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The Lives of Danielle Steel: The Unauthorized Biography of America's #1 Best-Selling Author
Dressed to the nines and draped with diamonds, Danielle Steel is America's favorite author. She has enchanted readers with each of her 44 bestselling novels-- and has a total of 350 million books in print! Now, this stunning, uncensored biography reveals how closely Danielle's fiction is based on real life-- the rich men, the dangerous men, the heartbreak, the struggles, the triumphs...and the secrets too dark to tell.
Read all about:
* Her cruel, lonely childhood which became the inspiration for her novel Loving
* Her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous real story readers will recognize in her novel Now and Forever
* Her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist of Remembrance , broke her heart and nearly ruined her life
* Her lavish spending and opulent lifestyle in a San Francisco mansion
* The tragic death of her nineteen-year-old son in 1997
* The break-up of her fourth marriage-- and the new man in Danielle Steel's life
With eight pages of photos!
Read all about:
* Her cruel, lonely childhood which became the inspiration for her novel Loving
* Her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous real story readers will recognize in her novel Now and Forever
* Her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist of Remembrance , broke her heart and nearly ruined her life
* Her lavish spending and opulent lifestyle in a San Francisco mansion
* The tragic death of her nineteen-year-old son in 1997
* The break-up of her fourth marriage-- and the new man in Danielle Steel's life
With eight pages of photos!
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
16 people are currently reading
1733 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 3, 2015
”Could anyone really live a life as dramatic, tumultuous, and romantic as a Danielle Steel novel?
Yes. Danielle Steel.”
And after reading this book, they certainly weren’t kidding.
Before the age of Goodreads, before we had the ability to follow authors on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and whatever else those crazy kids use these days, the only communication with them was through various methods of snail mail (interviews, etc). Unfortunately for those hungry for more information about their favorite writers, you often didn’t get the full picture about what they were really like. So as far as this book goes, this is about as good as it was going to get.
So who really is Danielle Steel, this absolute machine of an author who basically has a permanent place on top of the New York Times bestseller list and has the magical unicorn ability to publish as many as three books in the same year?
Well, to answer your question, she’s one very complicated character, and yet I’m not really sure we’ll ever know who she is. From what I read, she has the uncanny ability to weave fiction into her reality, or gloss over the things that were serious and make them seem trivial. It's no wonder that many of her earlier works were inspired by her childhood and early adult life experiences. She also seems like someone who, in her earlier years, didn’t seem to be able to do anything for herself. The book talks about how she employed a baby nurse and a housekeeper, and when she wanted a pack of cigarettes, she’s just call the drugstore and expect them to deliver the cigs to her house. She’s the woman who self-admittedly owns “a least” 6000 pairs of Louboutin shoes.
I mean, really? She’s part socialite, part down to earth person, part diva, part devoted mother, part absent mother… I could go on and on, but simply put I don’t think we’ll ever know who the REAL Danielle Steel is.
Not to mention her horrible luck with men. Oh my word, her romantic history makes Henry VIII look like a wonderful husband.
As far as the book was concerned, it was OK. I would’ve liked a bit more juice to it, and not as much information about her ex-husbands and the legal proceedings that came along with it. I just don’t find that interesting.
Yes. Danielle Steel.”
And after reading this book, they certainly weren’t kidding.
Before the age of Goodreads, before we had the ability to follow authors on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and whatever else those crazy kids use these days, the only communication with them was through various methods of snail mail (interviews, etc). Unfortunately for those hungry for more information about their favorite writers, you often didn’t get the full picture about what they were really like. So as far as this book goes, this is about as good as it was going to get.
So who really is Danielle Steel, this absolute machine of an author who basically has a permanent place on top of the New York Times bestseller list and has the magical unicorn ability to publish as many as three books in the same year?
Well, to answer your question, she’s one very complicated character, and yet I’m not really sure we’ll ever know who she is. From what I read, she has the uncanny ability to weave fiction into her reality, or gloss over the things that were serious and make them seem trivial. It's no wonder that many of her earlier works were inspired by her childhood and early adult life experiences. She also seems like someone who, in her earlier years, didn’t seem to be able to do anything for herself. The book talks about how she employed a baby nurse and a housekeeper, and when she wanted a pack of cigarettes, she’s just call the drugstore and expect them to deliver the cigs to her house. She’s the woman who self-admittedly owns “a least” 6000 pairs of Louboutin shoes.
I mean, really? She’s part socialite, part down to earth person, part diva, part devoted mother, part absent mother… I could go on and on, but simply put I don’t think we’ll ever know who the REAL Danielle Steel is.
Not to mention her horrible luck with men. Oh my word, her romantic history makes Henry VIII look like a wonderful husband.
