By Myself and Then Some (Hardcover)

by Lauren Bacall (Author) "All I had known of films was Bette Davis and Leslie Howard..." (more)
Key Phrases: sputum test, New York, Bette Davis, African Queen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Raised by her wise and loving immigrant mom and uncle, Lauren Bacall (b. 1924) knew, even in high school, that she wanted to be an actress. She took acting classes, modeled clothes, sold industry papers in the theater district, ushered at shows, danced at the USO—anything to get a break. Barely 18 when director Howard Hawks brought her to Hollywood for a screen test, she soon fell in love with Bogart, married and started a family. After Bogart's death a decade later, she rebounded with Sinatra, but tied the knot with Jason Robards before finding her way as a single woman, with friends and work as her passion. Bacall's intimates—from Katharine Hepburn to Adlai Stevenson—weren't the standard air-kissing, gossip-column regulars, but people who loved and respected each other for their work and their values. Sadly, like Bogart, they're also of a generation older than Bacall, so there's a lot of dying in these pages. Indeed, this sequel to 1978's By Myself is mostly a discussion of the deaths of some great friends: Roddy McDowall, John Gielgud, Gregory Peck and many more. Bacall does discuss the roles she's played as an older actress, but this work's real theme is the experience of surviving the death of so many wonderful friends. Readers looking for basic Hollywood romance and drama can stick to the first 400 pages; those seeking a more mature portrait can brave the final 100. Either way, Bacall's a class act. Color, b&w photos. (Mar. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
Reading about the life of Lauren Bacall reminds us of a time when women were defined so narrowly by their roles in the lives of men that their second-class status was taken as a matter of course. The culture celebrated the color of their hair (always blonde) and the shape of their bodies (36"-24"-36"), subsumed their identities in those of their husbands (Mrs. Humphrey Bogart) and assumed, because men did, that once they had lost their virginal glow, they also lost what little prestige went along with it.

These thoughts are occasioned by this new edition of By Myself, the autobiography Bacall wrote in 1979, along with a brief summary of her life since that book was published, entitled "And Then Some." Bacall, now 80, was born in an era when to be beautiful and bright was a contradiction in terms, when women did not go it alone (or if they did, were social pariahs), did not consider themselves marketable over 40, and were willing to stay in any marriage, no matter how bad, for the economic benefit and whatever social respectability went with it.

Bacall was amazingly successful in overcoming these received handicaps. It was not enough for her to stand around waiting to be noticed and duly snapped up by the best available male. With all the strength of her youthful ambition, she went after an acting career. She did more than just sigh about it. She trained. She worked as an usher in theaters. She sold papers on the street. She wangled introductions to producers. She modeled for Vogue magazine. And of course she was slim, beautiful and most emphatically blonde.

While still a teenager, she was put under contract by Howard Hawks, groomed for stardom and then carefully placed in just the right part, one that would exploit both her precocious self-assurance and her vulnerability. By Myself is the right title, even if she did not exactly do it all alone.

She clea