Bittersweet

by Susan Strasberg

The actress's account of her troubled life covers her desperate relationships with her parents, her early successes, her reckless affairs and marriage, her experiences with drugs, and her decision to make a new life for herself

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir

251 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was always a delicacy to Susan Strasberg's acting, a fragility that always made her seem on the verge of burning herself out. Instead, however, she emerged as a gifted writer and memoirist. She offers an unflinching picture of what it was like to grow up as the child of a living legend, owning her own mistakes as she deals with bad romances and her disastrous marriage to Christopher Jones. It's a great tale of how one women grew into her strength.

[Mark Stattelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to go back and read this book again. I was really impressed the first time. You get an inside view of Lee Strasberg and the Actor's Studio. All the future greats (and very goods) were just then learning the craft of "method" acting. I might be mushing the dates, but I believe all the regular suspects were there: Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman, Martin Landou (I think. I know he roomed with Dean for a time. I could be getting that from a Dean bio.) and Ernest Borgnine, and possibly Karl Malden. Now I'm gonna have to reread it to get the roster of actors right. Though they all seemed to drop in and out over time. Susan Strasberg had a special relationship with Marilyn Monroe, a sister like thing going on. Of course, Susan's dad being the acting coach meant she got to hang out and watch it all. She had potential herself, but somehow never got much beyond her acclaimed role of Anne Frank. Sad. Perhaps it had something to do with her relationship with Christopher Jones.
As an aside, (and I think I am pulling this from a Dean bio.), it always seems odd to me that Newman and Dean were always vying for the same roles. And the girl, maybe? Pier Angeli played Newman's girl in Somebody Up There Likes Me. I want to say that Dean was supposed to have a part in the movie but screwed things up. Of course, Dean was dead by then and Pier was married to Vic Damone. We'll never know who was more insecure and screwed up in the head than James Dean or Montgomery Clift. Probably Clift.
Sorry, I don't think any of this last part has to do with this book. Being all part of the same crowd was what caused me to think of it.
In any case, I highly recommend this book. But who am I? I'm not an actor, nor do I play one on TV. I did script and act out a commercial once for a class I was taking. That's neither here nor there, however.
Read this book. It's good!

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigh, Susan could have been great. She made many poor decisions, however. It’s frustrating and sad the way her life turned out. I wonder how far she got into writing her 3rd book before her death?

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bitter Sweet by Susan Strasberg is an autobiography and by its nature is smitten with ego and me, me, me moments. The author name drops, but doesn't give any "juicy" details. She seems to be fearful of revealing too much in both her life and the lives of those who touched her life. Many years ago I read her book about herself and Marilyn Monroe, but I don't remember much about it. I do not remember feeling so ambivalent about the latter book, however, so I must have enjoyed it to some degree.

This book was only a way to pass time on my lunch hour and not much else. It was entertaining enough to keep me reading and not to delve into another book, but I would not have chosen to read this book had I known what it would be like from the beginning.

[Frederic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather detached memoir,in spite of the rampant abuse(mental and physical),dysfunction,sex,drugs and other scandalous behaviour on display...Strasberg was the prettiest ingenue in her Hollywood period...which was my only reason for reading this "Photoplay"-level book...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actress/daughter of Lee Strasberg writes her autobiography and details her extremely interesting life.

[Dave Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was such a good writer.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to read this immediately after Timebends: A Life; both have an image of an emotional and insecure Marilyn Monroe, with one from a child's eyes and another from an adult's The meat of this easy to read, often gritty and very forthcoming autobiography is an arc from getting out of her parent's nest to independently forge her own acting career and relationships with Warren Beatty, Cary Grant, and Richard Burton; then a drift into substance abuse with actor-husband Christopher Jones; with a final, third act of getting out of that abusive marriage and shepherding her daughter Jennifer Robin to health in body and mind after a series of surgeries for congenital defects.