4 comments about Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography.

1. Equal parts Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, the Christine Jorgensen story, as cheerfully recounted in her 1967 autobiography, demonstrates the ideological attractiveness of the passive reinvention of the persona. There's no shortage of 1950s Prince Charmings in shining armour here: Jorgensen's primary doctor informs her "No, I would not charge you anything" for HRT or SRS. In gratitude, she names herself after him. Later, another Father-Knows-Best magic man sweeps Jorgensen off her feet - a talent agent who grooms her for a lucrative show business career. Presto - Sleeping Beauty awakens upon the American Idol stage. This is the fairy godmother of all TS memoirs - the loveliest, silkiest read ever.
   
   [This edition has a solid preface by Susan Stryker and updated, occasionally 'naughty,' photos.]



2. I had read this book before. I am a gay male, 48, and i first read it about 15 years ago. I now have a trans-gendered friend. I never understood transexuals until I read Christine Jorgensen's story. Then, I did. She is candid, very forthright, and a good example for everyone. I recommend that anyone who is inquisitive about the subject, first read this book. It is excellent. She was a pioneer, perhaps and American heroine.



3. This is a must read book for those interested in gender identity issues, as well as for those who enjoy memoirs. Ms. Jorgensen was the first American to have a sex change operation and undergo such public scrutiny. Though she never intended to have her transformation become public knowledge, it was leaked to the press, and from then on, her life was never the same. In the cultural milieu of the nineteen fifties, Ms. Jorgensen's sex change was big news.
   
   Starting her life out as George Jorgensen, she never quite felt that she fit in and became a loner by inclination. One striking issue in the book, however, is that she came from an extremely loving and supportive family who always unconditionally accepted her as she was, both before and after her metamorphosis. Not every transgendered individual is as lucky as Ms. Jorgensen appears to have been with respect to familial relationships. Perhaps it was because her parents were of Danish descent, and Scandinavian people tend to be more accepting of these issues.
   
   Relentlessly upbeat, the book is a flattering and politely idealized memoir, as if anything too dark were exorcised from its pages. The chapters which cover Ms. Jorgensen's time in Denmark, where her change took place, are somewhat superficial and non-clinical. There is no real indication of any personal struggle or self-doubt with respect to her decision to undergo a life changing transformation. One has to remember, however, that this book was originally published approximately thirty five years ago, when the public's sensibilities on such issues were far more delicate.
   
   What does come across in this autobiography is that Ms. Jorgensen had the courage to make a decision that for the time was somewhat unique and cutting edge, as there was virtually no literature available for the general public on transsexualism, and gender identity studies were still in their nascent stage. Ms. Jorgensen essentially paved the way for others by bringing to the public consciousness issues that had not before been the subject of public discussion. In bringing these issues into the public domain, she was subject to a torrent of abuse, as well as discriminatory practices, and seemed to be the endless butt of jokes. She took these problems in stride, however, and always managed to have the last laugh. Laughter, indeed, appears to have been the best medicine.
   
   Ms. Jorgensen, an attractive natural blonde, who personified the stereotypic feminine ideal of the time, became an entertainer. Given her notoriety, her career options were limited, as she gathered a crowd whenever her identity became known. Playing the hand that was dealt her, she parlayed her notoriety into a successful club act, digressing into acting. She managed to make a success of herself, living a life that was interesting, but hardly scandalous. While this is an intriguing memoir, it is not an in depth profile of Ms. Jorgensen. The reader comes away knowing about Ms. Jorgensen, rather than knowing her. Still, all in all, it is a worthwhile read.



4. I had read Jorgensen's book and this is a great reissue of her very polite autobiography originally published in 1967. Susan Stryker's introduction adds a great deal of insight into Christine as she truly was: ambitious,tough,witty, and truly talented. Jorgensen was not a successful nightclub performer because of her sex change, she had taste and talent. She strived for more such as films and theatre. She was successful in the latter a few times. This new edition has great photographs never seen before. Jorgensen had written, at least in part, a new auto-biography that did not hold back intimate information which she felt the audience of the 1960s were not ready for. Why Christine Jorgensen has been largely forgotten (she made TV appearances into the 1980s and died far too young in 1989)is something that I don't understand. She was constantly in the newspapers throughout the 1950s and when this book was originally released, she was on several talk shows. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand transsexualism. Christine was not the first, but she was the first major celebrity sex change. The lady had class, dignity, intelligence, and a great wit. It is an intriguing read of a shy lad who was troubled and catapulted into a celebrity status and become very comfortable with herself. One cannot help but to admire her courage. If the reader wants to find out about her love life,back issues of such periodicals as The Advocate will have to be perused.Details of her three surgeries are not described indepth. Nevertheless,she was a phenomenon who is often left out of books on the 1950s. The reissue of her book will enlighten many, bring back memories to others. It will also cause several to wish someone would do a biography on Christine Jorgensen.Susan Stryker's introduction evokes great intrigue and I wish it had been much longer and filled in the many gaps which Jorgensen's publishers persuaded her to leave out. A very worthy read of an all but forgotten lady of history! I highly recommend it. Christine Jorgensen unintentionally moved the sexual revolution along. She caused society to re-evaluate what gender is during a politically conservative climate. If you have never heard of her, it is a must. If you heard of her but forgot her, revisit her. It is worth the time to get to know Ms.Jorgensen.

