Among the Porcupines

by Carol Matthau

The former society woman describes her childhood in foster homes; her transformation into a debutante; her marriages to William Saroyan and Walter Matthau; and her friendship with Capote, Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona O'Neill Chaplin, Rex Harrison, and others.

Genres: Memoir, Biography, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 1992

About the author

American actress and author. Also published under the name Carol Grace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Grace

Reviews

[Matthew Wilder · Rating 2 out of 5]

My dear friend Aaron Graham recommended this book to me, because it’s the only book with an account of the making of Elaine May’s MIKEY AND NICKY, that masterpiece about what we now call “toxic” masculinity that nails everything about male friendships.

The book writer, Carol Matthau, a k a Carol Grace, at one time Carol Saroyan, speaks not so well of John Cassavetes and of Elaine; Peter Falk gets a pass. In the movie, Carol plays a baby-faced, white-powdered chippie who talks in an affectedly babyish way. She seems to have had lip plumpers, though M&N was shot in 1973 and that was not much of a thing, not even in Carol’s Beverly Hills. John’s Nicky, a player, a cool guy, is hunted by mobsters that his best friend, Mikey (Falk), a more humdrum, CPA-ish, shmucky guy, works for as well. Mikey is selling Nicky out, setting him up for a hit. All the while, the soon to be dead Nicky spends a night running around town with Mikey. He know he will soon be dead, yet can’t help but humiliate and put down his shmoey friend. He sets Mikey up with a girl anyone can have—Carol—who responds to his come-on by biting his lip. Nicky acts angry and outraged at her rejection of his buddy, but Mikey knows HE was set up—to fail with this aging B-girl.

It is said that Elaine May told Carol, the wife of Walter Matthau, “I have a role that’s perfect for you!” And indeed, she plays in the movie like someone May found in a bar who WAS that aging B-girl...down to the tinkling baby-doll voice. That tinkle plays throughout this memoir; as Carol can’t stop telling us, she was childhood best friends with Oona O’Neill and Gloria Vanderbilt. Her voice here has that “poor little rich girl” thing, that love of calling things “darling” (as an adjective) and the use of childlike pet names. The strange potency of the book is that baby doll Carol is pointedly not nice. She tells an anecdote about Sidney Lumet taking Gloria Vanderbilt for a ride that is so preposterously nasty it feels patently untrue. Her anecdotes about her dear friend Maureen Stapleton are patronizing to the brink of outright cruelty. She seems in brief the epitome of an old school of Hollywood wife—extremely cultured, extremely snobbish, highly materialistic and not at all nice to the children. And very sad about the girlish face vanishing in the mirror.

It seems to have entirely escaped Carol that the two loves of her life, Willliam Saroyan and Walter Matthau, come off extremely poorly, especially the former, who would make most of today’s me-too victims look like saints.

[Emily Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Old Hollywood gossip and insights into the lives of seriously talented people. Carol Matthau is a lovely writer. Very honest.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this memoir largely because Carol Grace Matthau was twice married to William Saroyan, an author whose work I have enjoyed. I was curious about their relationship. Interestingly, I had just finished reading "Leaving a Doll's House," a memoir by Claire Bloom who was the former wife of Philip Roth, and I found the two books strikingly similar. Both were beautiful rich girls with a talent for acting, and they both found marriage to their genius author husbands intolerable. They had many of the same friends and acquaintances but neither mentioned the other in their books.

Carol Matthau had written a semi-autobiographical children's story early on, and she received encouragement from some friends and fellow authors to continue her writing. Life and love got in the way, so this collection of memories is only her second book. She needed an editor who could have saved her from repeating herself and from sharing some self-revelatory musings that were distasteful and demeaning. One really does not have to "tell all."

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew the wife of Walter Matthau was such an interesting chick? Best friends with Oona O'Neil and Gloria Vanderbilt; married to William Saroyan as a teenager, divorced and then married again before meeting Matthau; friends with Truman Capote and a partial influence for Holly Golightly; and a hilarious writer to boot. I especially like the chapters wherein she "invents" blow-jobs, and defecates in a Nazi bunker in Tunisia. Seriously, this book is awesome!

[Lisa Zacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book after reading an article where it was speculated that Truman Capote used Matthau as part of his inspiration for Breakfast at Tiffany's (along with Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona Chaplin, and a few other "Swans of Fifth Avenue"). I had never heard of Matthau and only knew her husband, Walter, from the movie Grumpy Old Men so I was curious about this woman who had been some of the inspiration for quite a story (and later Audrey Hepburn movie!).

As a lover of autobiographies, I really enjoyed the first half. Matthau told the story of her interesting childhood (where her mother placed her in foster homes but later came back for her to live in extreme wealth with her new husband) and her first marriage to (the tyrant) William Saroyan. She also talked about her friendships with Capote, Vanderbilt, the Chaplins, etc. It's always interesting to me to read about the mindset (and expectation) of women during that time. Their main goal in life was to get married and marry RICH at a very young age.

