October 2, 2006
Maclean's precise and nimble reading makes it nearly impossible for listeners to resist the pull of Taraborrelli's compassionate chronicle of the wild and tempestuous life of Elizabeth Taylor. With her more than a half dozen full-length biographies and five decades as tabloid fodder, most listeners will be well acquainted with surface events in Taylor's life. There are the eight marriages (five of them before she was 32), the affairs, multiple suicide attempts, decades of life-and-death health issues, the jewelry collection and finally her AIDS activism. Taraborrelli's strength as a biographer is his tenacity to dig beneath the surface to find the motivations and insecurities behind Taylor's actions, and his care helps listeners discover the dynamic charisma and good humor that have attracted men and moviegoers to her. Maclean's narration sails effortlessly over a life full of globe-trotting without stumbling over foreign names and locales. Taraborrelli bookends the production by reading a five-minute overview at the beginning and participating in a brief q&a session at the end of the fifth violet-colored disc, where he praises Taylor's indomitable will and ability to survive. Simultaneous release with the Warner hardcover (Reviews, May 22).
Starred review from May 22, 2006
Ordinarily, readers might question the logic of a new tome on a celebrity who already has at least six full-length biographies (and four self-penned books) devoted to her life, but Elizabeth Taylor has never been ordinary. Readers will easily understand why tabloids have chronicled her escapades for six decades: her roller-coaster life could easily read like a high-sheen soap opera (the eight marriages, two Oscars, suicide attempts and innumerable life-threatening illnesses that led to years of alcohol and prescription drug addiction before she became the first celebrity to check into the Betty Ford Clinic). But Taraborrelli, a sympathetic biographer, rescues the subject by looking for psychological and emotional motives behind her actions. Taraborrelli can be overprotective of Taylor (he notes her reviews for Cleopatra
were "so vicious that they are not even worth memorializing here") but more often, he's a superb storyteller who is also an enthusiastic fan. The book is a fitting tribute to a woman who has lived and loved with abandon but who found real passion and purpose when she embraced AIDS activism in 1985, helping to destigmatize the disease and creating her own AIDS foundation. Taraborrelli's chatty prose (and bite-size chapters) perfectly complement Taylor's glamorous life of highs and lows to create an irresistible and inspiring tale. Photos not seen by PW
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June 15, 2006
Elizabeth Taylor's celebrated career and dramatic life have been chronicled by innumerable biographers as well as by Taylor herself -twice (see "Elizabeth Taylor -Her Own Story" and "Elizabeth Taylor Takes Off: On Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Self-Esteem, and Self-Image"). While not neglecting Taylor's professional career, best-selling author Taraborrelli ("Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier") necessarily spends much time on her romances, especially her eight marriages; of these, the centerpiece is, of course, her explosive but loving relationship with fellow actor Richard Burton. Readers interested in the woman behind the celebrity will find especially satisfying the book's final sections, in which Taylor struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, becomes an AIDS activist, and revels in her roles as mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Taylor emerges from Taraborrelli's objective albeit sympathetic treatment a true survivor, facing the vicissitudes of aging with courage and humor. Considering the popularity of both the subject and the author, this is an essential purchase for all public libraries and highly recommended for academic libraries with strong film studies collections. A photo insert features several previously unpublished photographs. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/15/06.]" -M.C. Duhig, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh"
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2006
The breathtaking photograph on this book's cover makes it clear why no one will ever forget Elizabeth Taylor. And if her sheer beauty isn't enough, there are the details of her wild, flamboyant, and excruciatingly painful life. Taraborrelli, known for his unauthorized biographies of such celebrities as Diana Ross and Princess Grace, has done his research (or from his acknowledgments, his researchers have done their research). Certainly, there are what seem like fresh tibits of information here from a wide variety of surprising sources--family friends, guests at the Taylor-Nicky Hilton wedding (her first), and even Debbie Reynolds, from whom Elizabeth stole Eddie Fisher. But the saga of Elizabeth Taylor is practically myth at this point, so it's hard to add anything new except around the edges. Moreover, Taylor has written two autobiographies of her own, and without the cooperation of so many key figures--Taylor herself, her children, Sybil Burton--Taraborrelli isn't able to generate any insider feel to his account. (He does thank Taylor for not actively deterring people from speaking to him.) Still, despite all those built-in shortcomings, it's hard not to keep turning pages when the story you're reading is so filled with larger-than-life loves, scandals, tragedies, and, of course, stars, stars, stars. As with Lee Server's recent " Ava Gardner" (2006), Taraborrelli's take on Liz reminds us what movie stardom is all about. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)