Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deliciously Fun, Trashy Gossip...Ann Marie she ain't!, July 11, 2001
Imagine hearing sweet Ann Marie of "That Girl" swear, uttering the word "F--K" in every other sentence? Imagine "That Girl" mistreat the help and never clean up after herself, ever?? Her house manager Desmond Atholl debunks the carefully honed image created by Marlo Thomas in this dishy, tell-all book. Poor Danny Thomas must be rolling over in his grave over this one. As a child, Marlo Thomas grew up spoiled and indulged, a privileged little princess whose every whim was catered to by servants. Such odious pampering resulted in an adult woman who is an immature, selfish, self-absorbed, flaky, scatterbrained control freak, used to ALWAYS having her own way. It's sad to see that, because the public Marlo Thomas tries to do good, lending her name to good causes, rubbing shoulders with liberals and feminists, but apparently it's all for show. She claims to be an advocate for the disdvantaged and the poor, yet she treats her own servants and staff like dirt. In spite of being in charge of this difficult woman and her Household from Hell, Desmond Atholl manages to retain his cheeky humor and outrageousness. I supposed he had to, in order to survive Hurricane Marlo. You'll never be able to watch old re-runs of "That Girl" the same way after reading this hilarious book. It should be entitled, "Free to Be...ME ME ME!"
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Guilty Pleasure, August 8, 2007
I read this book years ago, but still remember it well. It was pure entertainment and trashy fun. While not flattering to Marlo Thomas, I think you have to take this type of book with a grain of salt. You also have to remember that as the daughter of a rich and famous man, she no doubt grew up comfortable with and accustomed to household help. If you've never had to do for yourself, you may be simply oblivious to the path of destruction you leave behind you for someone else to deal with.
What made the book such fun was the gleeful and campy writing of the authors. I got guilty pleasure in reading the book, but certainly didn't necessarily believe it all. I'm sure the authors felt it was true and accurate but there are two sides to every story.
Bottom line, this is a light and amusing look at the rich and famous.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Another Author Attempt to Make a Quick Buck, July 4, 2007
This book comes across as a low-integrity "author" trying to make a buck at a famous couple's expense. It's poorly written and poorly organized, just from a book standpoint. If you read between the lines, Marlo Thomas was more than fair with Desmond Atholl and some of the other spoiled servants, who were obviously paid very well - more than they deserved, based on some of the shenanigans they played during working hours. In one section, Atholl claims Marlo broke the covenant of the employer-employee relationship when she rebuked him for leaving the Thomas-Donahue household without notifying a soul, so that he could (supposedly) see his mother off on a plane trip out of New York. In my view, Thomas should've fired Atholl for that. You can't just abandon ship without at least letting someone know at any workplace, so they can pass the message along to the owner(s). I mean, that takes all of five seconds. I think Marlo Thomas's relentless charity work for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and the high character, integrity and talent she has displayed over the years says it all. Most of the things Atholl writes in this book sound like sour grapes and exaggerations/distortions. I also salute Marlo's feminist activism over the years. She's always been classy about that, too, never "bitchy" as some sexists say.
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