However, the last half of the book started to get boring for me. She told a lot of disjointed short stories and did a lot of name dropping (of people whom I had never heard of or cared about), which tends to happen in, my opinion, bad autobiographies. Also, she didn't give a very clear picture of her marriage to Matthau. She seemed very in love with him but I didn't know what to make of him. At times she made him sound very loving and romantic, but more often she made him sound like a cheating (he was married when they met), gambling degenerate. Perhaps she didn't divulge too much because he was still alive when the book was written? I don't know, but she lost me.

Regardless, it's still a very interesting book to read if you are curious about the Chaplins and other high society women of the time.

[Farah V · Rating 4 out of 5]

The woman who grew up with Truman Capote and is said to be his muse for Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's is none other than Carol Matthau.

The life of a socialite is shockingly hilarious and in the emptiness of material, so full of encounters with people we have a nostalgia for, like Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Richard Avedon and so on. There are so many names, its hard to keep up.
Aside from the names, there is so much gossip, you'd think she was a version of Us Weekly. I was today years old when Carol told me Pora Negli left Milton Berle for Adolf Hitler. I mean... this woman knew it before the tabloids did.

Carol neither had the grace of Oona or the dazzle of Gloria Vanderbilt, but you just knew this woman got what she wanted when she wanted it.

I wouldn't call it a fascinating read, but it certainly makes your eyes pop wide from chapter to chapter.

The smartest thing she talks about is visiting Dachau and about the Holocaust and how terrible it was - how so much is still not known and can be repeated. If she had lived longer, she would see it is being repeated in front of our very eyes in the most heinous way. What disgusted her seeing what she thought should have been known as a death camp would have possibly disgusted her even more today.

Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Her humanity was intact.

[existential cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Sometimes very moving, sometimes legit funny. I found this while looking her up after seeing Mikey and Nicky. However else I might feel about Cassavetes, good on him for saying she should not have given up acting, with her talent. A certain type of woman at a certain time, who plays with those types, who dances with words. Her talent is incredible. There's a lot to unpack.

I read Sandra Niemi's Glamour Ghoul (bio of Mail Nurmi/Vampira) before this, and... the difference the two women had, in a similar period of time, in similar circles is... edifying. Money and class make such a huge, huge difference in available choices. But Nurmi had actual freedom. Would be nice if you could have that freedom (personal and artistic) without suffering (ie, from the financial straits of capitalism).

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this book (before I read it) because of Ms. Matthau's friendship with Ms. Vanderbilt and Truman Capote. I had read many books written by Ms. Vanderbilt in the past, and read some things of Mr. Capote. It seems I am in the minority here with only giving one star for this book, Among The Porcupines. Possibly because I had such high hopes for it, but it just fell flat for me. I found the writing disjointed, sophomoric at times, shallow and self-absorbing. I will say that the last several chapters of the book did pick up and it was actually enjoyable.

[Pat Kamuf]

To me a very different take on an autobiography. Mrs. Matthau writes about the times, people and parties she knew and attended. She also presents her thoughts about love, life and the important things in her life. She drops some famous names and for some she just describes them physically, so you don't know for sure who she is writing about. All in all, a read for those who like "old Hollywood."

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir by actor Walter Matthau's wife is a unique story detailing her marriage to Matthau and friendships with many other famous people, including Truman Capote, Charlie Chaplain, Gloria Vanderbilt and Maureen Stapleton. The writing is very good and Carol's personality and generosity of spirit shine through.

[Steven Thrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into her life and touches on the infamous “Swans” Truman Capote & a lot about Walter

[Rachel Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lives of three society women, one of who married Charlie Chaplin (Oona O'Neil), the other who was involved in a famous abduction court case (Gloria Vanderbilt), and the third who survived an abusive marriage to author William Saroyan, then married Walter Matthau (Carol Grace).

This is a great autobiography that charts three young girls living it up in the 1930s High Society of New York

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting in its's gossipy way but hard to take seriously. I think "Trio" by Aram Saroyan is probably better if you are looking to read about the famous "three": Gloria Vanderbilt, Carol Matthau and Oona Chaplin.
The author is pretty impressed with herself and the reader is reminded of this constantly.

[christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

bio from walter matthau's wife...she was a childhood friend of gloria vanderbilt, truman capote & oona chaplin; not to mention married to my favorite actor of all time.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

77

[Nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too bad, this had a ton of potential but her writing style was too disjointed to keep me interested.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carol Matthau is a witty and observant writer. I suspect that in real life she was a pampered and difficult person. I enjoyed her tales of old money and old Hollywood.

[Leslie Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh was ok. couldn't finish.

[Debbie]

Very insightful book written by a woman who was both a wife and friend of renowned actors and writers and their relationships.