3 comments about Big Lou: The Life and Career of Actor Louis Edmonds.

1. This is a loving, lovely tribute to the late soap opera star Louis Edmonds(Dark Shadows, All My Children)Craig Hamrick, who knew Edmonds during the last 8 years of the actor's life, is clearly in love(platonically) with his subject. He tells the story of Edmonds' life in a highly readable, no holds barred manner.Edmonds was a brilliant actor whose ego might have prevented his career from progressing as far as it could have. He was also a great wit, a passionate lover who had two long term relationships, and a deeply loyal friend. Hamrick writes openly and honestly about all of this, the good, the bad and the ugly, never losing sight of his own deep affection for the man.This book will stand as a lasting tribute to Louis Edmonds' life and career. He might have been forgotten, as so many soap actors are. Thanks to Craig Hamrick, this wonderful actor will be remembered for many years to come.



2. This hard-to-put down biography which is loaded with many before unknown facts about bigger-than-life performer/actor Louis Edmonds, most widely known as Roger Collins from the gothic serial Dark Shadows, is funny,touching and tenderly told by author Craig Hamrick, who became known as a friend to the actor in the latter years of his life. Yet, do not dismiss this as sugar coated fantasy, for it is told, with Louis' permission, in a forthright , no-holds-barred, bare bones manner that should earn its own praise. Hamrick has a way with laying down facts, yet not in stilted encyclopedic fashion but in a way that you actually get to know Mr. Edmonds in a more intimate light, and I for one, am deeply saddened by the fact I never had gotten the opportunity to meet this great man while he was still alive. Craig Hamrick has earned my respect as a biographer and I eagerly anticipate his next venture "Barnabas & Co" due later this summer, as well as any other literary undertaking this author may take. Kudos to him for taking me into the heart and home of one of my favorite Dark Shadows actors and making me feel as if I'd met him myself! The book is a triumph and a must for all Dark Shadows, Louis Edmonds or All My Children fans! Put this on your list for summer reading. I read it cover to cover in less than two days!



3. Louis Edmonds' death in early 2001 robbed Dark Shadows fandom of its elder statesmen. Of all the Dark Shadows cast, Louis Edmonds at times managed, perplexingly, to simultaneously be the most ubiquitous and elusive. On one level, Louis the showman remained a distinct and vibrant personality, very much admired by fans, yet one that at times seems difficult to extracate from the vestiges of Roger Collins and a handful of humourous anecdotes. To many Dark Shadows fans, this persona is arguably as familiar as any of the characters Louis portrayed on the show.

   Author Craig Hamrick does much to redress the balance with the new edition of his biography Big Lou: The Life and Career of Louis Edmonds. With a respectable period having elapsed since Louis' death, the book is able to take a more rounded look at its subject, and the results are frequently illuminating.

   Unlike the first book, which took a more formal approach, the new edition is told very much through its author's eyes, and arguably as much Craig Hamrick's story at times, as it is Louis'. From the pair's initial meeting, to Louis' funeral nearly a decade later, the reader is given a very honest appraisal which doesn't attempt to reconcile the contradictions it throws up, and indeed is all the more enjoyable for doing so. Louis' faults are lain bare and the author isn't afraid to note these - for example, his recounting of Louis' pre-occupation with money and occasions of professional arrogance go a long way to explaining why he perhaps never attained the widespread success his talented deserved.

   Louis himself emerges as a somewhat melancholy soul in the process, battling the twin demons of alcohol and depression. Noting a suicide attempt along the way, it adds a certain grim undertone to the exuberant public personality so many of us knew. Yet, for all the sadness depicted, there's still plenty of humour and warmth, and perhaps this is Louis' most admirable quality. Louis' final years are perhaps the saddest, yet it is during these that he hearteningly seems to find a sense of peace that had eluded him so badly in the past. Particularly poignant are his indulgement predictions of his own self-dramatised demise, which seem all the sadder when juxtaposed with the quiet exit he eventually makes.

