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Helene Hanff: A Life
A biography of Helene Hanff, the author of 84 Charing Cross Road by a leading authority on her life and works. Pastore was a long-time friend and neighbor of Hanff and had access to her books, letters and relatives and friends. A biographer often faces difficult choices. Some choose to report only verifiable facts; others elaborate based on rumor, gossip, letters and sometimes mere guessing in an effort to liven up what used to be called a non-fiction genre but which is now referred to as creative non-fiction. Most biographers have the luxury of a dead subject; no one to complain, to explain, to elucidate, to obfuscate. I had a dear friend who was very much alive and very much a friend. I could have chosen to ignore her wishes about respecting her privacy and publish away. Or I could have chosen to respect her wishes even though I knew I would not publish anything until after her death. I chose the latter and I relied on her version of her life, omitting material she did not want made public and including material I had no way of verifying but which originated with her. Much of what is known about her is the result of sometimes outlandish guesswork circulated on the internet (one of the most unreliable sources of information ever conceived by the mind of man.) Some sites have Helene as a lesbian; others as the mistress of a New York City politician. Some have her as a personal friend based on a visit with her in the lobby of her building; others claim intimate knowledge of her communist leanings based on Frank Doel's alleged friendship with a "soviet spy." I feel it is the biographer's function to present as much truth as possible, to respect sources and to verify what can be verified. Over the coming months I will publish on this site more of the interviews that appear in the book in an effort to add information which is already in the book but perhaps in a form not as complete and detailed as her admirers would wish or as space permitted. Above all, I honor my friendship with Helene above all other matters; it took me over ten years to actually decide to publish anything at all. I want her to be known, to be admired and to be respected for the person she was. I want her to be remembered for her wit, her insight and her goodness. ---Stephen R. Pastore grandoakbooks.com
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
242 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 4, 2014
This is, quite simply, the worst book ever written.
The only way it could be worse is if the author had opted for comic sans. Other than an acceptable font, it has every possible flaw.
Ludicrous spelling errors:
Helene finished off the beer in her glass, signaled the waiter for the check, and continued picking at the chow mien.
Her favorite was smoked turkey with Russian dressing and coleslaw on a crusty role.
As for the 1960s British wave of rock that crashed on American shores, in particular the Beetles, she quipped, "They're cute but that music!"
(Just so you know that's really how he thinks that's spelled, a few sentences later he confirms it:
Eventually she embraced the Beetles.)
Punctuation errors:
Why do people keep receipts, she asked aloud.
Really amazing punctuation errors:
The hat was gone, the sweater was gone,; only the rain boots remained in their place in the hall closet.
Lots of unnecessary dashes:
Helene was very careful to maintain a façade throughout the book that represented her as she wanted people to see her. It was never meant to be autobiographical and it was only my monthly payments to her – a topic I will discuss later – that produced the truth, if truth be the word – of the woman behind the typewriter.
(By the way, he never discusses those payments later. Or if he did, he held that discussion in the privacy of his own home. Certainly he doesn't tell the reader anything more about this ethically dubious choice.)
...and unnecessary hyphens:
I do not wish to re-hash material she covered so well.
If there are fabrications, I could not evaluate them and third party sources, as I have said, were non-existent.
This, I think, was unique to Helene – that she should pre-maturely abandon the hope of a meaningful relationship because of a heartbreaking jilting.
Sentences you'd sprain your wrist trying to diagram:
Always with an eye for the ladies, her striking slim figure and long jet black hair done up in a fashionable "French twist," Miriam caught his rapt attention.
A scofflaw attitude to proofreading that's almost refreshing in its arrogance:
Maxine had a four hour break, since they were working on a scene that did not incSo, she had hoped Helene would be available for a late lunch.
Sentences with so much wrong with them, they defy description:
I need inspiration, and tucked her arm in Simon's as they walked down Greenwich Avenue inspiration and a new place to live.
...and an author who thinks we're interested in his life, when really we're just here to learn about Helene Hanff's:
I was there and would have voted for Genghis Khan if he promised to save my butt by not drafting me to be cannon-fodder in a jungle I knew nothing about and cared even less for.
