Taboo (Paragon Softcover Large Print Books) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Gage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994 | Series: Paragon Softcover Large Print Books

A tale of love, obsession, corruption and betrayal, by the author of "A Glimpse of Stocking". In 1930s Hollywood, Kate is a star who can never escape her obscure and brutal past; Eve a former child star whose life is ruled by erotic obsession; and Joseph is the hottest producer/director in town.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This gushing potboiler about Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s is ultimately unconvincing and emotionally flat.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Gage, author of A Glimpse of Stocking (S. & S., 1988) , Pandora's Box ( LJ 8/90), and The Master Stroke (Pocket Bks., 1991), here returns to Hollywood--this time in the 1930s--to write a novel that seemingly has everything: child abuse, wife beating, alcoholism, perfunctory sex, blackmail, robbery, torture, more perfunctory sex, murder, and suicide. No vice large or small seems to have been missed. Unfortunately, the three main characters--a child star, an aspiring star, and a Hollywood producer--are much too shallow and superficial to pull all this human wickedness together and make us care. A Jackie Collins clone gone awry, this book should be taboo for public libraries with limited fiction budgets. Larger libraries with more generous funds might consider purchase since it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club as a featured selection, but most readers can do themselves a favor and reread Valley of the Dolls. -- Margaret Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C; Large Print edition edition (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745135064
• ISBN-13: 978-0745135069
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My fav book ever!, August 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taboo (Hardcover)

Well, what can I say? If you like Jackie Collins.. read this! It's even better. It's got twists and turns and every time you think you know what's going to happen...BOOM! She shocks you w/another twist. This is my favorite book and I highly recommend it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taboo leaves a haunting thought on love.., June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Taboo (Paperback)

Although the plot needs a few details to enhance its credibility, the entire story is beautifully presented to its finale - love that is so painfully beautiful that it is a sin to love as much. It leaves a slightly disturbing view of what is left of us when loves consumes so much of us that there is little left when it's gone. This is the kind of love many of love yearn for in love, willing to exchange to have it. Life may very well be the price to pay to have it. This is all states beautifully with the quote: "When love comes, you plunge without thinking. You see that your life was an empty shell before love came, so you turn your back on the past without a second thought. And then, when the world comes back to claim its own, there's no way to fight it, because you have no heart to endure loneliness anymore. You've thrown it away, like a child throwing away a paper toy." Again, Gage has written something of a fiction that is a little beyond just a story.. always nice to have something to think about after reading a book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OH THOSE SECRETS, May 6, 2005

By 

Martin Boucher "Authorfan" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taboo (Paperback)

Here's another sizzler set in Hollywood, this time in the 1930's. The lives of the movers and shakers in TABOO are a roller coaster ride of sins and secrets and of unattainable happiness. Gage's two main sufferers, Kate Hamilton and Joseph Knight, go through the melodramatic motion of uniting then paying the price for it. But it's Eve Sinclair, the child superstar, who really makes TABOO a delicious romp. Her cold-hearted volcanic temperament will make any fan of Valley of the Dolls stand up and cheer.-----Martin Boucher