Customer Reviews

The Real Bettie Page: The Truth About the Queen of the Pinups

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Sorry to tell this to customer reviewers who prefer to ignore the sadder facts of Bettie's life, but she really did disappear from public view as a result of a slide into madness and violence. Foster's book is the first discussion of the FACTS of Page's life, rather than of the image and the fantasy. Admittedly, he's not an elegant writer, but that's more than compensated for by his skills as a researcher. His book is the result of a clear-eyed examination of the life of a woman he clearly likes and for whom he clearly has a great deal of sympathy. Bettie comes across as mostly sympathetic -- even as she falls into darkness. If the truth matters more to you than the image, read this book.

Foster's book is, in the truest sense of the term, a bombshell. An easy read and a tough book to put down, except to come up for another gasp before you dive back down again, fans of la Page may want to curse Foster for bursting their bubble...or expanding the myth of the Queen of Curves. I consumed it in an evening along with a massive bowl of popcorn and a lot of tea; the 1972 mugshot alone is worth the cover price of $22, but Amazoned at $15, I got a lot of "wows" for the price of a pizza. Onward: Exploited, cheated, lied to and deceived, Bettie Page emerges not so much as an icon as much as a victim...and Foster is the messenger being shot at because he bears the news: the image of Page as we know it is far more complex than we knew. Page was not, as her earlier book paints, a good girl from a happy family doing naughty photos and disappearing discreetly. Instead, Foster's book shows her as an almost perennial victim from the sexually abused child to the trusting client of one bad promoter or lawyer after another. While Playboy's article seemingly comes to her defense, Foster points out that her issue of Playboy is the second most-requested issue in the magazine's history...and Page got all of $20 for it. When an attorney sued an unauthorized producer of Page materials without her consent, the judge found in favor of the producers and she was left with $85,000 in legal fees; another in a long string of slaps from another low-life. Ironically, in a January 1998 Playboy article, Page calls Foster "a devil" when he may be one of the few straight-forward men she's encountered in her life. One might point to countless cases of abuse victims attacking the people who've come to help them, and that may be the case here. Foster dug deep to produce a newsworthy, terrific read; he did not produce one of the dozens of Bettie Page videos, recordings, books, cigarette lighters or junk that gets listed in he book's epilogue, nor does he throw a single criticism of the numerous web sites devoted to Bettie. Foster's book is definitive investigative writing. Now the uncomfortable question that Page followers will have to face is whether our lust for Bettie is fandom or a further contribution to her continued victimization.

It's all in the book. All the dark and sad moments of Ms. Page's life. I admit a morbid streak which prompted me to read this book, but afterwords there was a sense of why did I need to know this much about her life. Did I enjoy her work more because of this knowledge? No. You may enjoy this book, more than I, if the sensational is your cup of tea. I took one star off because it is written in a 6-8th grade level English and it was annoying. Put your monies down and takes your chances!

My all time favorite book on Bettie is "The Life Of a Pin-Up Legend". She spoke with the authors of that book and gave her blessing. That book has a "happy ending", Bettie finding solace in bible study and religion. This book, "The Truth About the Queen of Pin-Ups", tells a very different side of Bettie's life story, one that I'd never heard about before. It surprised me! I'm not surprised Bettie wouldn't help with this book. It focuses on years she wants to forget. It's sad to hear about her problems with mental illness. I found it interesting mainly because the author spoke to a woman who actually lived with Bettie for a time, and the pictures were interesting. This book doesn't change my opinion of Bettie Page, she is still my favorite icon. I don't mind if the Goddess is all too human. Still love her!

I was interviewed for a book about my idol Bettie Page by a reporter named Richard Foster. Little did I know that this book would be a bombshell of a story. Foster dug up some dirt on the Queen of Curves that made plenty fans scowl in disgust at the author's investigating skills. I was shocked to read about Bettie's abuse as a child and later her mental illness, but then again I was glad to see that she was a real woman with real problems and not just some objectified pin-up girl without a soul. After reading the entire book, I love Bettie even more now, and respect her for her courage and strength to keep on going. I talk in the book about why so many fans love her and what she did as an icon. (...)

This was an interesting book but seemed a little lurid to me, I was fascinated by the pictures in the book, which showed both the naughty and the nice Bettie Page. I would recommend it for hard core Bettie Page fans, but it would have made a better read if Bettie Page would have cooperated with the author and given her side of the story. We aren't really given an insight into the slide into insanity and her stays in mental hospitals. Without Bettie's version of events it is hard to know what to believe.

I am new to the Bettie Page revivial. Though I hesitated buying this as I thought it might be a bit of a "tell all", I couldn't resist some of the post 57 photos contained. Mr. Foster sets this up very well especially for those Bettie Page novices. I found the foreword and the preface very enlightening. From that point, Mr. Foster elaborates on the "real Bettie Page" in the first chapter. The known and the unknown relevant to Bettie Page is examined in detail. With respect to the unknown, well, Mr. Foster is of two minds. Truthfully, it can be said that he does not wish to betray one whom he holds in esteem. I tried putting myself in his shoes; if I knew what he knew would I reveal? I decided yes, also with reservations. Still I read on. Buy this book! It is ideal if you are in a nostalgic mood with a few hours to kill. I bet it will leave you wanting more!

A very sad tale of a woman broken by her fame and tortured by her problems. Wonderful pictures of Bettie in her prime and overall a very good book. I will agree that it is written in a tabloid style -it's not war and peace but it is a good read about an american icon.

Its unfortunate that I am forced to give this book even ONE star. Richard Foster was privileged enough to receive a 17 page letter from Ms. Page where she outlined what had been going on in her life while she had been away from the public eye. In this letter, she mentioned 'The years 1982 through 1992 I do not want to be made known.' Richard Foster ran with this and using public records and interviewing people who knew her, came up with this terrible book. He never even bothered to contact her beyond that first letter and NEVER GAVE HER THE RIGHT TO TELL HER SIDE OF THE STORY. Her side is VERY different. This book is an evil, evil attempt to make a profit using someone else's misfortune. This book isn't even worth the paper its printed one. If you want a REAL book on Bettie Page that does her justice, you'll read 'Bettie Page: Life of a Pin-Up Legend'. Now THAT is a beautiful book.

Interview
From January 1998
PLAYBOY: In his book The Real Bettie Page, Virginia journalist Richard Foster tells some lurid stories about you.
PAGE: Richard Foster is the devil posing as a human. A monster. He wants to make money, and he doesn't care what he does to my reputation.

PLAYBOY: Foster writes that you stabbed three people before being committed to a mental hospital.
PAGE: That book was full of lies.

PLAYBOY: Foster writes that you once held a knife to Harry Lear and his three children and forced them to pray. He says you threatened to "cut their guts out."
PAGE: That is absurd. I wouldn't do something like that. [Editor's note: Contacted by phone, Harry Lear corroborated Foster's account. Lear voiced doubts about other charges in the book, however. "I don't like that guy Foster. He told me he would do almost anything for money," Lear said.]