This author will tell you everything you never asked to know about obscure beverages:
...Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray tonic, a drink which had been touted for decades about its healthy content of celery juice. The USDA forced the company to call it Cel-Ray (it used to be "Celery Tonic") when it was discovered that virtually no celery juice ever saw the interior of Dr. Brown's bottling plant.
...but won't tell you how Helene Hanff's engagement to be married broke up. This is a point of vital interest to admirers of Hanff. No one who's read the work of this funny, friendly, obviously appealing woman can help wondering why the social life she describes in her published letters, diaries, and other autobiographical material has no hint of any romance, past or present. It's rude of us, and possibly sexist – would we be this curious about a single male author? But it's impossible not to be curious on the point.
Pastore mentions this several times in the course of this mess of words. One chapter even gives the impression that he's going to spill the beans. He goes into great detail about the fact that Hanff accepted a proposal from Joe Heidt, a man she was very much in love with if this account is to be trusted. They set a date for the wedding, and in a rare display of proper spelling and hyphenation from the author, Helene bought a "simple off-the-shoulder satin dress." The chapter ends with this paragraph:
Shortly after their conversation, Joe informed Lois he was going out of town for a short trip and asked her to take care of Helene for him. While the trip was secretive, Helene did not seem to wonder about it and used the time while he was away to relax and catch up on her reading.
Okay. So...then what? Did he just never come back? Or while he was gone, did she move without leaving a forwarding address? Or what?
Your guess is as good as mine. The next chapter starts with a confusing, undated description of Helene puttering around an apartment. She clearly lives there alone, and she had a roommate in the previous chapter, so this must be the future. Or something. No reference is made to the engagement, though this future Helene thinks wistfully about another guy she was romantically involved with and is now no longer dating.
What the cow? The author collected his information about Hanff from the "over 150 hours of interviews along with nine spiral notebooks of notes about everything from her literary interests to her friends, her paramours and her family." If Helene talked to Pastore about being engaged to Heidt and then suddenly refused to say how they broke up – well, Hanff is famously quirky. That could have happened. But then say so. And tell us more about that other guy, while you're at it.
This biography refuses to do anything as straightforward as tell a life story. It's nothing but a collection of random, undated scenes and anecdotes recorded by an aggressively bad writer.
If you're a fan of Hanff's work and you've always wanted to know more about her personal life, I sympathize. That's why I bought this book in the first place, before I knew what misery really was.
If you're interested, read her books. Not just 84, Charing Cross Road, although you should certainly start there – it's probably her most appealing book. Start there, and then read The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Q's Legacy. If you're still hungry, read Apple of My Eye, Letter From New York, and (for a look at her earlier life and adventures) Underfoot in Show Business.
Pastore insists that these accounts are fictionalized to the point of actually being fiction. He offers no evidence for this claim, and I'm not finding him a terribly credible witness at this point. Hanff herself admits that she edited and rewrote the travel diary that became the core of Duchess, but what of it? If Hanff tightened things up and made them funnier in order to please her readers, that's fine with me. If I want an exact account of something, I'll read court documents. I'd rather read Hanff.
If you still want more information about Hanff – and want to see what she looks like, given how famously unenthusiastic she was about her own looks, to the point of reportedly refusing to look at the painting of herself a portrait-artist begged permission to create in England – go read the obituary of her in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/art...
Read the lovely account written by James Roose Evans, who adapted 84 into a play:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo...
But don't read this book.
This book is an atrocity that may just signal the end times. It brings the kind of pain that Anastasia Steele would flee with screams of genuine terror.
I bought this book because I was excited to see what I assumed was an actual biography of a writer I'd fallen in love with. I finished reading it because I finish reading books I've paid for. In this case, that means I paid twice for the mistake I made purchasing this book.
For heaven's sake, don't follow my sorry example.
The only way it could be worse is if the author had opted for comic sans. Other than an acceptable font, it has every possible flaw.
Ludicrous spelling errors:
Helene finished off the beer in her glass, signaled the waiter for the check, and continued picking at the chow mien.
Her favorite was smoked turkey with Russian dressing and coleslaw on a crusty role.
As for the 1960s British wave of rock that crashed on American shores, in particular the Beetles, she quipped, "They're cute but that music!"
(Just so you know that's really how he thinks that's spelled, a few sentences later he confirms it:
Eventually she embraced the Beetles.)
Punctuation errors:
Why do people keep receipts, she asked aloud.
