This was a very enjoyable read. Many thought that Maurice Chevalier was not a talented man, but even if he wasn't he had the gift of mesmerizing his audience and making them love him. He lived for applause and validation. On the inside, he felt inadequate at times and was overconfident at other times. In the end, he loved interactions with people and fell into depression after he quit performing. He would have went on with his career if he felt his health could have sustained him.
Maurice Chevalier as a young man was a complete surprise to me. I always knew him as the lecherous old man singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," but seeing him in Innocents of Paris was a revelation. He was energetic and charming and irresistible.