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Star Dreams
Two beautiful and talented sisters become rivals in business and love as they pursue parallel careers in the competitive film world of Hollywood, a rivalry that culminates in a quest for the Oscar
406 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 17, 2014
Another brick of hot, wet garbage from June Flaum Singer. As a writer, she really makes you ask yourself the hard questions. The kind of questions that make you tilt your head to one side and idly bite one of your Lee Press-Ons. Question like: "What WOULD I do if I was forced into a loveless marriage with California's state governor who constantly threatened to take away my children if I divorced him? And what, then, when an obese, hairless Russian film impresario had him thrown out a hotel window on the mistaken precept that my mother had promised I would marry him if he did so? And what, THEN, if that film impresario began taking speed shots so that he could have "marital relations" with me up to six times a day? AND ALSO can my film career come back from the release of the "art film" I did in which I cavorted with several dwarves and sideshow freaks?"
Well? Well?
There are no answers. There are only swaying palm trees, endless outfit descriptions, hairdos that change with that year's fashion and that year's overwrought sorrow. June Flaum Singer's works are the literary equivalent to eating an entire box of instant mashed potatoes out of a really fancy dog bowl. And I keep doing it!
Why, look. All these questions, and I've chewed my Press-ons to pieces. Is this, then, how I'll die? Cut to ribbons from the inside by shards of my own vanity? Fitting. Fitting. I lie down in my hot-pink satin-lined coffin, and stare up. Up into my ... STAR DREAMS.
Well? Well?
There are no answers. There are only swaying palm trees, endless outfit descriptions, hairdos that change with that year's fashion and that year's overwrought sorrow. June Flaum Singer's works are the literary equivalent to eating an entire box of instant mashed potatoes out of a really fancy dog bowl. And I keep doing it!
Why, look. All these questions, and I've chewed my Press-ons to pieces. Is this, then, how I'll die? Cut to ribbons from the inside by shards of my own vanity? Fitting. Fitting. I lie down in my hot-pink satin-lined coffin, and stare up. Up into my ... STAR DREAMS.
October 7, 2021
The beginning of the saga was a little info-dumpy and the constant switching POVs made it hard at first to get situated with any one character, but about a third of the way through it becomes clear that Angel is the real protagonist of the story- and thank god for that because Kiki was beyond messy and selfish (at first!), and Angel is honestly a lovely, wholesome person that should be protected at all costs.
A couple of pulp read shockers happen (mysterious husband murders-framed-as-accidents, starring in Italian pornos involving "human grotesques", creepy billionaires trading husband-murders for forced marriage, etc.) but not as often as the blurb would have you think. That's okay though because I was pulled into the love-hate relationship of the sisters, the tragic deterioration of what started out as lives full of every kind of potential and privilege, and in particular, Angel's fight for independence from her prison of a marriage to a Kennedy type political climber. There's an encounter with her awful father in law that had me so upset I had to pace it off. So yeah, this book got me to care about its characters and emotionally manipulate me to tears by the end. That's better than I could have expected.
A couple of pulp read shockers happen (mysterious husband murders-framed-as-accidents, starring in Italian pornos involving "human grotesques", creepy billionaires trading husband-murders for forced marriage, etc.) but not as often as the blurb would have you think. That's okay though because I was pulled into the love-hate relationship of the sisters, the tragic deterioration of what started out as lives full of every kind of potential and privilege, and in particular, Angel's fight for independence from her prison of a marriage to a Kennedy type political climber. There's an encounter with her awful father in law that had me so upset I had to pace it off. So yeah, this book got me to care about its characters and emotionally manipulate me to tears by the end. That's better than I could have expected.
November 23, 2008
This is one of my favourite books and one that I have read time and time again. It has probably influenced my own writing more than any other book I've read.
JFS is horrendously under-rated. This rather saucy book tells the story of two young girls who learn about love and sex from their dysfunctional parents and go on to become stars (one of them I suspect is a roman a clef of Jackie Kennedy). It's a peice of pure escapism and was the best 50p I ever spent in a charity shop.
JFS is horrendously under-rated. This rather saucy book tells the story of two young girls who learn about love and sex from their dysfunctional parents and go on to become stars (one of them I suspect is a roman a clef of Jackie Kennedy). It's a peice of pure escapism and was the best 50p I ever spent in a charity shop.
September 27, 2023
Wow, where do I even begin to start?! Fantastic! Brilliant! Dazzling! Glamorous! Scandalous! Delicious! Sinful! Glistening! Fabulous! A masterpiece if I may say so (and I do may)! Are there even words that are enough to describe this book?
I am taken by storm with this book, this whirlwind of a novel. This classic! I found out about this particular book as I found a part of it as a serial in a Swedish magazine from the 80s, Veckorevyn, and it didn't even take me a page to get me hooked on it! A few sentences and I was already in love, but it was obvious that the magazine had shorted it down remarkably much, so I went out on a hunt to track this book down and buy it, and so after having spent the bigger part of this month together with my 1986 edition of this book, I can finally spew my love for it all over the Internet and this Goodreads book-(data)base!