Really amazing punctuation errors:
The hat was gone, the sweater was gone,; only the rain boots remained in their place in the hall closet.
Lots of unnecessary dashes:
Helene was very careful to maintain a façade throughout the book that represented her as she wanted people to see her. It was never meant to be autobiographical and it was only my monthly payments to her – a topic I will discuss later – that produced the truth, if truth be the word – of the woman behind the typewriter.
(By the way, he never discusses those payments later. Or if he did, he held that discussion in the privacy of his own home. Certainly he doesn't tell the reader anything more about this ethically dubious choice.)
...and unnecessary hyphens:
I do not wish to re-hash material she covered so well.
If there are fabrications, I could not evaluate them and third party sources, as I have said, were non-existent.
This, I think, was unique to Helene – that she should pre-maturely abandon the hope of a meaningful relationship because of a heartbreaking jilting.
Sentences you'd sprain your wrist trying to diagram:
Always with an eye for the ladies, her striking slim figure and long jet black hair done up in a fashionable "French twist," Miriam caught his rapt attention.
A scofflaw attitude to proofreading that's almost refreshing in its arrogance:
Maxine had a four hour break, since they were working on a scene that did not incSo, she had hoped Helene would be available for a late lunch.
Sentences with so much wrong with them, they defy description:
I need inspiration, and tucked her arm in Simon's as they walked down Greenwich Avenue inspiration and a new place to live.
...and an author who thinks we're interested in his life, when really we're just here to learn about Helene Hanff's:
I was there and would have voted for Genghis Khan if he promised to save my butt by not drafting me to be cannon-fodder in a jungle I knew nothing about and cared even less for.
This author will tell you everything you never asked to know about obscure beverages:
...Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray tonic, a drink which had been touted for decades about its healthy content of celery juice. The USDA forced the company to call it Cel-Ray (it used to be "Celery Tonic") when it was discovered that virtually no celery juice ever saw the interior of Dr. Brown's bottling plant.
...but won't tell you how Helene Hanff's engagement to be married broke up. This is a point of vital interest to admirers of Hanff. No one who's read the work of this funny, friendly, obviously appealing woman can help wondering why the social life she describes in her published letters, diaries, and other autobiographical material has no hint of any romance, past or present. It's rude of us, and possibly sexist – would we be this curious about a single male author? But it's impossible not to be curious on the point.
Pastore mentions this several times in the course of this mess of words. One chapter even gives the impression that he's going to spill the beans. He goes into great detail about the fact that Hanff accepted a proposal from Joe Heidt, a man she was very much in love with if this account is to be trusted. They set a date for the wedding, and in a rare display of proper spelling and hyphenation from the author, Helene bought a "simple off-the-shoulder satin dress." The chapter ends with this paragraph:
Shortly after their conversation, Joe informed Lois he was going out of town for a short trip and asked her to take care of Helene for him. While the trip was secretive, Helene did not seem to wonder about it and used the time while he was away to relax and catch up on her reading.
Okay. So...then what? Did he just never come back? Or while he was gone, did she move without leaving a forwarding address? Or what?
Your guess is as good as mine. The next chapter starts with a confusing, undated description of Helene puttering around an apartment. She clearly lives there alone, and she had a roommate in the previous chapter, so this must be the future. Or something. No reference is made to the engagement, though this future Helene thinks wistfully about another guy she was romantically involved with and is now no longer dating.
What the cow? The author collected his information about Hanff from the "over 150 hours of interviews along with nine spiral notebooks of notes about everything from her literary interests to her friends, her paramours and her family." If Helene talked to Pastore about being engaged to Heidt and then suddenly refused to say how they broke up – well, Hanff is famously quirky. That could have happened. But then say so. And tell us more about that other guy, while you're at it.
This biography refuses to do anything as straightforward as tell a life story. It's nothing but a collection of random, undated scenes and anecdotes recorded by an aggressively bad writer.
If you're a fan of Hanff's work and you've always wanted to know more about her personal life, I sympathize. That's why I bought this book in the first place, before I knew what misery really was.
If you're interested, read her books. Not just 84, Charing Cross Road, although you should certainly start there – it's probably her most appealing book. Start there, and then read The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Q's Legacy. If you're still hungry, read Apple of My Eye, Letter From New York, and (for a look at her earlier life and adventures) Underfoot in Show Business.
