The Sex Goddess [Paperback]

William Woolfolk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2001

This novel deals with the woman who by common consent was considered the most beautiful actress ever to appear on a movie screen. The facts of her life are on record and so are her major love affairs with the leading figures of her day. You won't have to read very far to recognize who she is. Some names have been changed to spare the feelings of those still alive who might find some of the graphic sexual descriptions here offensive, but these are all based on published and reliable accounts from many sources. This is "factual-fiction" at its exciting and daring best.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Woolfolk has previosly written eight major novels that became choices of leading book clubs and sold a total of four million copies. He was also the story editor and a chief writer of of the legendary TV dramatic series THE DEFENDERS. In his almost mythical career he has been a magazine publisher, the creator of SPACE WORLD, the first magazine to deal with the unfolding wonders of the new space age. and in his youth he was the highest paid comic book writer of the so called Golden Age of comics, writing stories for Captain Marvel, Superman, Blackhawks, Plastic Man and many others. Small wonder that a leading magazine for writers labeled him as "probably the most versatile writer in America."

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corp; 1 edition (April 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738852317
• ISBN-13: 978-0738852317
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,831,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reader from Chicago, February 17, 2002

By 

Bob Crandall (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sex Goddess (Paperback)

It is a superb and immensely involving novel. I think it is flawless, I've had a wonderful reading experience from beginning top end. It is the best novel I've read about Hollywood, but it is more than that-it a cavalcade, the characters are wonderfully drawn, the dramatic scenes, Luke, Marty, Carlos, Mariono, are wonderful. And Valerie Johnson is the centerpiece. A fully developing and charming woman. L.B. Mayer is great. Woolfolk's touch with directors and actors lend authentic touches.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SEX GODDESS DOES HOLLYWOOD, March 12, 2002

By 

Russ Tarby "Russ Tarby" (Liverpool, N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sex Goddess (Hardcover)

...No stranger to the Hollywood scene himself, Syracuse novelist William Woolfolk has crafted a "factual-fictional" account of Ava's rise to the top at M-G-M Studios in the late 1940s, in his new book, "The Sex Goddess." Woolfolk said he changed the names of characters, "to spare the feelings of those of her ex-lovers
still alive, who might find some of the graphic sexual description here offensive."
But Ava's affairs with leading entertainment figures of her day, such as impish actor Mickey Rooney, bandleader Artie Shaw, the eccentric Howard Hughes, Mafia-sponsored crooner Frank
Sinatra and an over-the-hill Clark Gable, are all recalled in dynamic detail here.
Although Woolfolk has clearly done his research, the novel reads like a blend of mystery, historical novel and romance. With it's snappy dialogue and its familiar, yet intriguing, characters "Sex Goddess" is a sheer page-turner, entertaining as it is revealing.
Snappy dialogue? How about this piece of advice from a casting couch victim who befriends an innocent Ava: "I was so dumb I even slept with a writer. You can't get much lower than that!"
...
Not only will readers learn the intimate details of this strong and talented woman's personal life, they'll also marvel at the machinations of Hollywood's behind-the-scenes studio system that so affected the development of careers and the quality of motion pictures themselves.
Woolfolk has written best-selling roman a clefs before, notably "A Beautiful Couple," about that tempestuous married pair, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. And, with it's easy-flowing prose and
episodic nature, "The Sex Goddess" deserves to be a best-seller as well. This much is guaranteed: anyone who picks it up and allows Ava's life to unfold within their mind's eyes, will
anxiously anticipate her next role and her next roll in the sack with yet another Hollywood hotshot.
... This tale of one of Tinsel Town's sweetest sexpots seems tailor made for America's ever-expanding X-rated industry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You wont be able to put this book down, February 16, 2002

By 

Reader from Arizona (Sedona Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sex Goddess (Hardcover)

William Woolfolk is without question the most exasperating novelist I've ever read. I first became acquainted with his work with My Name Is Morgan which was a Literary Guild choice, which is how I came to read it. I liked the novel a lot, but I liked his Opinion of the Court a lot more. I consider that book a modern masterpiece. But then he wrote a sexy best seller Elizabeth Taylor an Richard Burton that was hardly worthy of his talents. In the meanwhile I discovered he was the story editor for one of the all time great TV shows The Defenders and if I remember correctly a couple of his scripts for the show were nomitated for Emmys. So what happens now.He turns around and writes another roman a clef, this time obviously about Ava Gardner despit the change of name, and fully as steamy as the novel about Taylor and Burton the name of which I've forgottn, Yes, this novel would make a great adult film and Woolfolk writes about sex better than Harold Robbins or even the Marquisde Sade,and yes probably everything he writes about Ava is true, but why bother. A sexy novel is a sexy novel and no matter how well written the sex episodes are the book is not something to recommend to any serious reader. I hope Woolfolks next novel will put him back on the track of Opinion of the Court. That's one reader's opinion.