As
we did in 2021, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the
community. After a review posts, we try to do a discussion with the
reviewer. This go round, we're talking to Elaine about her "Anne Edwards is a waste of time and a killer of trees." So tell us about the book.
Elaine: Sure. Katharine Hepburn is the focus of Anne Edwards' book A REMARKABLE WOMAN: A BIOGRAPHY OF KATHARINE HEPBURN. She was mainly a film actress. She won four Academy Awards for Best Actress, she won an Emmy, she was nominated for two Tonys. Her most famous films are BRINGING UP BABY, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, ADAM'S RIB, SUMMERTIME, MORNING GLORY, ON GOLDEN POND and THE RAINMAKER. She started in films in 1932 with A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT and her last film was 1994's LOVE AFFAIR.
Katharine Hepburn today is not the same legend that you knew of in college, can we start there?
Elaine: Sure. So Katharine was this brave woman who was liberated and had all these affairs with men and blah blah blah. That was the image. Then we learn about some abuse and she's not that strong woman. But then we learn that there were these affairs with women and that adds a new layer. So she's not been static in our cultural history. It's been an evolving portrait.
And you didn't like the portrait in Anne Edwards' book?
Elaine: No, not at all. As I noted in my write-up, a friend of C.I.'s, a film director, mentioned the book when we were discussing autobiographies and biographies. It's always interesting to me, conversations like that. Unlike C.I., I'm not in the industry. I care about information but they analyze it for more than just that. It's an interesting take whether it's that director or C.I., it's different from mine. The book is an awful book on every level, by the way.
You felt there were too many errors.
Elaine: Way, way too many errors. I noted one example, how the book tells you that, prior to the 70s musical COCO, Hepburn only sang professionally once, "Onward Christian Soldiers" in THE AFRICAN QUEEN when, in fact, she sang in DESK SET back in 1957 -- "Night and Day."
And, of course, she sang in BRINGING UP BABY -- she and Cary Grant repeatedly sang "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Camptown Races" in HOLIDAY, she sang in LITTLE WOMEN, SPITFIRE, SYLVIA SCARLETT and TE LITTLE MINISTER. It's just a huge error on Anne Edwards part to think they Hepburn only sang in one film when she sang in seven.
Elaine: Right. And there's the reality that Anne Edwards didn't want to confront the issue of sexuality and was more comfortable presenting lies.
---------------
Previous book discussions this year.
"Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Isaiah, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Ann, Mike, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Mike, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Ann, Elaine, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ann and C.I.)," "Books (Ruth, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Mike, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Isaiah, Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Stan, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Trina, Ava and C.I.)," "Books (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)" and "Books (Ava and C.I.)."