And the Rest Is History: The Famous (and Infamous) First Meetings of the World's Most Passionate Couples

by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till tonight.
-Romeo and Juliet

Antony and Cleopatra, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, John Lennon and Yoko Ono-while we're familiar with all of these people as individuals, we also associate them with the grand, sometimes fiery passion they shared with their partners. And the Rest Is History is an intriguing look at how these iconoclastic lovers first crossed paths, whether it was through fate, setups, or blind luck. From angry sparks flying to love at first sight, the meetings shared in this book give us a look at what makes that one great love.

Genres: Romance, Nonfiction, Biography, True Story

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2011

About the author

Marlene Wagman-Geller grew up in Toronto and is a lifelong bibliophile. She is a veteran high school English teacher in National City, California, and currently lives in San Diego.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who knows why I checked this book out of the library? I think it was because I was going on vacation and thought that the 5-6 page treatments of some famous couples meeting would be a quick and entertaining read. And part of the book was. I enjoyed the sections on Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas and Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. But when it came to such couples as Celine Dion and Rene Angelil, I lost total interest. And I was horrified when I checked to see the sources of the author's information and found lots of People magazine articles and Wikipedia cites. Don't waste your time.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I loved it.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was cute and an easy read with short chapters devoted to each couple - including some ones that were out of the box and more recent which was a nice change indeed. You can only handle the Antony/Cleopatra romance so many times before you want something fresh, after all. Though Tony and Cleo are included, of course. Anyway, a fast read and easy to pick up and put down. On the down side, this also meant that it was pretty much pure fluff and acts as a spring board for finding out more. 3-4 pages per couple just is not enough to give you a full picture.

[Anne Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this.

Very interesting. A niggly point..the novel. by Scott Fitzgerald is called The beautiful and damned not The beautiful and the damned.A small point in a very interesting. book which was a good read..

[Knotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew I was going to be in medical offices all week (yay doctors!) and wanted to read something relatively light and fun. I bought this during our company book sale, and I am a sucker for love stories, especially if they surround famous people. The book is very short, and each chapter is about 4-6 pages. 34 couples are chronicled, and I felt pretty good knowing a few stories of famous couples already. The book is a little hokey since every couple finds their "destiny" partner with the usual bio of where each person was born, where the couple met, if they made it, and how they died and their last words to their lover, etc, but it was still a fun and easy read. It seems like adultery and cheating are pretty big factors of finding your one true love in this book, so there is hope for those who are homewreckers and gold-diggers and so forth! My favorite stories were about people I didn't know anything about like Carole Lombard (never heard of her before) and Clark Gable (I didn't know she had a bridge dedicated to her in Ft. Wayne, IN.... I'll have to check it out!), Gracie Allen & George Burns, and Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. Although, I have read A LOT of biographies of most of the people in this book, so I somewhat knew most of the stories. Enjoyable and fun!

Jen's Rating: ***

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

To balance out the "serious" reading I do, I picked up this volume that falls somewhere between biographical glimpses and celebrity gossip. I did detect a few factual mistakes, so I'd advise readers to verify these accounts with other sources. I was interested to know more about people I'd heard of for years but never quite knew their stories, such as Leonard Woolf and Virginia Stephen, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, to name a few. Covering 34 couples in all, this is fun, light reading.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall enjoyed the book with the exploration of history and glimpse into various love stories. The author's repeated use of rather "cheesy" phrases ("his/her destiny" and "last words to his/her first love") got a bit annoying. I was also shocked to read the bibliography at the end and see how many times she sited Wikipedia. That isn't a credible enough source for college papers, yet apparently can get a book published.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 or 6 page recaps of great romances in history. Early on I liked it a lot (I forgot the Old Testament was that racy), but by the end both the prose and the romances; e.g., Celine Dion and Rene Angelil, lost steam.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, there was a lot of adultery! I also quibble about the inclusion of a few couples and I hated the talk of someone's "destiny" and their "last words to their first love" but overall pretty good. My mom loved this book and read it much faster than I've ever seen her read something.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that Wagman-Geller left out some important facts about the different couples. I know she was trying to get the stories short (usually between 2 -4 pages), but she could have gone into a little more detail. Also, images would have been nice.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my favorite things. History, true love, real life and a quick read.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The facts are there but the romance is elusive in this (rather) dry summarizations of the relationships of famous and infamous romantic couples throughout history.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading, but the book could have used more careful editing.