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daumari's review against another edition
4.0
Accompanied by the author's own cartoon illustrations, this was a fun picture chapterbook for adults...! Alas, I'm not as familiar with early cinema nor have I seen the Maltese Falcon, so I can't say I was that familiar with Mary Astor (a stage name for Lucile Langhanke, meant to evoke the moneyed New York blue bloods). Sorel has been intrigued by Mary's story ever since he pulled up old newspapers with headlines about the scandal that were underneath his linoleum in the 1960s, but it's only now in his late eighties that he has time to research, write, and illustrate the book that's haunted his curiosity, with the project becoming more a biography from her youth to on the other side of the scandal.
pbraue13's review against another edition
3.0
I have always loved the stories of Old Hollywood, especially the ones with surrounded by scandal or controversy which would seem like nothing in today's more accepting social climate, and Mary Astor's infamous diary is one of them. I knew little of the "sex scandal" that shocked the world in 1936 until briefly hearing about it from my copy of "Hollywood Babylon" (which is hardly a credible source). Upon discovering my local bookstore had Edward Sorel's quasi-graphic novel/memoir/non fiction retelling, I bought it. I am glad to know what I know now, but I feel like I could have learned about it in a more in-depth and interesting fashion from one of many books on the subject or an episode of the podcast "You Must Remember This". The interjections between Mary Astor's own life into Sorel's were odd and distracting. Most of the time when Sorel started talking about his disastrous marriages my eyes would glaze over and I would wish I was learning more about what Mary Astor was going through with HER failed marriages and shaky relationship with her parents. Sorel's own writing of the events is clipped and while his own opinions and ideas on what went on in Mary's life blend well, it still felt quite detached to me. He claims to write this book to put a spotlight on Mary Astor, but really it seems to be pointed at him. His art is pretty good and suits the subject matter well, but I would hesitate to say this is what makes this book considered a graphic novel. Honestly, I have no idea what makes this book a graphic novel....there is a lot of text with a few caricatures here and there, but it does not a graphic novel make.
If you are interested in learning about this event and don't mind the things I described as my grievances, than be my guest and read it. What information you do get out of it (aside from a totally made up scene where the author "channels Mary Astor" and "interviews" her) is very interesting and takes a woman who most saw as "America's Sweetheart" and shows her for who she was; a human being with wants and needs like anyone else. It also shows a cartoonist for who he is; a mediocre writer and fan with passable artistic skills.
If you are interested in learning about this event and don't mind the things I described as my grievances, than be my guest and read it. What information you do get out of it (aside from a totally made up scene where the author "channels Mary Astor" and "interviews" her) is very interesting and takes a woman who most saw as "America's Sweetheart" and shows her for who she was; a human being with wants and needs like anyone else. It also shows a cartoonist for who he is; a mediocre writer and fan with passable artistic skills.
amlibera's review against another edition
4.0
Charming, quirky - part retelling of Mary Astor's life/scandalous custody proceeding and part Sorel's personal memoir.
mary_sh's review against another edition
3.0
Questa biografia dell'attrice hollywoodiana del secolo scorso è graficamente molto curata ed esteticamente appagante. Le sue vicende di vita sono, a tratti, coinvolgenti, specialmente l'ultima parte relativa al processo legato allo "scandalo" dei diari a cui fa riferimento il titolo. Tuttavia in generale ho trovato la lettura un po' noiosa.
gjmaupin's review against another edition
5.0
I have waited patiently for an entire year to read this book. It is simultaneously literarily sound & gossipy trash. There is not one illustration I wouldn’t hang proudly on my walls. The only flaw, to my tastes, was a failure to mention Princess Centimillia, but that, like the crack in a Japanese teapot, only highlights the surrounding perfection. YMMV.
megthegrand's review against another edition
3.0
I think I would have liked the book better had it had more details about Mary Astor, and less about the author. I felt like his anecdotes about his own life took away from the story, rather than adding to it.
tonythep's review against another edition
5.0
When illustrator Edward Sorel tore up the old linoleum in his New York apartment in 1965, he found thirty-year-old tabloid newspaper pages that would fuel an obsession for decades. Actress Mary Astor's child custody case turned into a genuine Hollywood sex scandal when Astor's ex-husband threatened to expose her diary which included salacious details of her affair with married playwright George S. Kaufman. Filled with his wonderful (and saucy) illustrations, Sorel's book is a lighthearted celebration of our fascination with celebrity and sex, but it's also an affectionate portrait of a troubled and talented woman he truly sympathized with. Vignettes from Sorel's life interspersed with the main story add a personal touch. The book documents not only Astor's story, but the story of how it became so important to him. One of my favorite sections of the book is an imagined interview with Astor facilitated by a summons from the afterlife by the Catholic Church. Sorel noted Mary's "classy elocution and longshoreman's vocabulary." Can you blame him for being so smitten?
dajna's review against another edition
3.0
Libro preso semplicemente per la copertina e, in seconda misura, per un blando desiderio di leggere di qualche scandalo della vecchia Hollywood, dove le vite degli attori erano già un film.
Non sono rimasta delusa, sebbene non conoscessi Mary Astor. Non sono una cinefila, ma la storia della signora Astor è tanto triste quanto ilare. Si parte da una famiglia di immigrati disfunzionali che vedono nella figlia una macchina produci-denaro e si finisce con una donna che le ha provate tutte per vivere una vita indipendente, ma probabilmente era troppo presto e le pressioni sociali alla fine l'hanno consumata.
Irritanti, eppure stranamente rinfrescanti, sono state le parentesi in cui l'autore ha voluto inserire aneddoti della propria vita-
Non sono rimasta delusa, sebbene non conoscessi Mary Astor. Non sono una cinefila, ma la storia della signora Astor è tanto triste quanto ilare. Si parte da una famiglia di immigrati disfunzionali che vedono nella figlia una macchina produci-denaro e si finisce con una donna che le ha provate tutte per vivere una vita indipendente, ma probabilmente era troppo presto e le pressioni sociali alla fine l'hanno consumata.
Irritanti, eppure stranamente rinfrescanti, sono state le parentesi in cui l'autore ha voluto inserire aneddoti della propria vita-