As far as the book was concerned, it was OK. I would’ve liked a bit more juice to it, and not as much information about her ex-husbands and the legal proceedings that came along with it. I just don’t find that interesting.
February 5, 2019
basically a 400+ page people magazine article padded with too much information on backgrounds of husbands and legal proceedings, since the subject has revealed so little about herself...but in a strange way it makes her more alluring, as our perception is made up only of other people's biased impressions. steel seems to be the epitome of the "modern" woman's plight - how to be a success in your own career while maintaining relationships with men, how to balance a motherly loving instinct to help troubled men with the desire to be cherished and protected. she wants to be treated like a princess and thinks she can make lovers adore her by saving them, but instead they just resent her, feel threatened. hard to get a grasp on her - she's both absent and extremely overprotective of her children, she appears to have suffered a great deal of emotional abuse but also married a man while he was in prison for robbery and rape (that he was clearly guilty of - the authors included his victim's awful traumatic testimony, maybe to make clear the extent of steel's denial?) and spent thousands trying to free him. so, horrible human or feminist icon? i still don't know. i did learn a few choice tidbits, but am left with more questions than i had before...the most interesting takeaway was that her entire career has been an obsessive exercise in writing every horrible event of her life, over and over again, to give herself happier endings via her characters.
June 13, 2023
I’m a big fan of Danielle steels books. I understand why the book is unauthorized since it doesn’t show a very favorable picture of her.
She probably did have a hard life when she was young, but I felt she was very selfish and self centered. Never having the problems she had it is probably unfair of me to feel this way.
It was a good read and well written.
She probably did have a hard life when she was young, but I felt she was very selfish and self centered. Never having the problems she had it is probably unfair of me to feel this way.
It was a good read and well written.
July 22, 2012
ressed to the nines and draped in jewels, Danielle Steel has become America's favorite romance author. She has written 44 best-selling novels and has a total of 800 million books still in print. This stunning, uncensored biography reveals how closely Danielle Steel's fiction mirrors her real life. The rich men, the dangerous men, the heartbreak, the struggles, the triumphs and the secrets too dark to tell.
Her cruel and lonely childhood which became the basis for her novel Loving, her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous true story readers will recognize from her novel Now and Forever, her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist in Remembrance, broke her heart and nearly ruined her life. From her opulent lifestyle to her lavish spending in a beautiful San Francisco mansion to the tragic death of her 19-year-old son, Nick, Danielle Steel has lived a life that most people might consider somewhat excessive, but is entirely true.
I truly enjoyed this book as I like many unauthorized biographies or autobiographies. I have always considered Danielle Steel to be a great writer and think of her as my "guilty pleasure" author. I had never thought that the majority of Danielle Steel's plots for her novels were based on events that happened to her in her own life. Since this book was written, Danielle Steel has been married and divorced twice more (her fifth marriage ended in 2002).
I felt incredibly sad for Danielle Steel and everything that she's been through - she has loved deeply and sometimes rashly, but in my opinion, there was absolutely nothing that she couldn't or wouldn't do to help the people that she loved. I give this book an A+!
Her cruel and lonely childhood which became the basis for her novel Loving, her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous true story readers will recognize from her novel Now and Forever, her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist in Remembrance, broke her heart and nearly ruined her life. From her opulent lifestyle to her lavish spending in a beautiful San Francisco mansion to the tragic death of her 19-year-old son, Nick, Danielle Steel has lived a life that most people might consider somewhat excessive, but is entirely true.
I truly enjoyed this book as I like many unauthorized biographies or autobiographies. I have always considered Danielle Steel to be a great writer and think of her as my "guilty pleasure" author. I had never thought that the majority of Danielle Steel's plots for her novels were based on events that happened to her in her own life. Since this book was written, Danielle Steel has been married and divorced twice more (her fifth marriage ended in 2002).
I felt incredibly sad for Danielle Steel and everything that she's been through - she has loved deeply and sometimes rashly, but in my opinion, there was absolutely nothing that she couldn't or wouldn't do to help the people that she loved. I give this book an A+!
August 16, 2022
4 stars - English Ebook
Dressed to the nines and draped with diamonds, Danielle Steel is America's favorite author. She has enchanted readers with each of her 44 bestselling novels-- and has a total of 350 million books in print! Now, this stunning, uncensored biography reveals how closely Danielle's fiction is based on real life-- the rich men, the dangerous men, the heartbreak, the struggles, the triumphs...and the secrets too dark to tell.
