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Book Review:
Little Me |
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Qchicago.com Arts & Culture -
by
Robert McDonald |
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You remember Belle Poitrine,
that boozy, talent-less,
calling-her-a-“B”-actress-is-a- compliment star
of everything from silent pictures to theatres
to bar stools across America, don’t you? And if
you don’t, this gem of a “memoir” will joggle
your memory, with many photos from Belle’s long,
long, and less-than-distinguished career. |
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Broadway
Books, $15.95 |
Little Me |
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buy this book from Amazon.com |
by Belle Poitrine, as
told to Patrick Dennis |
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This sly, hilarious send-up of
celebrity autobiography comes from Patrick Dennis, the
same brilliant pen that brought us Auntie Mame.
Dennis’ work has long been unavailable, and it’s
wonderful that he’s receiving renewed attention and
publication now. Belle tells far more than she means to
about her humble upbringing, her many marriages, and her
life in Hollywood (where so many other stars seemed to
always be losing invitations to her soirees.) Belle
lies, cheats, sleeps around, attempts murder, and hits
the bottle, but (like all celebrities worth a book) she
does find God at the end. Dennis has great fun with
this, as do his collaborators, photographer Cris
Alexander and friends, who set up “Belle’s” photo
scrapbook with shots from all stages of her career. |
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Imagine if Judy Garland couldn’t sing, if
Joan Crawford never lived down rumors of her early nudie flicks,
if Andy Warhol had been finding his “stars” in 1920, if Auntie
Mame were a bit more slutty and far less smart, and you have a
small idea of the ups and downs of the divine Miss P. A
must-read for those who like their screen queens messy,
delusional, and prone to hit the bottle. You’ll be longing to
rent a Belle Poitrine movie after you read this. My personal
favorite: “The Scarlet Letter,” which Belle rewrote as an Ivy
League cheerleader love story (“Gimme an “A”). Alas,
Blockbuster doesn’t carry them, I checked. |
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Robert McDonald is a
contributing writer to Qchicago.com. He's been a book
reviewer for Publishers Weekly and his poetry has been
published in numerous zines and journals. |
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