At first I was surprised to find that this book took place in the 20s and forward, and not in the 80s as I had supposed. BUT, that was quickly changed to the admiration and adoration I have now for this book. The writing style was immaculate, the scandalous and sexually depictive, yet glamorous and intriguing, glittering story and history of this family and these two sisters, Angela du Beaumond and Kiki Devlin, was beyond anything I have ever read before! I am one hundred percent honest when I say that this has already become one of my all time favorite books, I fell in love with these two sisters and the family dynamic, the story of this troubled yet loving and caring family, who all love each other but life's obstacles makes the roses' thorns more prominent than its beautiful scent and lush colors of love.
I was surprised by how much sex there was in this book, which I have found out was very common in the golden decade of the 80s (my favorite decade), and I absolutely loved it! Adored it! It had a sense of 'Dynasty" of it (though I have only seen a few bits of this show), but BETTER! This is far from a B-soap opera or a Harlequin-binding, not even close to the diminishing and condescending title of the genre "lady-filth" or whatever you may call it. This is a work of art, a masterpiece, a proof of literary and poetic mastery, a hard-work that is deserving of standing ovations I dare say. TODAY TOO! We need a resurrection of reading this book with today's younger generation(s). I think it would be very giving and healthy and overall beneficial for the youth of today to read something like this, especially this particular book, for it would in my opinion offer a mental and intellectual stimulation I feel (and fear) that we have a major lack of in today's digital and careless society. This book has, but is not limited, to the following; sex and sexual enocunters and intrigues (we all know that that sells like butter!), poetic descriptions and detailed plots and conversations, several side-intrigues and turning points, many turn of events and surprising twists (that we also know is appreciated today, right?), romance and darkness, success and excess, sisterhood and spite, hate and love, glamour and scandal, filth and glitter... All of this forms this daring read, that oozes excess and not to say the least an excess of the author's, June Flaum Singer's, literary talents!
I am in awe of this book, I am amazed, breathtaken!
Art does not attract to all, I know that now (especially when viewing the surprisingly low average-rating this book has recieved on here, a sad 3.39 stars, while many soulless and imbecil [and remember, opinions are still allowed to keep and share!] and generationally correct books strike to the higher ranges between the numbers 4 and 5 stars!), but I do hope more people get to lay their eyes on this book, read about it, get their interests caught in its web of diamond necklaces and see-through lingeries, and get to read this book. For I state, that this book, is a marvelous book, and it must not step out of time. Not in this time, where intellectual and literary stimuli is a necessity, now more than ever!
Ms/Mrs June Flaum Singer, THANK YOU for this beautiful and admirable book! I admire you now, and I cannot wait to throw myself inot all of your books from now on! <3 <3 <3 <3
With love, a new reader, Tim, xx
I am taken by storm with this book, this whirlwind of a novel. This classic! I found out about this particular book as I found a part of it as a serial in a Swedish magazine from the 80s, Veckorevyn, and it didn't even take me a page to get me hooked on it! A few sentences and I was already in love, but it was obvious that the magazine had shorted it down remarkably much, so I went out on a hunt to track this book down and buy it, and so after having spent the bigger part of this month together with my 1986 edition of this book, I can finally spew my love for it all over the Internet and this Goodreads book-(data)base!
At first I was surprised to find that this book took place in the 20s and forward, and not in the 80s as I had supposed. BUT, that was quickly changed to the admiration and adoration I have now for this book. The writing style was immaculate, the scandalous and sexually depictive, yet glamorous and intriguing, glittering story and history of this family and these two sisters, Angela du Beaumond and Kiki Devlin, was beyond anything I have ever read before! I am one hundred percent honest when I say that this has already become one of my all time favorite books, I fell in love with these two sisters and the family dynamic, the story of this troubled yet loving and caring family, who all love each other but life's obstacles makes the roses' thorns more prominent than its beautiful scent and lush colors of love.
I was surprised by how much sex there was in this book, which I have found out was very common in the golden decade of the 80s (my favorite decade), and I absolutely loved it! Adored it! It had a sense of 'Dynasty" of it (though I have only seen a few bits of this show), but BETTER! This is far from a B-soap opera or a Harlequin-binding, not even close to the diminishing and condescending title of the genre "lady-filth" or whatever you may call it. This is a work of art, a masterpiece, a proof of literary and poetic mastery, a hard-work that is deserving of standing ovations I dare say. TODAY TOO! We need a resurrection of reading this book with today's younger generation(s). I think it would be very giving and healthy and overall beneficial for the youth of today to read something like this, especially this particular book, for it would in my opinion offer a mental and intellectual stimulation I feel (and fear) that we have a major lack of in today's digital and careless society. This book has, but is not limited, to the following; sex and sexual enocunters and intrigues (we all know that that sells like butter!), poetic descriptions and detailed plots and conversations, several side-intrigues and turning points, many turn of events and surprising twists (that we also know is appreciated today, right?), romance and darkness, success and excess, sisterhood and spite, hate and love, glamour and scandal, filth and glitter... All of this forms this daring read, that oozes excess and not to say the least an excess of the author's, June Flaum Singer's, literary talents!
