A vivid portrait of a woman finding her place in the glamorous world of Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s—perfect for readers of high-flying memoirs such as Pattie Boyd’s Wonderful Tonight. Fashion icon, Broadway and Hollywood insider, mob mistress, confidante to notorious gang members of both Crips and Bloods, wife, mother, award-winning journalist, Léon Bing has not followed the typical path through life. From her formative relationship with her mother to her days as a star model to her sisterly relationship with Mama Cass Elliot and ultimate reinvention as the author of the bestselling gang exposé, Do or Die, Swans and Pistols details Bing’s always exciting and sometimes dangerous life. In a series of riveting stories of unconventionality, Bing wrestles with the themes of mothers, daughters, and reinvention—a concept inseparable from the experience of her early adult life in the 1960s and the city she called home.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Everyone may have a story in them, but the memoir of former 1960s model-turned-journalist Bing raises the question: does every story need to be told? Bing, who wrote the award-winning gang exposéDo or Die, is less successful at turning her journalist's eye on her own life. The book starts slowly with exposition-heavy memories of her childhood, in which she was raised by her wealthy grandparents and saw her aloof mother only on weekends. The book takes on color when Bing begins to work as a runway model in New York, mainly because of the high-profile people who populate her stories, from mobster Micky Cohen to director Mike Nichols and composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. In fact, the book is a name-dropping delight, full of brushups with the rich and famous—Bing had a several years' long affair with artist Ed Ruscha, was close friends with Mama Cass and hobnobbed with plenty of actors. While Bing can turn a lovely phrase and displays intelligence, the book is so outwardly focused that Bing herself seems merely a bit player in her own life. The book really comes alive near the end when curiosity about homeless kids in Venice, Calif., leads her to write an article that unexpectedly launches her journalism career. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"A... traipse through the world of fashion and film [that] also reveals the struggles of a modern working woman... Though it’s entertaining to read about Cher’s baby shower, her brush with Warren Beatty at the Troubadour or her close friendship with Cass Elliot... there are profound, poignant moments as well... In these recollections, the author’s writing finds a steady rhythm that effectively conveys her passion, trepidation and love—what seems to be the real Bing underneath the famous model exterior. Worth reading... for the author’s ability to trace her journey through the many joys and obstacles of life in the modern era." —Kirkus Reviews
"A namedropping delight, full of brushups with the rich and famous—Bing had a several years’ long affair with artist Ed Ruscha, was close friends with Mama Cass and hobnobbed with plenty of actors. Bing can turn a lovely phrase... The book really comes alive near the end when curiosity about homeless kids in Venice, Calif., leads her to write an article that unexpectedly launches her journalism career." —Publishers Weekly
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blessing or curse?,
This review is from: Swans and Pistols: Modeling, Motherhood, and Making It in the Me Generation (Hardcover)
"May you live many lives" is often considered a blessing. But it may also be a curse. You can decide for yourself by reading this memoir which covers fashion, art, movies, theater, drugs, gangsters and, oddly linking them all, being and having an extremely original mother. A definite blessing is that Leon Bing is a damn good writer. I felt present at the events of her life, some of which I was glad happened to her and not me.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Model memoir + depth,
By
This review is from: Swans and Pistols: Modeling, Motherhood, and Making It in the Me Decade (Kindle Edition)
Memoirs usually have a 'hook,' like celebrity, an alternative lifestyle, or a tragic event. Leon Bing has two: having been a model and befriending gang members, but much more attention is paid to the former. Additionally, the first third of the book is spent describing her childhood, which has nothing to do with either modeling or gangs, but I suppose is necessary exposition.Leon has spent time with a lot of famous people, but instead of being gossipy (and only occasionally coming off as a name dropper), she relates anecdotes of celebrities with the same warmth and love as she does stories about her own family members. Conversely, I had to look up a few names, because the way she wrote about some people, I thought they were famous. The book is organized chronologically and mostly consists of loosely related vignettes and anecdotes. For the most part, they are compelling and entertaining to read. Leon herself is likable, if a little ditzy, but a decent writer. I wouldn't go out of my way to read this book, but I enjoyed reading it.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun read--but slim on substance; fat on flash,
By AKA "authorknows" (Cambridge, Ma United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Swans and Pistols: Modeling, Motherhood, and Making It in the Me Generation (Hardcover)
The Virgin Knows: an art theft thrillerI couldn't quite get a grip on the author's character and personality or understand why she wrote the book. Topics that might have enriched the story in ways that profoundly connect writers to readers, that illuminated the human condition, casually slid across the page and then disappeared. For instance, in her autobiography, Leon Bing never tells us how not knowing who her father was impacted her emotional life and the choices she made about men. She doesn't speculate how her mother's parenting set the stage for the success and failure of her own mothering, or tell us much about how the two most important people in her life--her daughter and mother--related to each other. She doesn't talk about the emotional, intellectual or psychological snags of being an only child ( Her mother and daughter are also only children.) Every career move happens as if by magic and certainly without effort: Mary Leon simply goes out to dinner, meets celebrity and then the next thing you know she's a runway model or out on assignment for Harpers and Rolling Stone.There were mixed messages. For one, she engaged in serial adultery, got very enthused about the creativity or wealth or sexiness of each lover, and at the same time espoused high standards about `the right way to live' and the need to have approval from both her mother and daughter for each new man. The approval amounted to their saying "oh he's nice, he'll take good care of you." One man was big time a coke dealer who she was attracted to because he reminded her of Tony Soprano. But, according to Bing, he was a good man because, being a kingpin, he didn't get his hands dirty: he sold drugs only to big-time distributors and to celebrities for whom he would cut special coke concoctions. Plus, he regularly peeled off thousands from his big wad of cash and told her "Go out and get yourself something nice." Getting even with people who did her wrong in life**(See comment below) seemed to play a part of the autobiography, too. For instance: recalling the rape in NYC when she was looking for an apartment, naming the care giver who embezzled money from her invalid mother. Perhaps rationalizing her mother's sometimes bizarre behavior towards her was a necessary part of the intent of writing her book. Her mother wore Chanel suits, shipped her off to live with grandparents, and married and divorced five times without sneezing. When Mary Leon was a child having a tantrum, the mother poured a pitcher of cold water over her face, "Then, as if she were offering another helping of dessert to a dinner guest, she asked if I'd like some more." By book's end readers get a feeling that Bing's relationship with her daughter is on hold, and I wondered if the book was a public scolding of her daughter, or a plea for her to come back home. The good parts? Swans and Pistols is an exciting whirlwind tour through the fashion, art and celebrity scene of the 60s,70s and 80s. Readers get a glimpse at L.A. lifestyles, at turbulent party creatures like Mama Cass and Judy Carne, at the intense Ed Rushca, and the endearing Rudi Gernreich. The `true love finale' is sweet, if a little over the top. Bing, who never reveals her birthdate or age, but who I guessed is between 55 and 60 when she concludes the book and falls in love with a 29 year old man who is the real thing, the love of her life, her soul mate. I wish she would have gone in deeper. The book has all the fabric for a magnificent retelling of an important life and time. Bing writes well. ** From Author Bing about names in the book: Thanks for taking the time to read and then review my book, Swans and Pistols. No complaints, but I must make a single correction: some of the names I used (my mother's thieving caregiver, the dealer I lived with, the man who raped me when I first moved to New York) were changed to sound real but were, in fact, fake.
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