Elizabeth Taylor;: An informal memoir,

by Elizabeth Taylor

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Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, Memoir

177 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE is a two-time Academy Award-winning English-American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages, she is considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood’s golden years, as well as a larger-than-life celebrity.

The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

Taylor died on March 23, 2011, surrounded by her four children at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.

Reviews

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This chatty memoir, put together while Taylor was a newlywed with Richard Burton for the first time, made me sad. She writes about all the people wounded by the Taylor-Burton affair--his wife (whom she liked) and kids, her husband (not to mention his ex-wife and kids whose childhoods were wrecked, as Carrie Fisher's memoirs make clear) and Taylor's own kids from two earlier marriages and one recent adoption. Taylor says that she and Burton will have to be married for at least the next 25 years to make all that destruction worthwhile...

Twenty-three years later she will have published a second memoir, advising women to stop eating fried chicken and start eating small portions of beef covered by peanut butter. But here she's carefree about her weight, claiming to delight in the fact that Burton, her son's classmates, and she herself have noticed that she's fat. There's even a photograph of smiling Taylor, about to pounce on a piece of fried chicken.

Other aspects of Taylor's 1960s lifestyle also don't bode well. She's happy to be subordinate to Burton, thinks it's fun when he rages at her to the point of kicking over televisions and alarming the neighbors, and promises to stand by him if he ever decides to have an affair. She feels guilty about her three divorces but relieved that her children finally have a stepfather they seem to care about. She has started saving her film wages in trust funds for her kids and thinks it's time she and Burton stop burning through his money on unnecessary items--yet she can't stop herself from loving jewels.

The pictures are really wonderful. Roddy McDowall lovingly captured some fun moments of Taylor and her family.

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to Donald Spoto's A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor, this book is a transcription of taped interviews for Life magazine. They were done after the filming of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but before its release. So it's in the early years of her scandalous marriage to Richard Burton, the second great love of her life.

It's all very breezy, shallow as a puddle, apologetic sometimes, and marvelous. Her marriages and illnesses are whipped through in no time. There are many photographs, most taken by her old pal Roddy McDowall. If you're a fan, and can find a copy of this book, it's worth the day or so it will take you to read it.

[Mary Narkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

a quick read.. one feels one is listening to Elizabeth Taylor's true voice. Who knows. A seamless stream of reflection on child stardom, her marriages, her children..Cleopatra, Richard Burton and her many illnesses. She seems like a very nice person.

[Syd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely memoir by Elizabeth Taylor —

What more is there to be said than of her immaculate vocabulary, craftsmanship of arrangement, and precision of eloquent detail. Though some might argue of her lack of depth following her personal life and experiences while filming her movies; the details upon her marriages, lovelife, comedic gestures, and hyper-focus upon mistreatment by press and fans during the funeral of her deceased husband Michael — I find this memoir to be an invite toward empathetic nature and Elizabeth’s utter desire for acceptance unto those that hated her. Poetically, Elizabeth crafts her memoir into demonstrating both her intelligence, and above all dictating the tragedies toward those longing of fame. Her memoir is a testament of both wealth and fame never being an open guarantee of happiness or void opportunity to misfortune. Elizabeth shows strength, gratitude towards those forgiving, and above all; shows the ethics of both her mistakes in life as well as her destructive mental state due to moral codes within society.

A marvelous read of one of my most favorited actors; highly recommend!

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

177 pages of cringe. This “book” if you can call it that was written when Elizabeth Taylor was 32 or 33 years old. She spends this entire tome trying to convince us of how down to earth & ordinary she is. Prior to this, the one of her books that I read was the one she wrote as a child about her pet hamster called “Nibbles & Me.” That one was sweet considering her young age but this one is written almost with the same naivety but again, considering her age, it’s far from sweet. It’s filled with glossed over guilty narratives of her first four marriages, with the ones to Mike Todd & Richard Burton being completely wrapped in a pathetic codependence in which she seems to revel. I realize she was a great humanitarian in later years, but aside from that, with every bio I read about her, I like her less & less. I often think, no wonder Burton drank so much!

[Tracie Sneed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider her to be not only the best American actress ever, but also one of the great beauties of Hollywood and stage.

[Heaven Claussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life!! Fantastic Book!

[Kristin Mallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im a sucker for autobiographies by prominent women, especially those with kids.

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. Really enjoyed the start but it got a bit eh last 1/3 and I stopped reading

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must-read for fans of Elizabeth Taylor, a 1964 memoir by the lady herself. Of course there was still plenty of drama to come, but this really captures her in the prime of life better than any biography could. It was written with Richard Meryman - the last journalist to interview Marilyn Monroe - and the book has that same plaintive style. Also, it includes around 40 lovely, informal photos taken by Elizabeth's lifelong friend, Roddy McDowall.

[Nicoley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected much more when I heard about this book. Elizabeth Taylor is very vague in many aspects of the book. She justifies her affair/marriage to Eddie Fisher which irritated me immensely. She should have just admitted she had done wrong. If you really want to know about her, read another autobiography. She is very repetitive and honestly the book is dull. Plus, she spent a good portion just talking about how wonderful her kids are.

[Jerilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read in her own words. ICON, LEGEND, HUMANITARIAN, OSCAR WINNER. Elizabeth Taylor wrote this book before her work began in her fight for a cure for HIV/AIDS. Her legacy now will include her 27 year humanitarian work. This book tells a great deal about Elizabeth through her "amazing eyes." The cover photo is stunning and worth buying the book just to see this photo.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved Elizabeth Taylor. When she passed, my mom and I argued whether she had written an autobiography. I was wrong.

[Laurel]

is a lie a lie if you believe it?