I am in awe of this book, I am amazed, breathtaken!
Art does not attract to all, I know that now (especially when viewing the surprisingly low average-rating this book has recieved on here, a sad 3.39 stars, while many soulless and imbecil [and remember, opinions are still allowed to keep and share!] and generationally correct books strike to the higher ranges between the numbers 4 and 5 stars!), but I do hope more people get to lay their eyes on this book, read about it, get their interests caught in its web of diamond necklaces and see-through lingeries, and get to read this book. For I state, that this book, is a marvelous book, and it must not step out of time. Not in this time, where intellectual and literary stimuli is a necessity, now more than ever!
Ms/Mrs June Flaum Singer, THANK YOU for this beautiful and admirable book! I admire you now, and I cannot wait to throw myself inot all of your books from now on! <3 <3 <3 <3
With love, a new reader, Tim, xx
November 26, 2024
Apesar de Angel ser retratada como a heroína do livro, o tempo todo durante a leitura o meu coração esteve com Kiki, creio que para a época em que June Flaum Singer escreveu, ainda se esperava que mocinhas fossem mais dóceis e de certa forma passivas, mas foi o fogo de Kiki que me fez continuar virando as páginas.
Angel é linda, apesar de insegura e consegue as coisas pelas quais 99% das pessoas lutam, inclusive a sua irmã, com quase nenhum esforço, ela sofre durante a história, bastante, eu reconheço, mas muito disse é resultado da sua própria ingenuidade e passividade. O grande 'romance' também ficou muito saído de contos de fadas e desinteressante.
Já Kiki Devlin é aquela que de fato faz o livro pegar fogo, ela erra, ela se arrisca, ela quebra a cara, ela deixa o leitor frustrado, mas ao contrário de Angel, ela corre atrás do que ela quer, e o que ela quer é atuar, não apenas pelo estrelato (bastante dele também), mas pelo desafio, ela atua nos grandes filmes, nos filmes vanguarda, e quebra muito a cara devido ao sistema machista e aprisionador que controlava o cinema na época.
O relacionamento dos pais também moldou muito o relacionamento entre as irmãs, o que é uma parte bem interessante da construção do livro, os resultados a ausência paterna e da negligência materna e o fato das duas passarem boa parte de sua vida tentando 'corrigir' esses relacionamentos através de suas relações na vida adulta.
Um livro interessante para quem gosta de histórias ambientadas na Hollywood clássica e de bastante melodrama, para mim foi um prato cheio.
Angel é linda, apesar de insegura e consegue as coisas pelas quais 99% das pessoas lutam, inclusive a sua irmã, com quase nenhum esforço, ela sofre durante a história, bastante, eu reconheço, mas muito disse é resultado da sua própria ingenuidade e passividade. O grande 'romance' também ficou muito saído de contos de fadas e desinteressante.
Já Kiki Devlin é aquela que de fato faz o livro pegar fogo, ela erra, ela se arrisca, ela quebra a cara, ela deixa o leitor frustrado, mas ao contrário de Angel, ela corre atrás do que ela quer, e o que ela quer é atuar, não apenas pelo estrelato (bastante dele também), mas pelo desafio, ela atua nos grandes filmes, nos filmes vanguarda, e quebra muito a cara devido ao sistema machista e aprisionador que controlava o cinema na época.
O relacionamento dos pais também moldou muito o relacionamento entre as irmãs, o que é uma parte bem interessante da construção do livro, os resultados a ausência paterna e da negligência materna e o fato das duas passarem boa parte de sua vida tentando 'corrigir' esses relacionamentos através de suas relações na vida adulta.
Um livro interessante para quem gosta de histórias ambientadas na Hollywood clássica e de bastante melodrama, para mim foi um prato cheio.
June 10, 2022
meh, don't like the premise or the intro
May 29, 2010
[These notes were made in 1984:]. Drug-store trash of the worst kind, this novel is nothing but a series of episodic and superficial emotional crises. The ostensible binding motif - that both sisters, Kiki and Angel, are in search of/in flight from their father As Man, is allowed to intrude only when the plot looks like slowing down for a moment or two. The authoress has set herself the problem of making us sympathize with both Bad Girl (Kiki) and Good Girl (guess who?), and doesn't quite succeed with either. The fictional plot is somewhat uneasily mixed in with the real world of actual filmstardom - yes, Glenda Jackson did win an Oscar for Women in Love, but no, she didn't beat out anyone called Kiki Devlin!
October 8, 2016
I managed to finish the book but I did not really like the characters. Therefore, I did not feel much while reading it. The plot was OK but a bit predictable in the end.
May 19, 2021
Very Good
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews