Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta [Hardcover]

Hugo Vickers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 1994

Drawing on previously unpublished letters and manuscripts, an intimate portrait of the chic bisexual world of Hollywood, Europe, and New York captures the complex relationship that existed among Greta Garbo, playwright Mercedes de Acosta, and photographer Cecil Beaton. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vickers fails in his attempt to demystify Greta Garbo. Clearly he found more material than he could use while researching Cecil Beaton , his biography of the famed photographer of British royals and other glitterati, but still not enough for a successful Garbo analysis. Over a 30-year period, Beaton sent hundreds of letters to Garbo, preserving carbon copies. "My Darling Sugar Plum," as he once called her, was an elusive and frustrating lover, although they seem to have enjoyed some energetic sexual encounters. "Sunday morning had been put to its ultimate use," Beaton wrote after one amorous encounter. Garbo's off-again, off-again relationship with him is paralleled in this plodding account by a long-lasting lesbian affair. Garbo met playwright Mercedes de Acosta--who dressed only in black and white--in 1931, and their frequently troubled relationship continued until the early '60s. The supporting cast here is full of famous names, all dutifully footnoted, but somehow Greta Garbo succeeds after her death in doing what she did so often in her lifetime: she slips away unobserved. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Vickers has capitalized on his position as Cecil Beaton's literary executor to write this account of the relations between Greta Garbo, sometime writer de Acosta, and designer-photographer Beaton. Most of the book consists of previously unpublished entries from Beaton's diaries and letters from Beaton to Garbo, but Vickers does utilize other sources, including interviews (though there are none with his three principals). Interest in this book will likely be limited, as it is more concerned with Beaton than Garbo. In addition, Garbo's (and Beaton's) bisexuality is old news by now. Finally, the book is primarily concerned with the years following Garbo's last film, a period during which, by all accounts (including Vickers's), Garbo's life was mostly unhappy and boring. For comprehensive collections.
John Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan,
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 333 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (July 5, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679413014
• ISBN-13: 978-0679413011
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful book, June 26, 2005

By 

Balbec "Illiers" (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta (Hardcover)

I can't understand the previous reviewer's disappointment with this book. I have read many, many movie related books, essays and biographies of all kinds, and found this volume perfectly readable, extremely informative, carefully written, well-balanced and entertaining.