Pastore insists that these accounts are fictionalized to the point of actually being fiction. He offers no evidence for this claim, and I'm not finding him a terribly credible witness at this point. Hanff herself admits that she edited and rewrote the travel diary that became the core of Duchess, but what of it? If Hanff tightened things up and made them funnier in order to please her readers, that's fine with me. If I want an exact account of something, I'll read court documents. I'd rather read Hanff.
If you still want more information about Hanff – and want to see what she looks like, given how famously unenthusiastic she was about her own looks, to the point of reportedly refusing to look at the painting of herself a portrait-artist begged permission to create in England – go read the obituary of her in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/art...
Read the lovely account written by James Roose Evans, who adapted 84 into a play:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo...
But don't read this book.
This book is an atrocity that may just signal the end times. It brings the kind of pain that Anastasia Steele would flee with screams of genuine terror.
I bought this book because I was excited to see what I assumed was an actual biography of a writer I'd fallen in love with. I finished reading it because I finish reading books I've paid for. In this case, that means I paid twice for the mistake I made purchasing this book.
For heaven's sake, don't follow my sorry example.
October 29, 2012
Seriously disappointed as this "biography" of Hanff left me with more questions than answers. The book also seemingly contradicts itself in several places as at one point it states that she never learned how to drive and several chapters later she is driving. It irritates me that the author also left us hanging as to a lot of this issues in her life. I.E. What the heck happened to her fiance? At the end of one chapter he left to go out of town and then not one word is spoken of him in the rest of the book!!! Aaargh! Pastore's narrative also jumps around in time leaving me thoroughly confused as to the timeline of her life. When exactly was she homeless and how she did get back to New York? Where exactly in the "country" was she and how did that period of her life resolve itself? Like I said... more questions.
Upon further investigation it appears that this author is accused of fabricating most (or all) of this book. That would explain a lot. This book does have the feeling of fabrication and untruths. Not much about it rang true and there were too many inconsistencies for it to be a true "biography". Do NOT waste your money on this book and we can only hope that someday, someone will write a true biography of this very brilliant and interesting woman.
Upon further investigation it appears that this author is accused of fabricating most (or all) of this book. That would explain a lot. This book does have the feeling of fabrication and untruths. Not much about it rang true and there were too many inconsistencies for it to be a true "biography". Do NOT waste your money on this book and we can only hope that someday, someone will write a true biography of this very brilliant and interesting woman.
March 16, 2016
Dreadful. simply dreadful. Poorly edited, poorly written. There were errors in punctuation, contradictory information, the narrative jumped around in a disjointed fashion. All I really learnt was the author of the biography has a huge ego.Which I was not interested in.
October 2, 2014
A total waste of money. It's full of typos, bad grammar, inconsistencies, sloppy editing, low-resolution images without context … I could go on but others have said it before me. I wish goodreads had a half-star rating!
September 1, 2015
Interesting, but lousy. A true stinker. I kept hoping it would get better. "84 Charing Cross" was such a good book, it's to bad her bio wasn't. Not her fault too bad she didn’t have a better writer writing it.
August 16, 2018
Many other reviewers have said it, but this book is full of typos, bad grammar and strange editing choices. Some of the information in this book contradicts Helene Hanff's own early memoir, "Underfoot in Show Business". Overall I don't think it enlightened me further as to who Ms. Hanff was and what motivated her to persevere as a writer in the face of all of the hardships and failures she faced.
November 11, 2016
This book has/had potential, but it needs a lot of editing. Some good content, but also contradictory info and bad spelling/grammar/editing errors.
The Q & A with the subject and author were great... Wish there had been more of that.
I do not regret buying this book, because she is one of my favorite authors (and characters!).
The Q & A with the subject and author were great... Wish there had been more of that.
I do not regret buying this book, because she is one of my favorite authors (and characters!).
March 30, 2026
Very disappointed in this book. It's all over the place. For supposedly being a biography of Helene Hanff I didn't really learn much about her.
The author makes a point of saying they won't repeat anything that Hanff had already written in her own autobiographical works and then process to do so multiple times.
The narrative jumps around so much that I didn't actually know what time period of Hanff's life I was reading about from one chapter to the next.