   Throughout the book are sprinkled little novelized vignettes of key moments in Louis' life, which work with mixed results. At best, they succeed in painting out Louis' journey in broad strokes, and the passage where Louis reflects on the drastic effects of his cancer surgery in particular, is particularly moving and tragic. An undoubtedly cinematic device, at times they seem forced, yet one feels it is an indulgence of which Edmonds himself would have heartily approved.

   As a biography, this is an excellent work of reference and research, but on a broader level, it is a wonderful personal account of a unique performer and individual that manages to strike that rare balance between pragmatism and celebration.

No comments about Clark Gable - The King of Hollywood (Biography).

4 comments about The Guggenheims: A Family History.

1. initially i thought this was a poorly written book, too conversational, ungrammatical at times, reciting what twigs and leaves on the gugenheim family tree did or are doing in a linear, list-making sort of way.
   
   but after a while, the book really grew on me and i became comfortable with the writers' colloquial style and found the book interesting, especially in telling the story of the building of the gugenheim fortune in copper, tin and other metals, and then the story of how, after that business went caput and the fortune with it, certain gugenheims, mainly solomon and peggy, became giants in the world of 20th century modern art, enabling the gugenheim name to live on forever.
   
   the first part of this book tells how a german jewish immigrant, isadore gugenheim, and his seven sons built a fortune in copper and tin out west and in south america. the gugenheim's jewishness and way of dealing with it is a fascinating topic that recurs throughout the book, evoking stephen birmingham's "our crowd" and irving howe's "world of our fathers."
   
   the gugenheims alternately embraced and denied their judaism, and their struggle with their own identity and the identity that gentile society imposed on them is a running commentary and reflection on the decrease in antisemitism over the decades in this country, as schools or clubs that excluded earlier generations of gugenheims eagerly admitted their descendants to where their jewishness became virtually a non-issue.
   
   the gugenheims encountered less antisemitism than many similarly situated jewish families of the early to mid 20th century, partly because they picked their spots and tried to "pass" and sometimes succeeded and avoided potentially difficult situations, or maintained their jewishness and made it a point to befriend gentiles and assimilate and get along, which made for a smoother ride in business and socially for the family.
   
   the middle part of the book tells how harry gugenheim, the most dynamic of founding father isadore's descendants, became a major figure, from the 1920's to the 60's, in trying to preserve the family fortune and good name, and a pioneer in american aviation and friend of charles lindbergh (ironic in light of lindy's favorable feelings for nazi germany, which harry glossed over) and rocketeer robert goddard, whom harry helped fund. but for harry's money and the influx of german rocket scientists after the war, our space program would not have gotten "off the ground."
   
   harry was astute not only in the family metallurgy business but also the newspaper business, cofounding newsday with his second wife, alicia patterson, and as a sportsman, a horseman and yachtsman, with a hunting plantation in south carolina and baronial estate on long island that is now a museum.
   
   harry was the most superior person of the whole gugenheim clan and one of the tragedies of the family is that it did not produce his like again -- and he was painfully aware of that as he got older and saw the family in decline and tried unsuccessfully to pass his mantle of leadership onto one or another of his heirs or even recruited surrogates such as bill moyers.
   
   the book also tells the cautionary tale of the decline of the gugenheim fortune due to bad business decisions and less able successor family members in key positions, and finally, no gugenheims willing or able to take over and lead the family business or steward its fortune, much to harry gugenheim's chagrin. the authors tell this in a way that evokes the old saying of "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" -- although with the gugenheims, it took more like five generations to go from their aristocratic heights back down to the upper middle class...
   
   the last part of the book tells of the family's foray into the arts, mainly painting, and particularly of solomon gugenheim, who wisely built the famous frank lloyd wright-designed museum in midtown manhattan, and the eccentric peggy, an expatriate who lived in venice, hobnobbed with the lost generation, collected empty booze bottles and lovers, married dadaist max ernst -- and astutely put together perhaps the finest private collection of modern art ever assembled.
   
   the book wraps up reciting in laundry-list fashion the names and stories of current gugenheim heirs, some of whom are eking out livings in out-of-the-way places, not at all carrying on in the classic manner of descendents of robber barons or industrial titans or patrons of the arts, much less even still carrying the name of gugenheim. when one compares the gugenheims with the rockefellers or vanderbilts, their wealth has come and gone. but their name -- now associated with the arts -- remains, and that, in the end, has proven to be their lasting legacy.
   
