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Post by Tracy Lord on Dec 30, 2009 18:45:37 GMT -5
 A new biography on Kate by Charlotte Chandler will be in stores March 2010! I’ve read Chandler’s books on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. They were ok books, I enjoyed the Bette one more. They were basically interviews with a little background history thrown in. So this book should be decent! |
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Post by CrazyForKate on Dec 30, 2009 18:55:42 GMT -5
Well, the cover looks fine, anyway. It doesn't seem to be one of those "OMG-Kate-was-gay" books.
I wonder if she has anything new to say, or if this is just a relatively harmless retelling of every Kate biography ever. Probably the latter. But if she did interview KH, then I suppose we'll get a nice quote or two from it.
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jan 30, 2010 11:25:30 GMT -5
From Barnes and Noble's site:
Despite several career lulls and setbacks, Katharine Hepburn was a new and exciting presence in early American sound films and captured four Oscars in a career spanning six decades. She was notoriously standoffish with reporters and interviewers, but she agreed to a wide-ranging series of talks several decades back with Chandler, whose popular biographies have featured Joan Crawford (Not the Girl Next Door), Ingrid Bergman (Ingrid), and Bette Davis (The Girl Who Walked Home Alone), among others. Hepburn describes her early family life, the trauma of her brother's apparent suicide, her later passionate affairs with notables like Howard Hughes, and her long relationship with Spencer Tracy. Although Chandler doesn't paint an entirely flattering portrait, readers will be entertained and enlightened. VERDICT Chandler avoids much of the excess speculation found in William J. Mann's Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn. Though it somewhat neglects Hepburn's extensive stage career and is marred by her repetitious ruminations on her need for independence and aversion to marriage, this still ranks as a first-rate biography. Recommended.—Stephen F. Rees, formerly with Bucks Cty. Free Lib. Syst., PA
Of course, any review must be taken with a grain of salt...but for what it's worth, this doesn't look too bad.
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Post by martha on Jan 30, 2010 23:55:46 GMT -5
well, i'll definitely leaf through this one at the bookstore to get a feel for it ...
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Post by HollywoodHepcat on Jan 31, 2010 0:10:48 GMT -5
For myself, I personally feel like I've got a good grasp on who and what Kate was, as a person [read: life force] and entertainer. I don't need another biography telling me the facts that I've had down since kid-hood. If Kathy or someone wants to write a Kanin-like memoir, then fine, but these aren't for me anymore. If and when Martha thumbs through it and gives it her "OK", then I would recommend a newbie to this... only after Kate's, Kanin's, et al.
I don't mean to sound snobby, or as if I have any insights into her that you all don't already have. Just my .02!
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jan 31, 2010 13:20:42 GMT -5
I can see where you're coming from. Personally, I read biographies not to pick up new facts- like you, I have my own idea of who KH was- but to compare and to contrast, and just see what's being written...if that makes sense. Curiosity, really.
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Post by charliesgirl7681 on Jan 31, 2010 15:29:04 GMT -5
I can agree. I've read Me and Berg's book, I tried Mann's but in the first chapter he was talking about events as though he was there himself. It read more like fiction, I didn't like it.
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Post by gottamatch on Jan 31, 2010 23:13:05 GMT -5
I'll get it if there are new pictures inside and at a decent price. Hey, I'm a student with no money who doesn't have time to read, what can I say!? My favourite book of any biography I've read has to be Kanins. I could read that again actually, and reading is not my favourite past time. It's probably one of the few I finished and actually re-read parts of to clarify .. fantastic read. If there are any new fans out there, I would assume all of us would recommend that book above others (perhaps people might like Kate's more - understandably, but in my opinion an autobiography will always be a tad more bias than others, all auto's not just Kate's - which is where Kanins is really good, when he's bias, he makes it clear) Can't wait till someone gets it and writes a review on here! I doubt I'll find it in my local Borders store, they don't seem to get stuff like this in until much later than release dates..  Jess |
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Post by CrazyForKate on Feb 22, 2010 21:30:13 GMT -5
Okay...the amazon preview looks really rotten...who knows, maybe it'll look better in context, but it seems pretty bad at the moment.
1) It's basically written as an extended interview, from what I can see. I mean, it's kind of like a Garson Kanin-esque retelling, taking place in the course of an afternoon or several. You know, because Kate and Charlotte Chandler were obviously bestest chums.
2) It talks a lot about sex...and goes way more in-depth than anything other written...I doubt she would have really disclosed that much to a biographer.
3) It really doesn't feel like KH's voice. Of course I didn't know the woman, but after reading two books by her and many, many quotes, it all seems rather fake. Too modern and too contrived all at once.
KH often did surprising things and I'm only going off a few pages, but...I think this could be one to skip.
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Post by charliesgirl7681 on Feb 23, 2010 0:03:25 GMT -5
The author's hairstyle is enough to put me off from reading the book. Does she ever look in a mirror? Sorry I'm being terribly rude but that was creepy!
I agree with you CFK I read the first two- three pages and it felt WAY too candid for Kate. Not her speaking style at all. The details that 'Kate' went into about Tom felt fake. I doubt I'll read it. I like the front and back cover shots though.
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Post by dreamer on Feb 23, 2010 18:02:50 GMT -5
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Post by courtneymarie on Feb 24, 2010 20:34:57 GMT -5
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star
Full Member
The Woman Of The Year
Posts: 215
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Post by star on Mar 28, 2010 17:45:24 GMT -5
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Post by charliesgirl7681 on Mar 28, 2010 21:14:15 GMT -5
The latest biography of Katharine Hepburn is very close to an autobiography Ummm, really? |
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Post by martha on Mar 31, 2010 10:30:11 GMT -5
The latest biography of Katharine Hepburn is very close to an autobiography Ummm, really? oh my. my taste for even picking this up in the bookstore to leaf through is now, um, sullied. i doubt i'll be purchasing but i might take a glance. yeesh. |
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Just stumbled upon this interesting board.. Does anyone have any video interviews with KH?? Or maybe transcripts of them? I´ve been especially looking for the full version of the famous Cavett one forever and ever... 