Customer Reviews

The Quality of Mercy : An Autobiography

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Mercy was one of my favorite character actresses because she was so full of life and so descriptive in her characters. However, her book lacks everything that she was on the big screen. I totally expected something that I could sink my teeth into. Instead, I got a rehashed mix of a report that hops in all different directions.

I love writing because it allows me the opportunity to take out all of my aggression through words. (Afterall, I'm a writer, not a lover.) Is that what Mercy (may she rest in peace) loved about acting? Because she was both a very complex and bitter person. "The Quality of Mercy: An Autobiography" is dripping with both self-loath and maybe even trepidation and hostility. I never learned anything about her, though. Except for the fact that Mercy never really understood what it took to be a big star.

The writing style was so incredibly bland. Where was her literary agent and publisher when this book was being put together? I know MM is not a writer so all the blame cannot be left on her doorstep. She writes about her dog, about a cowboy hat that she loved and about a dress that was loaned to her for the Academy Awards - WHO CARES! Why didn't anyone take the time to tell MM that she was not Sarah Bernhardt??! The woman took herself way too seriously and that's probably the biggest mistake as far as this book is concerned.

There were a few midly interesting passages. Mercy detailed how she withheld the rights to her voice for an "Exorcist" record because she was still incredibly miffed by the legendary spurning that was done to her. And this is all expressed in the tune of "I am the big star and they cannot do a thing without me. Case close!" But, by now this song sounds old, tired and self-serving; not at all unlike the woman so intent on belting out these inane and overused lyrics! And I found it so bizarre when Mercy wrote about how she decided to tear up an autograph because a fan referred to her as an "alcoholic." Did I mention that Mercy never really understood what it took to be a big star? Miss Joan Crawford (may she rest in peace) would have sooner went shopping stark naked in Bamburger's than snub one of her millions of fans. Even if she had the looks (she didn't) with this type of prima donna disposition it's no wonder Mercy never got too far.

Mercy ends the book with a bunch of antisemitic statements. I found it funny because these were all in "quotes," supposedly words uttered to her by her relatives when she was a small child. OK, let's assume that's true, if this is accurate, how can she justify 500 or 600 words in entire quotes without any interspersed text or page-breaks? Or, maybe this is a parapraxis?

The very beginning of the book was the only bona fide time that Mercy allowed her true persona to shine through loud and clear. In this text she wrote about her name and tried to claim that she was of Chicano heritage. This was so clever of her because even Mercy admits that her name is such an oxymoronic conundrum.

I really don't know anything more about this woman after reading her 245-page long 1981 biography than I did before I read it. Perhaps I know even less about her. Maybe Mercy shouldn't have written this? Maybe she wrote it too early in her career. Six or 7 years after this was published her son went crazy and killed his entire family (keep in mind this was years and years before stuff like this is common, everyday news, like now) it's a shame she never wrote about this or even publicly spoke of this horrible tragedy.

This is absolutely the very worst book that I have read in such a long time. Lemme first preface that I never start a book that I do not finish and I never read more than one book at a time. Reading is probably one my greatest pleasures out of life (please get your mind out of the gutter.) But when I get stuck with a monotonous book it can be so incredibly miserable because I feel so trapped and stuck and almost boxed in. The only thing that helped me through this appalling experience was knowing that I had a plethora of other quality books to read after this. Please have Mercy on me!