   by the time i was done with this book, i felt i had learned all i needed to know about not only the gugenheims, but in a broader sense, also about how family fortunes are made and lost and how families handle fame and fortune -- or don't -- and how all of this happened iduring the last century and a half, against the backdrop of all that was going on, here and abroad.
   
   that was the real achievement of this book, and what made me think in the end that it was worth the read. i recommend it, along with the biographies of rockefeller and morgan by ron chernow and jean strouse, and edmund morris's two-part biography of teddy roosevelt, to gain a complete picture of what this era and this family was like.



2. This biography was very thorough in the way it captured the mining, nitrate explorations of the Guggenheims. But it lost steam when it focused on more present-day Guggenheims and their work in making Twentieth Century Art especially in America of great importance. It seemed to lack a soul and a family tree chart. If it had a soul, it would have given the reader a chance to feel empathy with a Guggenheim and if it included a chart, it would have helped the reader keep track of each offspring. Overall, it shed light on a family that helped to enrich America.



3. I can think of several reasons to read this fascinating story of an iconic American dynasty. A reader might want to know why the name Guggenheim is on a number of important art museums around the world and want to know how they got there. Another might know about the glory days of the seven brothers when they ruled copper mining and smelting. Another might know about the flamboyant Peggy Guggenheim and want to get more context for her life. Then there is Harry Guggenheim and his participation in and support of early aviation (he actually participated in air combat in BOTH world wars), his support of Robert Goddard's early rocketry research, and his friendship with Charles Lindbergh.
   
   Personally, I am fascinated by multi-generational family stories. How was the success that founded the dynasty achieved? How is the next generation formed to continue that success? Because business changes, the family will have to adapt. Can they continue the success? How do they hold things together or why does it fall apart? Splits within the family are inevitable simply because people will want to establish their own lives apart from somebody else's path.
   
   This book has a huge cast of characters because there were so many people coming in and out of this family. There is a great deal of divorce, faithlessness in the marriages that do occur, a shocking amount of suicide, and proof that money, fame, hedonistic sex, and intoxicants do not lead to happiness. This book does tell the story of certain members of the clan more fully. The story of the seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim (who founded the dynasty a $5,000 dollar investment in a mine in Colorado) is quite fascinating.
   
   One of the sons, Ben, went down with the Titanic. The strongest son and the one who became the head of the family after Meyer was Daniel. However, another brother became a United States Senator, and all of them made their contributions to the family dynasty. Even so, the youngest brother, William, did split with the family and that has had repercussions to the present day.
   
   Solomon lived the longest of the seven brothers and it is his name on the spiraled Frank Lloyd Wright museum in New York. The story of how that museum came to be is itself reason to read this book. What a strange cast of characters brought that loved and derided institution into being.
   
   The second generation was ruled by Harry Guggenheim, younger son of Daniel. He led an amazing life, however unsuccessful in marriage. He was an early pilot in WWI and created a private foundation that accomplished a great deal to make commercial aviation safe and reliable (if not profitable). One of his friends was Charles Lindbergh and through Lindbergh's advocacy, he funded Robert Goddard's early work in experimental rocketry. He raised thoroughbreds and his horse, Dark Star, won the 1953 Kentucky Derby. Through his third wife he founded Newsday and ended up running that for many years and sold it at a huge gain. You will find his life very interesting and its pains awfully sad.
   
   Of course, the most famous of the Guggenheims nowadays is the art collector and flamboyant socialite, Peggy Guggenheim. The book recounts her life and struggles. Her demons were many and it ends up being a sad story. Even her art collection, her life's triumph, is surrounded with a pathetic air because of the way her obsession with it walled her off from so much else in life.
   
   There is so much more that this story has to offer that I will simply urge you to take the time to read about these lives and what happens to people, both ordinary and extraordinary people, when they find themselves in possession of a dream of great wealth. It seems that too often they end possessed by the money and it ends up doing them as much personal harm as it does anybody any good.
   
   Of course, being miserable without money is fairly easy to accomplish as well. By the fourth and fifth generation most of the family has settled into comfortable lives in the various reaches of the middle class. Many do not have much personal connection to the Guggenheim story and that is also a very interesting story that this book tells.
   
   Fine job, and recommended to everyone interested in business, American social history, and dynastic families as well as those personally interested in the Guggenheims.



