Customer Reviews

The Way We Lived Then : Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

To anyone who can remember the Los Angeles of the 50s, 60s and 70s, this book is a treasure and a real piece of social history. It is wonderful to see how beautiful and stylish the women of that era were, and how the behind-the-scenes entertaining of celebrities was accomplished. The photo of Priness Margaret with a cigarette in her mouth is priceless, as is the shot of Natalie Wood fixing her makeup in the reflection of a dinner knife. Dominick's black and white ball, which preceeded the Truman Capote extravaganza held in New York, apparently was the prototype. It's a wonderful read that I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about behind-the-scenes Hollywood.

It wasn't Dominick Dunne's vintage photos that caught me -- although some of them are stunning -- but the delicious text of this book. There are some quotable lines, like this musing on Lana Turner: "I have always been intrigued by the kind of people who call their lawyers before they call the police after a murder. It's a rich-people thing." What's best, of course, is that Dunne manages to capture the guilty innocence in post-war Hollywood manners and morals. And then that exquisitely sad coda! This book will be a minor classic. Dominick Dunne, thank you.

A great book if you're a fan of Dunne's. To appreciate it, you have to read the text, not just look at the pictures. He gives interesting insights into the people on whom he based his book characters. For example, the Mendelsons in 'An Inconvenient Woman' were based on the Bloomingdales. The coke snorting movie director was based on Robert Evans (also much maligned as the character who Dustin Hoffman played in Wag the Dog).

I am probably Dominick Dunne's biggest fan, and having said that I was at first a little disappointed (prior to reading it) at his most recent book. It didn't seem like one of his usual, deep juicy stories - more a photo album. Which is exactly what it is, and so much more. Aside from all the personal observations and memorabilia, Mr. Dunne's ability to chop himself down to size is truly amazing. The reader observed some of this in "Another Town, Not My Own" when Mr. Dunne portrays himself as Gus Bailey. Aside from a writing style that I find particularly enjoyable to read, the highest compliment I can pay Mr. Dunne is that I believe every word he says, always. From his articles in Vanity Fair Magazine, to his novels, and now this memoir, Dominick Dunne is truly one of America's greatest authors. His ability to keep the reader engaged and entertained is not to be underestimated.

For the die hard fan of Dominick Dunne--including the little known "The Winners", His current offering is a crowning achievement. Sitting down and reading "The Way We Lived Then" is like stepping onto the set of an old movie, to where everyone is famous, or yearns to be famous--most notably, the author himself. The fuzzy quality of some of the photos adds much to the tonial focus of the writing, that the glamorous life is not always happy or fufilling. Mr. Dunne shines the spotlight on his own pain, and never tries to paint a sunny picture when the rain pours. Many of the memories are heartwarming, especially the photo of his daughter on his lap as a toddler. Real fans of Mr. Duune will be able to spot so many details that he had used in his novels, which to me made it interesting. I loved this book, and I love this author, and it will sit proudly on my coffee table for some time to come.

If anyone wants to wallow with a package of bon-bons on a comfortable sofa with a good book, then this is the one. Full of candid photos of celebrities in their heydays, it is also a cautionary tale of what happens when you try to "keep up with the Joneses".

...finds minor celebrity, AGAIN.

This book reads more like a synopsis than a complete memoir. And I would have liked some recognition of the brilliance of his sister-in-law, Joan Didion. The sibling rivalry with brother John Gregory, which he mentions in passing, shouldn't cheat the reader of at least a few glimpses of this unique couple.

There's a lot of hints at interesting revelations about himself and the mostly second-tier celebrities with whom he spent his days and nights--George Hamilton, Angie Dickinson, Joan Collins--but little in-depth analysis. Here and there Dunne manages a few flashes of what could have been a fascinating book: The Sinatra incidents reveal a nasty, power-mad socieopath. And his fleeting portrait of a cocaine-snorting Peter Lawford wearing the scarlet letter F for failure at the last "party" they attended together is sobering. Lawford was also a victim of Sinatra.

Yet another party at faded, semi- celebrity, Mary Livingston's, who invited Dunne because someone else cancelled and barely bothered to greet him as she rushed to fawn over the arriving Johnny Carson, sends Dunne to the hills of Oregon. Eureka! He's finally seen the light: Vanity, vanity. All is vanity. It took about twenty years of fiddling around with these schmucks for him to see: The horror. The horror. Maybe he's a slow learner.

Dunne should write another memoir. No photographs next time just self-revelatory text. He has a lot to reveal, both about himself, his family and those he wasted his time in Hollywood with. But to do it right, he needs that "courage" which O'Casey pleaded with the fates for.

I just finished reading Dominick Dunne's most recent book, the photo memoir The Way We Lived Then, and felt praise was in order for Mr. Dunne for the superb work he put into this book. At times funny, sad, touching, and very inspiring (especially for those who are aspiring writers, which I consider myself), The Way We Lived Then visually resembles an old family scrapbook (if members of one's family just happened to be famous). The text of the book reads like an unforgivingly honest account of someone who has been "through the fire," and lived to tell about it (unlike many, some of whom Dunne writes of in this book), wiser and stronger as a result. It was very unselfish of Mr. Dunne to share his life so openly with his readers, and to write as candidly, and movingly, of his pain, as well as his subsequent ascent as a writer. Thank you, Mr. Dunne, for an excellent book. I am eager to read more of Dominick Dunne's work, and share more of his experiences.

The reader gets caught in a whirlwind of names being dropped on them left and right, but once you climb out from under the pile you get a good autobiography with excellent pictures and a candid story about our hero, Mr. Dunne. Entertaining read, beautifully compiled, and a recommend. Another excellent job by Dominick Dunne.

would have wanted more detail . . . instead, there are far too many names "dropped" and not nearly enough told about them . . . just glad that i got this from the library and did not buy it.