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WRITERS BETWEEN THE COVERS
By far, this has been one of the most entertaining and enjoyable books I've read this year. It never ceases to fascinate me how some of the most celebrated (and notorious or controversial) writers lived and LOVED. To quote Pat Benatar, "Love is a battlefield." The story cited in this book on the love life of F.Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald amply bears out that quote. I also found interesting Norman Mailer's outlook on love and his relationships with the many women in his life. He seemed to have this need to fully assert his "machismo" and not be outdone by anyone who upset his ego or whom he felt made him feel inadequate or insecure. Example: “…[Norman Mailer] who in print nicknamed his penis the Retaliator seemed genuinely perplexed about why feminists hated him and once asked Gloria Steinem what women had against him. ‘You might try reading your books someday,’ she replied drily.” -- pp. 58-59."
There are also stories on Charles Dickens and his "hidden woman", Richard Wright, T.S. Eliot (who had his first wife committed to an insane asylum), Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, Agatha Christie, and Lord Byron (who was, perhaps, the first famous "glamour boy", who attracted droves of adoring women in Regency Era Britain and in Europe through both his looks and poetry like a latter-day rock star attracts groupies) --- just to mention a few. So, if you want to be entertained, by all means read this book. You'll be happy (and delighted) that you did. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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