Chapters end randomly and never pick back up from where they left off. Which left me with loads of unanswered questions.
The author claims to have been close friends with Helene and that he knew a 'different' Helene than others so why doesn't he mention himself in any of the stories she apparently tells? Like how they met etc.
I didn't like that it was written like a fictional story either. It's all in the third person and the author talks about Helen's thoughts and feelings but wouldn't know what she was feeling or thinking. There's also so many typos and incorrect grammar.
All her friends that were apparently her friends for life or the had a friendship lasting for years disappeared from one chapter to the next and it seemed like one of them changed names by the last chapter going from Arlene to Rhoda. Did I read that right? It was definitely Arlene who had cared for her mother then helped Helene and dated Tom right?! Then why did Tom and Rhoda go off together at the end as if they'd known each other for years?
And what happen to Maxine? What happed with Helene and Joe?
This was a very frustrating read. It just felt like it was all made up and the author used bits of her actual writing to make it look more authentic. If these were really true stories she told about her life why didn't he write them as if she was reading them aloud?
I love Helene Hanff's books and was excited to read more about her but this has left a bad taste in my mouth.
The author makes a point of saying they won't repeat anything that Hanff had already written in her own autobiographical works and then process to do so multiple times.
The narrative jumps around so much that I didn't actually know what time period of Hanff's life I was reading about from one chapter to the next.
Chapters end randomly and never pick back up from where they left off. Which left me with loads of unanswered questions.
The author claims to have been close friends with Helene and that he knew a 'different' Helene than others so why doesn't he mention himself in any of the stories she apparently tells? Like how they met etc.
I didn't like that it was written like a fictional story either. It's all in the third person and the author talks about Helen's thoughts and feelings but wouldn't know what she was feeling or thinking. There's also so many typos and incorrect grammar.
All her friends that were apparently her friends for life or the had a friendship lasting for years disappeared from one chapter to the next and it seemed like one of them changed names by the last chapter going from Arlene to Rhoda. Did I read that right? It was definitely Arlene who had cared for her mother then helped Helene and dated Tom right?! Then why did Tom and Rhoda go off together at the end as if they'd known each other for years?
And what happen to Maxine? What happed with Helene and Joe?
This was a very frustrating read. It just felt like it was all made up and the author used bits of her actual writing to make it look more authentic. If these were really true stories she told about her life why didn't he write them as if she was reading them aloud?
I love Helene Hanff's books and was excited to read more about her but this has left a bad taste in my mouth.
August 29, 2020
I have been obsessed with Helene since a rough summer in 1993, when I picked up 84 at my mom's friend's house. I read it, cried, and have devoured everything of her's every since. I'm not disappointed in the content of the book. The fact that she fictionalized some things only makes sense. I wouldn't want my entire life on review for all to see and I would certainly try to portray myself in the very best light. However, I am rather disappointed in the very poor editing and writing. If Helene had read it, I'm sure she would have made corrections and sent it back for rewriting! Random wrong words, some sentences missing punctuation, and upside down apostrophes (how does that even HAPPEN?) made it a less than enjoyable read.
April 16, 2021
I found this “biography” full of contradictions and incomplete narratives. Somebody’s telling lies or drunken versions of memories. Was she ever really engaged to be married? Did she ever really have one of her plays open in NYC? Was she ever really homeless? Did she ever really live in a “rural” area and direct a library and a newspaper? I don’t know. What a disturbing, disorganized mess of a book!
July 3, 2021
Had no idea how many stars to give this book. The Prologue & Intro almost dissuade you from reading it. He didn't want to repeat anecdotes from her memoirs, but you'd have to read them first to understand this book. He commented about biographers fictionalizing or using artistic license, but does a good amount of it himself. And 20 typos. I settled on a generous 3 stars.
November 14, 2019
Can I give no stars? Why is no stars not an option? I think a first grader wrote this book based on the punctuation, spelling, and other errors. Also there was basically no actual biography. Do not read this book.
June 6, 2025
Pastore never met, wrote to or spoke with Helene Hanff, even though he claimed to have been her long time close friend and neighbour. His book, just like the story he gave in the blurb for the book, is mostly fiction - and bad fiction at that.
February 6, 2023
Interesting read about an interesting lady!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews