Customer Reviews

More Than a Woman: An Intimate Biography of Bette Davis

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Readable, detailed and persuasive, this serious biography of Bette Davis offers a balanced, engrossing account of her colorful life. The author clearly recounts her dogged rise to screen stardom, her stormy marriages, and her often contradictory actions and statements. Many of the murkier incidents in the actress's life (namely the mysterious death of her second husband) are closely examined. Davis' acting, and the relative worth and importance of her many films get short shrift, but as a standard biography of a film star, Spada's book is quite solid. It's probably best read in tandem with Davis' autobiography, "The Lonely Life", and the memoir "Mother Goddam" to which she contributed notes and addendum. A more entertaining account of Davis, with better analysis of her films, is Lawrence Quirk's fan-oriented "Faster Your Seatbelts: The Tempestuous Life Of Bette Davis." Now, that book is truly a joy to read!

James Spada has written a thoroughly detailed, well-researched novel about the life of one of the movies' most enduring stars. He spares no punches to Bette Davis, but, at the same time, offers better understanding of her motives in many situations. The chapters dealing with the last four years of her life were enough to bring tears to my eyes, as I could just imagine this wonderful woman hurting so badly from the betrayal of daughter B.D. Bette's son Michael, however, proves to be a loyal, forgiving son to her. The last line really sums it up when it says something to the effect of.....and she would be happy to know that her fans miss and respect her despite the fact that she was less than a perfect human being. This is a GREAT biography!!!

This is a well-written and exhaustively researched book about Bette Davis. The narrative of her complex life is always entertaining and is presented in chronological fashion. Her career serves as the backdrop for this analytical recounting of her colorful life. The focus, however, remains on Bette Davis, the woman, and her story is skillfully told.

The portrait of Ms. Davis that emerges from the pages of this book is a sympathetic one, despite the author's presentation of Ms. Davis as a flesh and blood woman with many issues. It is a biography that will keep the reader turning its pages, as it is so eminently readable. Moreover, the black and white photographs that are included in the book serve to augment the reader's enjoyment. Fans of Bette Davis, as well as those who appreciate well-written biographies and memoirs, will find much to like about this book.

I appreciated the intricate details Spada provided in the telling of Davis' life story. What I could have done without were the implications that Davis caused the death of her husband as well as the brain damage from which her adopted daughter suffered! Apparently no accidents even peripherally connected with Davis can occur without making her bear the burdon of the blame. Is this amateur sleuthing or sensationalism or just mean-spiritedness? Makes you wonder if BD Hyman had a hand in the writing of this book.

I finally read this book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages. It is a well written and supposedly well documented book. I feel that the author is way too focused Bette Davis's sex life. I have read other books about and by Bette Davis in the past 25 or so years and I have never seen such a focus on sex as this author has.

Reading the book did bring into focus how things that seem so gosh darn important really do not matter at all in the long run. Bette Davis apparently was so intense in being the ultimate actor that being a member of the family of man got lost in the intensity.

All in all, this is a pretty good biography of a very complex person who certainly has a permanent place in film history.