One Lifetime Is Not Enough [Hardcover]

Zsa Zsa Gabor (Author), Wendy Leigh (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1991

The famous Hungarian beauty recalls her experiences with Hollywood's rich and famous, describing her childhood in Hungary, a kiss from Garbo, her romances with Sean Connery, Sinatra, and Richard Burton, and her friendships. Reprint. PW.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Writing with freelancer Leigh, actress/singer/diamond lover Zsa Zsa Gabor presents what one might call a kiss-and-tell bookallowed?or f . . .-and-tell?, which I think is kind of fun by calling attention to itselfgs , revealing, among other intimate disclosures, that at 15 she lost her virginity to Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey. ("For the rest of my life I would search for another god to eclipse him.") She is charmingly straightforward about her many affairs and just as openly discusses her eight marriages and ever-close family. She also tells her side of the famous slapping incident with a Beverly Hills cop last year. In the end, Gabor comes across as a frank, spontaneous woman who craves intimacy, excitement and power but tends to fall in love with difficult men, most notably professional cad George Sanders. A bonus for the reader are the sometimes pathetic come-on lines she has been subjected to by rich and famous men. For example, running into Gabor on the street in Manhattan, CBS head William Paley once suggested spending the afternoon in bed together, which she was inclined to do, but then he offended her, and botched the affair, by promising her a TV show if she would. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038529882X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385298827
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's trash, but I couldn't put it down!, August 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One Lifetime Is Not Enough (Charnwood Large Print Library Series) (Hardcover)

This is one of those books that you're embarrassed to be seen reading, buying, or checking out of the library. Zsa Zsa has written the most egotistical book I've ever read! Some of it is SO hard to believe, such as the little chapter about the priest who wanted to break his vows for one night of passion with Ms. Gabor (to make it even more incredible, her husband allegedly encouraged her to accept, telling her that it was his fantasy to see her with a priest). But this book was great entertainment, like a saucy bit out of the National Enquirer. Despite the fact that it may have lowered my IQ a few points, it was worth the hours it took to read it. Great pictures, too, of the young Zsa Zsa, who was a great beauty back in the days.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "One Life" is too much, May 18, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Life is Not Enough (Mass Market Paperback)

A possible rejected title for Zsa Zsa Gabor's autobiography: "All The Men I Slept With, And All The Gems They Bought Me." Gabor's biography "One Life is Not Enough" is as full of dishing as a kitchen sink, but after a while her gossipy revelations become boring instead of entertaining.

Born to a rich Hungarian family, Zsa Zsa Gabor first got married at the age of fifteen, but left her husband after the death of her lover, Turkish leader Ataturk. Eight more marriages came after that, including George Sanders, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, and Conrad Hilton (yes, from THAT Hilton family). Not to mention a small army of lovers that included Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Frank Sinatra, and more.

Gossipy memoirs are always a fun guilty pleasure, the sort of thing to tuck inside a weekly news magazine at lunch. Gabor reveals plenty of sexy details (including making out with Greta Garbo) that are above and beyond even what tabloids usually print, and she does in it a very straightforward, matter-of-fact manner.

Unfortunately, her exploits start to get annoying. The word "diamond" is used constantly (we get it, Zsa Zsa -- you love diamonds), and there is little of Gabor's life except who she slept with and why. There isn't a great deal about her daughter or family... except when ex-hubby George Sanders married her sister Magda. Some of her stories are questionable -- like Sanders wanting to watch Gabor bed a Catholic priest, or Gabor sleeping with Sinatra to make him leave her apartment. And others raise weird questions (if she's so amazingly sexy, why did her husbands keep cheating?).

Gabor gushes ad nauseam about her assorted lovers and husbands, few of which are actually around much. Initially, since her first lover was a god-king, it's an interesting tale. But when she gets to Hollywood, these guys mostly start to blur together. What's more, Gabor certainly was telling the truth when she said she liked being around men more than women -- her descriptions of women like Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and any other beautiful heterosexual actress are pretty catty, to say the least.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's autobiography starts off as a delicious gossipfest, but eventually deteriorates into a listing of the men she slept with and/or married. "One Life is Not Enough" is way more than enough.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ~A BOOK ACTUALLY WORTH READING~, July 10, 2004

By 

Lorraine (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Lifetime Is Not Enough (Hardcover)

I love Zsa Zsa's autobiography! I never read a whole biography in my life without falling asleep, but in this book I coulden't put it down. It was so interesting from start to finish! I am a huge fan of Zsa Zsa now from after reading this incredible book. She has been through so much drama. I hope you find my great review helpful:) ~THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ZSA ZSA GABOR!~
~Always Lorraine~