Kelly's Quest [Paperback]

Buddy Ebsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2003

To learn more about Buddy Ebsen's music, please go to: www.springbound.com/buddyebsen.Kelly's Quest is a character driven love story. It is a book about a beautiful, forthright, standup young woman and her rebellion. It is about the qualities of human nature, such as ambition, greed, corruption, personal values, sexuality, loss of scruples, and the dilemma of combining the need for love and personal success. Kelly, a beautiful, disillusioned girl working in a man's job, flees Hollywood after her quick temper has cost her a job as a stagehand, as well as her relationship with her father. After being clobbered because she dares to stand up for herself in a man's world, Kelly goes in search of a man that will make her feel like a woman, her Mr. Right. Her path is strewn with obstacles and uncertainties There is in Kelly's life, a list of men with whom, in some manner, she became involved. Father Hennesy, her minister, Noel DeLacey, sensitive young film maker, Jerry, the millionaire who mistook her for a hooker, Jack Slade, a bad guy, and finally Gary Hunnicutt, a young Montana cowboy, who qualifies in every way as her Mr. Right. If she can steal him from Billie Jean, the seductive young Texas rodeo queen?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Buddy Ebsen's best known characterization is that of "Jed Clampett patriarch of that celebrated piece of Americana The Beverly Hillbillies. His second best known is the television sleuth Barnaby Jones."Prior to that he was "Georgie Russell," Davy's pal in the Walt Disney classic Davy Crockett.Surprisingly, Buddy had never intended to be an actor. His goal in life was to be a doctor. However, after completing two years of pre-med studies at the University of Florida and Rollins College, the Florida landboom collapsed, affecting the fortunes of the Ebsen family.Since Ebsen senior was a dancing teacher, he had taught all his children his trade. Buddy shuffled off to New York to try show business, arriving there August 4, 1928. His Broadway credits include: Whoopee 1928, Flying Colors 1933, Ziegfeld Follies 1934, Yokel Boy 1939, Showboat 1945 and Male Animal 1953.His film credits include: Broadway Melody of 1935 with his dancing partner, sister Vilma, Broadway Melody of 1938 with Judy Garland, Born to Dance, the Shirley Temple picture Captain January, Banjo On My Knee, Girl of the Golden West 1938, Parachute Battalion, Night People with Gregory Peck 1954, Between Heaven & Hell 1956 with Robert Wagner, Attack, Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn 1961, Mail Order Bride 1964, The One & Only Family Band 1968, The President's Plane is Missing, Fire on the Mountain 1981, Stone Fox 1986, to name a few.His creation of Cabaret Dada, a musical was inspired by the Dada artistic revolt as a protest against World War I. A song from that show was selected for world-wide broadcasting in seven languages by the Voice of America. In 1968, he won the Honolulu race in his 35 foot catamaran, "Polynesian Concept."Buddy had painting lessons as a child but this introduction to art did not flower until his later years. From casual pen and ink sketches of old Duke and Uncle Jed he was encouraged by his wife, Dorothy, herself a painter, to try oil.This led to a brisk sale of originals and

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588201872
• ISBN-13: 978-1588201874
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,420,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kelly's Quest by Buddy Ebsen, July 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Kelly's Quest (Paperback)

When I started reading this book, I did so only because Buddy Ebsen is my most very favorite actor of all time. I was though very, very happy to learn that Mr. Ebsen is also a great writer! I'm not sure what book the other reviewers read, but I love, love, loved it!! Go Buddy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, August 16, 2010

By 

C. Reese - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kelly's Quest (Hardcover)

I actually purchsed this book thru Buddy Ebsen's Web Site. I ordered a autographed copy before he passed away that cost somewhat more than the non-signed copy but well worth it.

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A unique story, but an amateurish effort., May 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Kelly's Quest (Hardcover)

To stage this romantic novel around a plain-Jane stagehand tomboy electrician is a clever concept, rather than revisiting the once-too-often treaded tale of a "movie star" and her numerous Hollywood love affairs, however some of the scenarios that develop in "Kelly's Quest" are just too cliche and unbelievable. The story is formulaic and lacks any unforseeable twists. Character development is very weak.
Above all, the grammar is atrocious and inexcusable. McCowley Cawlkin? (Did he mean Macaulay Culkin?). A thorough proof reading would have made this novel much easier to digest. One specific individual's name is mis-spelled twice within three pages.
Some of the feminine acts undertaken by Kelly, a rough-and-tumble electrician, are completely out of chronological and behavioral context with a millenial girl in the year 2000: Mr Ebsen might draw inspiration from a time gone by, but Kelly would never spot a handsome guy and immediately compare him to Robert taylor. I doubt she would even be able to picture Robert Taylor. Furthermore, she would not glue on a fresh set of eyelashes while preparing to go on a date. That might have been commonplace in the 1940's, but it's just not done anymore, Mr Ebsen. Unless she was hooking, perhaps.
Finally, when Kelly tosses her cookies after watching two guys kiss, as revolting as that might be to some narrow-minded people, the act is insensitive, and simply not believable; not in this day and age. That paragraph depicts Mr Ebsen as being intolerant and beset with some "issues" himself.
Mr Ebsen was a good actor and is presently a fine painter, however I hope this is his first and last venture into authoring romance novels.