4. Most family biographies are hard to read and even harder to follow, as the generations begin to amass, narrative thrust seems to take a vacation. So it is with great pleasure that I can report THE GUGGENHEIMS by Irwin Unger and Debi Unger "good to the last drop." The authors begin with a panoply of anti-Semitism in Europe and make it clear just how limited career prospects were for Jews of the second millennium, when they were forbidden all but the very lousiest jobs, and the jobs most guaranteed to annoy their Christian "brethren" (such as collecting rents and taxes). Unike the other great Jewish families of "Our Crowd," the Guggenheims made their money primarily from mining, in the farawy and exotic paradise of Chile (mostly in copper, and silver and lead as well). By the turn of the century (1900) they were well on their way towards their legend.
   
   The biography has sweep and a certain falling grandeur, but I liked best the authors' marvelous pen portraits of the many younger Guggenheims. I liked finding out that Gladys Guggenheim wrote two cookbooks and was named "nutrition commissioner" of New York by Thomas Dewey in 1934. There's the shocking battle between the sisters Hazel and Peggy, over who could score with the most men sexually--when each got up to a thousand, the numbers started to blur. I bet! And then the terrible story of Hazel's 1928 rooftop tragedy. She had taken her two little toddlers, Ben and Terrence, up to an unlikely section of her apartment's roof garden, and somehow the two tykes tumbled off t their deaths. She was suspected as being some kind of Alice Crimmins-type Medea, but the family turned up a window cleaner nearby who claimed to have witnessed the whole thing and said Hazel was innocent and had indeed tried to save the kids!
   
   Who remembers now that Harry Guggenheim, the bigwig of the third generation of Guggenheims, once owned Dark Star, the horse that beat Native Dancer to the 1953 Kentucky Derby? Harry and his wife, Alicia Patterson, started NEWSDAY, the Long Island paper, and he seemed to share her with the Democratic also-ran Adlai Stevenson with whom she fell quite desperately in love.
   
   The Ungers also tell the story of Diane, Harry's daughter, who sought escape from hr family in an unlikely place, the postwar "folk music boom" that led her to Ireland, of all places, where she began an intrigue with young Liam Clancy, then a teen and not yet famous for sparking the Clancy Brothers + Tommy Makem. Diane changed her name and began recording her own folk music, which made me curious to hear what she did with her career. She seems to have been kind of a Peggy Seeger, and just as adventurous.
   
   The last half of the book brings forward Solomon, whose legacy was the Guggenheim museum, and Peggy, the art dealer who married Max Ernst, discovered Jackson Pollock, and invented "Art Of This Century." In each case, the Ungers surpass all previois biographical treatments of their very complicated subjects. Peggy in particular comes to life, not as a freak or a groupie, but as a woman with a particular historical and aesthetic mission which she graciously fulfilled. Good for them. I expect this book will do quite well, and may restore some of the tarnished luster of the Guggenheim name. In any case you'll be reading it all night long trying to get to the end before morning.

5 comments about No Ordinary Love.

1. Since the Christie's are so family oriented I expected the book to be more about their family, relationship, infinite love and so on. The book focused more on rumors, Doug's basketball career and injury and then a little thrown in about their relationship.



2. All is fair in LOVE & Basketball
   
   No Ordinary Love is a fascinating and victorious story about love and basketball, well of course! Jackie and Doug allowed us into their world prior to Doug being drafted into the NBA as well as allowed us to ride along for the rest of the journey. The true story behind their public love affair is extremely simple, Infinite Love, which is what they have politely named their bond to one another and their family. In purchasing the book I wasn't real sure what to expect, however I had an open mind, despite the harsh and cruel way the media had portrayed the celebrity couple. Being an author of an Urban Fiction book dealing with the NBA and Mistresses I felt I absolutely had to at least read the book. I too have had very unique experiences in and around the NBA, with my stepbrother playing in the NBA over a decade and befriending just a few for over a decade as well.
   
   After reading the book I felt compelled to fall in love and try my hand at love again. I had stepped away and bowed out gracefully from the dating games most men play and decided to focus on God, my family, teaching within the urban community, writing, and publishing. The story was exceptionally inspiring and I truly commend the NBA couple for speaking out and sharing the intimacies of such a wonderful friendship as well as defining Infinite Love. The approach of the book, was a surprise, which added a neat and fabulous aspect and spin to the book. It's not too often that a book is presented in dialogue; however it was appropriate and very fitting. This is a great read for married couples as well as the unmarried who may have lost hope on what true love is. Reading this book will define and allow you a courtside seat into loving another. Thank you both for sharing your world with us and much success and happiness to you both! Let's toast to Infinite Love! Congrats and I will be waiting on part 2.
   
