Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures (Hardcover)

~ (Editor), (Editor)
Key Phrases: Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier, Princess Grace of Monaco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Grace Kelly's death, this stunning if poorly organized tribute to the legendary actress showcases not only her brief but magnificent Hollywood career but also her life as a princess, wife and mother. Once past the bland forward by Tommy Hilfiger and a stilted biographical essay tracing Kelly's life from her childhood in Philadelphia to her death on the treacherous roads of the French Riviera, the reader is treated to almost 200 pages of photographs, candid and posed, of the woman whose life epitomized the fairy tale dream. The images lack a compelling arrangement, but Kelly's radiance, both onscreen and off, transcends the pages. With elegant looks that foreshadowed her real-life role as a princess, Kelly seems unable to take an unflattering photograph. From the on-set shots of Kelly frolicking with her To Catch a Thief co-star Cary Grant on the Côte d'Azur to the first pictures of Kelly and her three children, she exudes an air of effortlessness and confidence that has all but disappeared in today's leading ladies. The woman who became Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate blonde and the beloved princess of Monaco is exquisitely captured in this photographic collection that will delight longtime fans and newcomers alike.
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Review

"Stunningly documents Kelly's story."  —Harper’s Bazaar

"What was most entrancing about my mother was her compassion and generosity of spirit. She didn't pose in order to become beautiful, she simply was beautiful.  The photographs in the book—unseen until now—show why."  —His Serene Highness Prince Albert II

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Pavilion (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862057613
• ISBN-13: 978-1862057616
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #842,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, though should have been edited with more care, February 27, 2007

By	Julia Flyte - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a beautiful book. It begins with a brief (and fairly shallow) biography. The majority of the book features over 180 photographs from Grace Kelly's life, from infancy through to her funeral, in both colour and black and white, interspersed with quotations by or about Grace. The reproduction and layout of the photographs and the quality of the paper stock are both high and the result is a lovely coffee table book. Most of the photos are stunning and many are ones that I have not seen before.

Having said that, my impression was that the book had been compiled hastily and without care. Some quibbles:
- Some dates are incorrect. For example there is a photograph of
Princess Grace meeting John F Kennedy dated May 24, 1964 - which seems unlikely given that it was 6 months after his assassination! Elsewhere there are two photographs of the same event (Grace's arrival in Monaco for her wedding) one of which is dated April 12 1956 and the other April 14 1956.
- The photographs are not always displayed in chronological order. For example, midway through a number of photos from the height of her film career in the mid-fifties comes a shot of Her Serene Highness attending a party in 1977. I found this annoying and detrimental to the idea that we were following the span of her life - especially as the majority ARE chronologically arranged.
- While most of the photos are gorgeous, some appeared to have been chosen simply because they were previously unseen rather than because of any photographic merit - photographs that were out of focus or badly composed. Others were colour photographs reproduced in black and white, probably to sit better alongside other black and white images, but I would have preferred to see them as originally taken.

This is still a lovely book and would be a great gift for a Grace Kelly fan. It is just a shame that more care was not put into its compilation and it is for this reason that I give it only 3 stars.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buy it if you want to complete a collection, July 8, 2007

By	Antonio P. Manahan "Tonico Manahan" (Makati, Philippines) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife is a Grace Kelly fan. I tend to buy her any book I come across about Princess Grace. I feel that this is a good book to add to a collection of Princess Grace books but it is not the definitive book on Grace Kelly.

This book is authorized by the Grimaldi family and as compared to other books it has the feel of prior restraint. The closeness with the family gives us pictures cannot be found in other books; however the text adds nothing to the life of the Princess. It feels that the authors had censored themselves. I was not looking for a tabloid account but perhaps a more realistic account would have been better.

A lot has been said about inaccurate facts, typographical errors, and editorial gaffes. I still believe despite all of its shortcomings that this is a book worth buying.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Graceful and elegant, January 9, 2008

By	Lee Lukaszewicz (New England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures (Hardcover)

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the size of this addition to the "Life in Pictures" series (my own fault for not reading the dimensions before buying). The other "Life in Pictures" books I have purchased have been large, oversized productions that bring to life the lives of their subjects by way of extravagantly sized photos with captions in a comfortable font. The print in this book is literally 1/16th of an inch tall. Also, it is very oddly arranged. The photos skip around the Princess' life in a haphazard manner. The arrangement made no sense to me, and I would have preferred a chronological order.

That said, the scope of the photos is expansive in its inclusion of many private photos of the Princess and her family, as well as gorgeous portraits, unposed snapshots, and film stills. As a result of this book, I feel as though I know Princess Grace more intimately than ever before. The biographical section at the beginning of the book is a good overview of many of the important events of her life, and there are many quotes included, both by Princess Grace and about her. But the main story here is the pictures, which encompass so many of the moments, both private and public, of her life.

Overall, this comprehensive collection is a wonderful look at the life of Princess Grace. Although it is a bit small in size for a book primarily telling a story through pictures, I believe most will be satisfied with the scope of the photos included.