Customer Reviews

Sex Lives of the Hollywood Goddesses

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It is nothing short of astonishing that Mr. Cawthorne actually found a publisher for this compilation of discredited and malicious gossip, half truths and outright lies. For example, there is no evidence whatsoever that Jean Harlow was a slut. Mr. Cawthorne simply copied this nonsense from a 10th rate biography that has been long, and justifiably, disgraced. It's also not true that Miss Harlow's mother, a Christian Scientist, refused her daughter medical aid in her last days -- that myth was shattered long ago. And, in any event, it would hardly have mattered: Miss Harlow suffered from kidney failure, and there was nothing that 1930s medicine could do for her. And it is by no means certain that her husband, Paul Bern, committed suicide. Or, if he did, that the reason was devastating shame because of his purported impotence. The list of errors, blunders, guesses, and lifting of unproven or disproven "facts" goes on ad nauseam. For instance, there is ab! solutely no reason to think that Marilyn Monroe ever had a lesbian affair. And when Mr. Cawthorne does manage to get his facts right, he simply repeats what's already been long known -- e.g., Greta Garbo was a lesbian. Wow -- what a revelation! Stop the presses! Interested in Hollywood gossip? I suggest you read Kenneth Anger's books (problems there, as well, but at least he did more than copy out salacious nonsense from Grade Z bios). Give this silly, worthless book a miss.

Of course this book is entertaining; it is filled with gossip about some of the most loved classic movie stars.

However, it is completely trashy, false, and disgraceful. A lot of the information in this book like dates and ages are wrong. What makes the reader think that the more controversial information would be true then? Well, it isn't. Most of the information in this book was taken from Hollywood Babylon, a notoriously false book about the sex lives and scandals of famous movie stars. This book is only a cheap version of that book. Don't waste your time or your money.

Well the only thing I can say about this book is that some of it was shocking and a revalation,especially about Grace Kelly and what a slag she was. But all in all it goes to show what people will do to make it in the movies.I'm pretty sure that it's still the same for both men and women today they have to give head and more to get ahead.

But what really shocked me about the book was that NIgel got the date and year of Marilyn's death so wrong if he got that wrong what else did he get wrong in this book. For the record she died on the 4 August 1962 aged 36 and not in 1965 aged 39 jeez what a massive mistake.

I'm really disappointed in these two books (both this volume, Volume 2, and the first volume). Nigel Cawthorne has done a lot better work than this (I do plan to get his book on Dior, which I've looked at and consider to be well-done), so I'm very sorry that these two books turn out to be such a waste of money and time. Essentially, all Cawthorne has done here is collect old stories, gossip, rumor, myths and urban legends about many of the hottest actresses of old Hollywood. Just one example will do; Cawthorne repeats the old canard about Clara Bow's supposed hijinks with the USC football team (including a fellow by the name of Marion Morrison). As James Robert Parish says in his much better book _The Hollywood Book of Scandal_, those scandalous doings simply never happened. The parties Bow hosted for the Trojans were noisy (so much so that neighbors called the police to complain) but, by the standards of the Roaring Twenties, quite decent, certainly not the wild orgies that myth paints them as.

Don't bother buying either volume of this series - and if these books are anything to go by, be very cautious before spending your money on any of the other "The Sex Lives of..." books.

One thing in life that every one loves to read about is the Hollywood bombshell sexual exploits. Every newspaper and magazine covers the story and the reader gets just enough to keep coming back. Nigel Cawthorne has uncovered more than enough in this book and you'll definitely want more.

Women like Clara Bow, Tulula Bankhead, Jane Russell, Jayne Mansfield, Louise Brooks, Garbo, Dietrich, Lana Turner, Jean Harlow, Grace Kelly and many, many more are included in a book that I think is sure to be a number one bestseller.

What Cawthorne gives you is a first hand look into the world of glamour and glitz and the women who turn sex appeal in money. You'll read, for the first time, many stories that somehow never managed to make the mainstream press and you'll be amazed at most.

It is simply amazing how once again Nigel Cawthorne is able to get to the root of the story and give you the details. Each story is short and compact, filled with fantasy and fun making it a real pleasure to read this book. Once again Nigel is the man!

I literally threw the book down after reading the first couple pages.

First off, after glancing at the pictures, the one labeled Jean Harlow...I am 90% sure that it is not her. Secondly, the trash he wrote about Olive Thomas made me want to toss the book in a fire. Her first husband never made her his sex slave and other disgusting nonsense he puts forth.

If you want books about the love lives about silver screen icons, I suggest reading books by Jane Ellen Wayne.

Nigel Cawthorne's books are always so much fun to read. They are filled with the juiciest stories from classic Hollywood. If you love hearing all the gossip about what was going on in the stars bedrooms then this book is for you. Nigel isn't afraid to dish the dirt about all the affairs and scandals. This book is definitely not for fans who want to see their favorite actresses portrayed as saints. All the chapters are fascinating especially Jayne Mansfield and Mae West. This book was impossible to put down!

Cawthorne has done it again with his Goddesses book -- putting out a page turner of hot history which any movie or history buff should read...the amount of research he has done is phenomenal and yet his writing is not stilted or didactic at all. Rather, this book, like his others, is so incredibly entertaining, I can't wait for his next one to come out! (And I hope these books are on reading lists for history classes in school--? What better way to learn?)

If an author can't get names spelled correctly (Colleen MOORE, not More; John HUSTON, not Houston) or dates right (Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, nor 1965) or even bother to fact check his work (Ninotchka was NOT Garbo's last movie; Jane Wyman did NOT win an Oscar for Stage Fright) then why should a reader take any of the more outrageous "facts" he writes as truth? What a terrible book.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED WHO WAS BED PARTNERS WITH THE LIKES OF GRACE KELLY, JEAN HARLOW, LANA TURNER, AVA GARNDER MARILYN AND MANY MORE THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. IT GIVES A BRIEF BUT DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE MANY AFFAIRS EACH OF THESE ACTRESSES. IT ALSO HAS SOME MORE DETAILED INFO SUCH AS WHAT POSITION SOME OF THEM LIKED AND WHAT SEXUAL ACTS SOME WERE CONSIDERED EXPERTS AT. ALL IN ALL THIS IS A VERY ENTERTAINING BOOK.