   Reviewed by:
   Ya'Heard Magazine
   ~The Urban Fiction Lounge~



3. NO ORDINARY LOVE shares an up-close and personal, real-life love story of a couple that seemingly defies the odds; African-American, celebrities, faithful to each other, and loving their marriage. After many challenging confrontations, with the media and basketball personalities, they talk about how they learned to navigate through the fickle highway of fame. They've carved a meaningful life together in spite of their humble beginnings and the pitfalls of stardom, with love, faith and determination. They have kept their relationship fresh and true.
   
   This magnanimous couple is professional NBA star, Doug Christie and his runway model wife, Jackie. The book has the feel of sitting in their living room, listening to them talk. They briefly touch on their respective backgrounds, but over seventy-five percent of the book centers on their life as a high profile couple during Doug's career.
   
   Doug possesses the audacity to love his wife, and the strength to express his feelings publicly. For that, he has been called a lot of things, some not mentionable, by a lot of people, including Bryant Gumbel, who once labeled Doug whipped on national television. Jackie supports Doug in all his decisions and is able to let negativity roll off her back. Doug shares how some teams have very specific rules governing family association. Also, many of the 'groupies' are actual employees of the teams. He once refused a job because he would not agree that Jackie could not travel, even at her own expense, with the team.
   
   NO ORDINARY LOVE is not Doug and Jackie's attempt to be role models for young married couples, or anyone searching for the true meaning of love and commitment, but a testament to what can happen when your goal is infinite love.
   
   Reviewed by aNN
   of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers



4. No Ordinary Love
   Monday, October 8, 2007 print | email
   
   
   First things first, two things I think I know about Doug Christie: 1) lock down defender; 2) his name is synomous with being pussy-whipped! I really enjoyed this story of love, life and basketball that dispelled a lot of the ideas about the Christies that I had from the negative publicity that I've been exposed to as a basketball fan. No Ordinary Love is an autobiographical, love, sports and marriage story. Doug and Jackie Christie narrate their personal histories, intertwining thier stories like their shared life. The interesting/infamous tale of the Christie's public love being attacked, how the attacks start, build, and are widespread...even eventually becoming a contract issue with a woefully bad Sonics team that finished the season with less than 35 wins. The story exposed the links between the management/ownership and media, with the players culture of womanizing and infidelity, showing how teams even facilitate this mysoginist culture (look at what Stephon Marbury said at the Isiah trial). Doug Christie is very mature in expressing his emotions and growth as person. In re-telling his basketball career he even glosses over his big scoring years as a Raptor, focusing most specifically on his time with the Kings. It's interesting Christie doesn't seem fixated on the emotion of the past, instead remembering his friendships with C-Webb, Vlade Divac, Bobby Jackson, Hedo Turloglu, Peja, Mike Bibby, even the boyz from Team Dime, and the style and passion of basketball as the best part of his NBA experience. The message of the Christies is about being committed to the idea of family first, and experiencing Infinite Love. I think the Christies have a positive message to share with all of consumer culture, Jackie said it best: ''Stay committed to the commitment." Teaching by example, they've shown the world their love.



5. No Ordinary Love: A True Story of Marriage and Basketball is the true-life memoir of the marriage between 14-year NBA star Doug Christie and former fashion model Jackie Christie. The two of them cherish an increasing rarity in today's world, especially among society's elite - a traditional, faithful marriage. Though No Ordinary Love also offers an inside look at life in the NBA, but its crux is a celebration of the joy of cementing an alliance of love, teamwork, and unshakeable loyalty to one another. Presented in the format of a narrative alternating between Doug and Jackie's direct words, and illustrated with black-and-white photographs, No Ordinary Love is a solid testament to the joys and wonders of life and the rewarding satisfaction of building a healthy relationship.

No comments about Gucci Wars: How I Survived Murder and Intrigue at the Heart of the World's Biggest Fashion House.

No comments about The Cadet Life of Prince Harry.

5 comments about Kate Moss: Model of Imperfection.

1. of this book is one of the greatest authors ever for unauthorized biographies of super models who used to be famous.
   
   I read the book, it was very informative, I liked it.



2. This book should be called "Johnny Depp" because it is more about her relationship with him than about herself. I expected a biography on her life but it's about how this super-waif got famous and then those who made her famous turned against her. Then the rest of the book was about her unhappy relationship with Johnny Depp. I really like Kate Moss and would like to have read a book about her...not her ex-boyfriend.



