just the movie idol.
Published 1 month ago by pearl lover
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Great story about a wonderful man. Still enjoy his movies today. I understand Jennifer's loss. It is so hard to lose our parents. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Paula K Cmelik
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice to read that Cary Grant was a wonderful person and loving Dad.
Dear Jennifer -

I've been a huge Cary Grant fan for a long time. After watching my first Cary Grant movie, That Touch of Mink", I was hooked. Read more
Published 3 months ago by mommyofchristopher
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable biography.
I thought it was a nice memoir of Cary Grant by his daughter, Jennifer. There were only kind and fond memories that were written about, no recriminations of any kind.
Published 3 months ago by Helen M. White
5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD STUFF
A warm rememberance of a very special man. If you loved him you will love this tribute to the most goregous man that ever lived.
Published 3 months ago by Brenda R. Landes
4.0 out of 5 stars Such a lovely tribute
I can't imagine how difficult it was for JG to share her personal life stories about her iconic father. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Joann Cameron
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming
An interesting look into a complex man. I appreciate the fact that Jennifer is willing to share the intimate relationship she had with her father.
Published 4 months ago by judith
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