Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ultimate tribute and book on Bettie Page, January 3, 2003
There was one another 50's icon who rivals Marilyn in popularity today--Bettie Page. True, she didn't make any A-movies, but like Marilyn, embodied that woman who drew a fine line between good girl/bad girl and crossed the lines as easily as one drank Coca-Cola. Unlike Marilyn, Bettie survived, but like Marilyn, her legend lives on for one simple reason: she dropped out of sight in 1957 following the fall of Irvin and Paula Klaw by the Kefauver Committee on indecency and pornography and refused to have herself be photographed as she is now. Thus, she is remembered as she was back then. And as her life has become simpler, she values her privacy. She says so as much in the hand-written foreword, at the same time surprised and honoured that so many people are interested in her.Karen Essex and James L. Swanson book is a great place to start for those curious about Bettie Page. Basically, it's a biography accompanied by lots and lots of colour and b&w photos, many of them topless. There are two of them which has her completely nude. She also posed for countless magazine covers and photographers. Art Amsie's photos are the best of the lot here. Bunny Yeager is touched on briefly, but that woman has a book on herself so... Looking at the early Bettie, before she became a pin-up from 1947, is also quite a revelation. She is still beautiful, but in an ordinary way, like a typical girl growing up in 1940's America.There is clearly a dualism going on here. There's the pretty wholesome girl in the bathing suit or maybe not, and then there's the darker leatherbound fetish girl, be she receiver or giver. That latter half led to her downfall. The point also was that she enjoyed her work, mainly the lighter beach stuff. You can see it in those twinkling eyes and smile of hers.The last section of the book features models who have been influenced by her, be they in clothes or just looking like her. Of the lookalikes, Eva Herzigova, Debi Mazar, and Janice Dickinson have got it down to the bangs, (it's the bangs that did it for Bettie, after all), long black hair, and prominent eyebrows.Apart from being one of fantasy artist Olivia's favourite subjects, Bettie's images appear on album covers by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and the David Lee Roth Band. Her three videos, Teaserama, where she acts opposite stripper legend Tempest Storm, Varietease, and Strip-O-Rama have come out. She'll live on, no doubt about it.Anyone interested in Bettie Page-start with this book. You won't be disappointed.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pin - Up Legend Reveals the Inner Icon, December 6, 1998
By A Customer
Within moments after my wife proposed gifting this book to our business partner last Spring, I seized it for myself. She had run across the only copy left in one of those funky shops which cater to the growing interest in cultural icons.The authors, Karen Essex and James L. Swanson, render a definitive biography of one of the most enigmatic figures of our memory. Their slick 288 page paperback version lovingly portrays the images and life of Bettie page. You can take this book two ways: On the coffee table, it presents a seductive collection of family photographs and pulp covers documenting the pin-up icon. In bed, it seduces you to learn about the studious young woman who triumphed over family heartbreak to become a legend. In the Fifties, I was one of the multitude of pre-adolescent boys who furtively witnessed her near-perfect body and impish smile - without knowing who she was. Now, more than forty years since her last session, Essex and Swanson answer some of the questions and heap on plenty of deja vu in the process. The authors expose a life of someone who is noble and genuine. The "real" Bettie Page turns out to as fascinating as her ubiquitous image. Secretarial stints, jobs in Hati, persistent self-improvement and disappointing husbands propel her into a series of vicissitudes worthy of a Henry Fielding novel. Amid the rich and varied photographs, drawings and memorabilia, Essex and Swanson weave an engaging tale of someone quite surprising. Her guileless and genuine approach to life are almost Zen-like when viewed from our age of media hype and agents. Here is the story of a bright, beautiful, autonomous loner who deals directly with her life, shunning pretense, flattery and victimhood. The Bettie Page you discover in this book, as her beautiful visage, is both accessible and mysterious. Maybe I'll follow through with the gift idea my wife had last Spring.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely the best collection of pictures and information., July 22, 1997
By A Customer
I have been looking for hard to find pictures and information about Betty Page for many years. A friend gave me this book and I was amazed. The pictures are top-notch quality, and the text is precise and in-depth. The book shows how Betty Page influenced Art and America, as well as other artists's use of her looks for their own style. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to anyone with even the slightest of interests in Betty Page or Pin-up Girls
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