3. my friends all just read this and we're all disappointed in it, maybe someone who knows less about kate moss would get more from it. it IS articulate and factual, and it's not that it's BAD writing, it just didn't give us anything new to talk about. i wish there were other biographies - even if totally sensationalized! - about kate moss out there!
   
   my recommendation? maybe a good beach-time or bus-ride read, but don't expect anything revealing.



4. My friends and I just read this as part of our new "Fashion-Group Book Club"...I didn't dislike it as much as they did, but it does give one reason to marvel at how much completely unspectacular writing and recycled bollocks make it to publication. It even came to us recommended so I'm surprised at how just-not-good it is. Even the pictures, the best part, are all ones I swear I've seen a million times before. So, if you're looking for photos of Kate, I remember a book that came out on her in the nineties, a lot more expensive of course, but that one was excellent. "Model of Imperfection": not recommended!



5. my friends and i just chose this for our monthly fashion-oriented book club (we've previously enjoyed easily appropriate selections like "the devil wears prada", etc.) and were unanimously disapointed (they all are about to write their own reviews here, though). maybe this could be good for someone who isn't already a Kate fan, or has never heard such things about models doing drugs or being too skinny - like people who live in a bio-sphere or something. i guess i just expected more indepth info - like, how about a FREAKIN' INTERVIEW WITH KATE HERSELF! - from an author who ran "the web's most popular Kate Moss site" for like 5 years. some "fan"!

No comments about Las Vegas Babylon, Revised Edition: The True Tales of Glitter, Glamour, and Greed.

5 comments about Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis.

1. That's a quote used in the movie. And now one of my top 3 favorite quotes to be used forever after.
   
   There was so much to like about this person and movie. Jackie was a phenomenal character. She/he was iconic in the strongest sense of the word. Total belief in herself and her plan (mad though it was at times) and such charisma that all around her believed in her and themselves as much as she did. She altered paradigms.
   
   This particular subculture fascinates me to no end and it is covered well in this DVD. It's classic David and Goliath except David's gotta push it by wearing a dress. I couldn't respect that in-your-faceness more if I tried. I wish I could better convey what I mean. And it's not a movie about sexual preferences. No agenda is forced on you in any way. It's just completely unique.
   
   The fact that this is a documentary and these things really happened and these people really did exist as they did, simply adds to the magic of this movie. Of course, many of those people are still with us and told their tales within. And most of them are extremely interesting as well. It covers more than just Jackie. The world Jackie became famous in is explored in depth as well.
   
   Just as a comparison, it is like the Grateful Dead shows. Nothing like this will ever happen in this way ever again - nothing this new, different, odd, and perfect just for what it was, and it's tragic if you think you may have wanted to be part of it in some way, witness it, but didn't. And if you did, you're breathing the rare air.



2. Jackie Curtis was a close friend of the guy who ran the James Dean Gallery. It was through him and my interest in James Dean and the link to Jackie Curtis through the line in 'Walk On The Wild Side, that I decided to find out more about him and the lifestyle of those around him, Andy Warhol and the era. I wasn't disappointed. The five stars rating is based on me getting what I wanted. It is an easy read. A series of short anecdotal interviews with those who knew this person well. It is open and honest. The accompanying DVD is well-produced and brings to life the book itself. Fascinating.



3. If, like me, you ran across the book 'Superstar in a Housedress' while looking for the documentary of the same name, it may have taken you a few minutes to figure out that buying the book is, apparently, the only way to get the DVD.
   
   Yes, this is the full, ninety-plus minute release of the DVD available for rent from Netflix and other rental venues. How the choice was made to market the film as a "companion piece" to the book, without (as far as I can tell) releasing it as a stand-alone purchase, I dunno. I hope it will be released separately in the future, since the current marketing format, I'd think, would tend to lessen its circulation to a wider audience.
   
   Not that there's anything wrong with the book: it's a compendium of reminiscences by people who were close to Jackie. Some of the material repeats what's in the film, and some fills in gaps in backstory that 90 minutes can't provide, such as details on the life and death of the remarkable (and remarkably messed-up) Andrea Feldman. Still, a nice chunky paperback book of commentary in a boxed DVD set might have been a better way to sell the package, which is truly a good one. It's just that the DVD overrides the book in its excellence. There's no good reason why the book needed to be published in hardcover; it's really liner notes for the DVD.
   
