The writer and former commentator on 60 Minutes chronicles the long, eccentric marriage of her talented parents, whose disparate tastes and interests made them lead separate lives, and traces her own troubled marriage and successful career. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Alexander's memoir tells of her experiences as a columnist for Life magazine, editor of McCall's, and commentator on 60 Minutes. The book's primary focus, though, is on her parents. Milton Ager composed such Tin Pan Alley classics as "Ain't She Sweet" and "Happy Days Are Here Again," while Cecelia Ager was a well-regarded writer for Variety and several New York newspapers. Close friends of the family included George and Ira Gershwin, Bennet Cerf, Dorothy Parker, and John Huston; their appearances in the book give it glitter. But ultimately what will stay with readers the most is Alexander's moving account of her parents, her relationships with them, and their relationship with each other. Recommended for public libraries.?John Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
The celebrated chronicler of the lives of others from Jean Harris To Patty Hearst now turns her lens on her own unconventional family--and on herself.
Shana Alexander spent much of her life trying to figure out her enigmatic parents, Milton and Cecelia Ager. The eccentric fifty-seven-year Ager marriage had begun at the start of the Jazz Age, 1922, when twenty-nine-year-old Milton, already a prince of Tin Pan Alley, met Cecelia, a chic twenty-year-old California blonde. Cecelia's lethal columns in Variety on the fashionable and fatuous eventually led to stints as a Hollywood screenwriter and a celebrated Manhattan movie critic. Milton went on to compose such classics as "Ain't She Sweet" and "Happy Days Are Here Again." The Agers moved in a charmed circle that included George and Ira Gershwin and Dorothy Parker. But they gave new meaning to the term Private Life. Husband and wife were complete opposites, pursuing different tastes and passions, even living on different timetables--she by day, he by night--and occupying separate quarters in the hotel suites and furnished apartments they called home. Poles Apart is literally the book Shana Alexander was born to write. It is a poignant, enthralling remembrance of the hilarity and tragedy of the Agers' lives and of their daughter's struggle to come to understand and love this sophisticated, witty, often maddening family. Along the way, we get a startlingly honest account of Alexander's own life, professional and personal: her successful career as a writer at Life and Newsweek and a commentator on 60 Minutes, counterpointed by her troubled marriages, the dramatic love affair that cast her simultaneously as career woman and Other Woman, and the heartbreaking story of her own daughter, Kathy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Unique Life,
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This review is from: Happy Days (Hardcover)
This was a damn good read. It was surprising how many famous people pass through this account, and how wandering the road was. From an early childhood as the daughter of one of the leading songwriters of the 20s and 30s to a life as a writer and reporter dealing with some of the most famous personalities of the day, Shana saw it all. Most interesting, however, is the story of her difficult relationship with her mysterious parents, and her glimpses into the dynamics of their relationship.
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