Leslie Zemeckis's Blog - Posts Tagged "artie-shaw"

Well, better make that a double dirty martini: 3 oz good vodka (you'll need it good) chilled, 1 oz dry vermouth, just slightly more than 1/2 ox olive brine, stirred, strain sip and forgive this ultimately disappointing read. Ava Gardner, notorious drinker, man-eater, beauty. I was already to hear from her own lips tales about her affairs with Howard Hughes and marriages to Artie Shaw, Mickey Rooney (that needed explaining) and Sinatra. What this book is instead is mainly an ongoing page after page argument with Ava and her ghostwriter Peter Evans. Okay after the fourth or fifth argument "are you sure we should write that honey?" I wanted Mr. Evans to step out of the way, stop interrupting her late night rambling conversations where he could have gleaned more, possibly finished the book (before she quit) but he insisted she keep to a chronological order which she did not want to do. A mess of a book, as much of a mess as the woman herself, a sad, fierce woman who cannot sleep because of her guilt and her regrets. Someone needs to pick up her story and complete it, martinis, hangovers and one-night stands all.