   And then there's the strange, spooky, *sealed* envelope that the DVD itself comes in. Glued furtively into the back of the book, there's a lengthy disclaimer proclaiming in no uncertain terms that you MUST NOT OPEN THE PACKAGE ("Simply return the sealed package.") if you think that the DVD might in any number of (enumerated) ways ruin your life. Talk about user-friendly!
   
   But the good news is -- once you get over the fear, and open the potentially-deadly "package", you find that after all it's just an ordinary DVD, and a great one, at that. Densely packed with interviews, historical stills, film clips, and even a fair amount of very early videotape, this documentary is a detailed and very loving portrait of one of the most defiant gender-bending artists in the history of gender-bending and the stage itself.
   
   The past several years have seen the release of the Paul Morrisey/Andy Warhol films on DVD, and that's brought these previously hard-to-get-at movies to a new audience. This in turn has increased curiosity about the Warhol scene in the 60's, 70's, and later; and that period is increasingly interesting, as civilization lurches inexorably (or so it seems) toward a dessicated, triple-filtered, don't-drink, don't-smoke cultural puritanism.
   
   What was going on in New York in the 50's, 60's, and 70's transformed the American culture. A whole lot of the sexual freedom that we have today, whether it's embraced or bemoaned by whatever faction, comes from the crazy explosion that was the 60's and 70's. There's no shortage of information on the cultural revolution that happened then, but there's also no end to what can be added to it. This story about Jackie Curtis is no small addition.
   
   As a smart kid escaping the wilds of Connecticut who started hustling the streets in NY at 16, I knew a number of the people in this film peripherally, and for the most part they were the people who informed my perception of what life was all about. There was a communality, and a total lack of hierarchy (but for a few bitchfests) and everyone was welcome; I think, in retrospect, that this was what the hippieness of the 60's led to: a kind of a hybrid of the rejection of popular culture with the co-opting of it. At the time, the most visible manifestation of pre-packaged pop culture that could be harvested was the Hollywood star system of the 30's and 40's. Jackie Curtis was hip to this, but also added a Dada-style twist to it. Warhol became the catalyst, but what 'Superstar in a Housedress' demonstrates is that he couldn't have done the things that he (or rather, Paul Morrisey, working under his aegis) did without girls like Jackie, Candy Darling, or Holly Woodlawn (whom, I have to say, is looking absolutely GREAT in this doc, and QUITE the polished lady.)
   
   This is an absolutely essential documentary for those interested in the period, its quirks, and its consequences. But moreso, it's a great tribute to the unbridled, mad creativity of Jackie Curtis, who should never be forgotten. Hopefully, this DVD (and its companion piece, the book) will help assure that.
   
   Also -- at the time of this writing, the book and DVD are pretty consistently available from housing_works_bookstore @ Amazon at a cheap price. Housing Works supports homeless people affected by HIV/AIDS in New York City, so purchasing from them is a win-win thing. They got my order to me very quickly and in perfect condition, so what could I do? I ordered another one from them right away. Somebody's getting it for Christmas. Don't know who yet. Somebody who will have been REAL good this year!
   
   Seriously, though -- if you're interested in the history of the NY art scene in the period, this is very much worth buying.



4. Jackie Curtis was great - this book and DVD are a rich history of one of Warhols' Drag superstars - the smartest one of them all



5. I finished: Superstar in a Housedress, as well as watching the DVD. Thank you Mr. Highberger for providing a most interesting and sincere look into Jackie Curtis.
   
   
   The format was so nice, to hear from so many people who were close to this incredible person really gave me a better idea of who Jackie was and how she lived. I have had the opportunity, as a transsexual entertainer, to travel the country and meet many transgendered performers. They obviously do not get the press or opportunity they deserve. This book is a fitting tribute to a person who helped shape todays theater and bring attention to gender expression.
   
   Jackie was obviously a genius who in many ways helped to shape the character of what we know Broadway play to be, and from the off off Broadway level. He/she lived the street life and was a very real person, on a real level facing the challenges life on that level brings regardless of the day to day persona she would take on.
   
   The book/CD focuses on commentary from her friends and aqauintences and whether from a gay/trans or straight perspective, Jackie Curtis was the epitome of living life as one's own self and creating from the most sincere inner feelings in the face of great odds. Many exerpts of her plays, notes and writings are included to give the reader a more intimate view of Jackie and the person within the personna, whether that be Jackie, James Dean or some other form of self expression.
   
   Obviously she can be an inspiration to those who strive for individuality and to leave a positive mark through their works regardless of her tragic finality.
   I would highly recommend viewing this documentary and reading the book as well for anyone interested in life, humor, love, tragedy and the very real Star that Jackie Curtis was.