In this biography:
Her cruel, lonely childhood which became the inspiration for her novel Loving
Her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous real story readers will recognize in her novel Now and Forever
Her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist of Remembrance, broke her heart and
Nearly ruined her life
Her lavish spending and opulent lifestyle in a San Francisco mansion
The tragic death of her nineteen-year-old son in 1997
The break-up of her fourth marriage-- and the new man in Danielle Steel's life
With eight pages of photos!
Intresting read. What a lady, what a live.
Dressed to the nines and draped with diamonds, Danielle Steel is America's favorite author. She has enchanted readers with each of her 44 bestselling novels-- and has a total of 350 million books in print! Now, this stunning, uncensored biography reveals how closely Danielle's fiction is based on real life-- the rich men, the dangerous men, the heartbreak, the struggles, the triumphs...and the secrets too dark to tell.
In this biography:
Her cruel, lonely childhood which became the inspiration for her novel Loving
Her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous real story readers will recognize in her novel Now and Forever
Her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist of Remembrance, broke her heart and
Nearly ruined her life
Her lavish spending and opulent lifestyle in a San Francisco mansion
The tragic death of her nineteen-year-old son in 1997
The break-up of her fourth marriage-- and the new man in Danielle Steel's life
With eight pages of photos!
Intresting read. What a lady, what a live.
November 18, 2015
A fascinating yet unauthorised account of the scandalous life of Danielle Steel.
I learned so much I didn't know about her home life, her family, her love life and marriages, her miscarriages, her personal and writing habits, her obsession with shopping, the distressing court case over her son Nick and her fight to end parental rights for his father.
All the nitty gritty is put in this book that might not otherwise have come to light such as her relationships with a drug addict and also another man who turned out to be a rapist which she has subsequently tried to erase all trace of in line with her untarnished public image as a best selling author, mother and wife.
Shocking, brutal, graphic and seemingly very honest information that is taken from personal interviews with the people involved, former employees, court evidence etc this makes for great reading as her life reflects situations detailed in her books.
Overall this book has changed the way I view her as a person though, she is not so "goody goody" and whiter than white as she appears and she has tried to hide a lot of what she considers her shameful past and in parts from what I read I don't think to be honest she is a very likeable person overall.
Thats just my personal observation and I am going on the subject matter contained within the book.
An absolutely enthralling read for her fans to get the bigger picture.
I learned so much I didn't know about her home life, her family, her love life and marriages, her miscarriages, her personal and writing habits, her obsession with shopping, the distressing court case over her son Nick and her fight to end parental rights for his father.
All the nitty gritty is put in this book that might not otherwise have come to light such as her relationships with a drug addict and also another man who turned out to be a rapist which she has subsequently tried to erase all trace of in line with her untarnished public image as a best selling author, mother and wife.
Shocking, brutal, graphic and seemingly very honest information that is taken from personal interviews with the people involved, former employees, court evidence etc this makes for great reading as her life reflects situations detailed in her books.
Overall this book has changed the way I view her as a person though, she is not so "goody goody" and whiter than white as she appears and she has tried to hide a lot of what she considers her shameful past and in parts from what I read I don't think to be honest she is a very likeable person overall.
Thats just my personal observation and I am going on the subject matter contained within the book.
An absolutely enthralling read for her fans to get the bigger picture.
Read
September 9, 2016An interesting book into the life of my favorite author Danielle Steel.
This reveals her background (her parentage) and all of her marriages and children and 2 stepchildren.
It gives great insight into her loves: why she married the men she did and why she divorced them.
It also tells of the struggles she had to get accepted as a serious writer and to be paid accordingly.
She had 5 books which never got published and some of her books were not deemed to be made into movies.
She has a tendency to fictionalize her background and her marriages ( even at some point to deny two of them).
She has incorporated her fictionalized background (made it more important than it really was) and her marriages and the men she loved and even her children into the characters and storylines of her many books.
It is interesting that as her books get reprinted the dedication is changed to omit previous husbands.
This reveals her background (her parentage) and all of her marriages and children and 2 stepchildren.
It gives great insight into her loves: why she married the men she did and why she divorced them.
It also tells of the struggles she had to get accepted as a serious writer and to be paid accordingly.
She had 5 books which never got published and some of her books were not deemed to be made into movies.
She has a tendency to fictionalize her background and her marriages ( even at some point to deny two of them).
She has incorporated her fictionalized background (made it more important than it really was) and her marriages and the men she loved and even her children into the characters and storylines of her many books.
It is interesting that as her books get reprinted the dedication is changed to omit previous husbands.
February 15, 2012
Highly informative biography on an author whose success I envy. Only four stars, though, because Bane seemed determined to make Steel the villain in her dispute with her hopelessly drug-addicted, small-time criminal ex-husband (number three, I think it was) and I really think she was reaching.
July 15, 2022
I was totally surprised with this book. I could not believe she had such a background and continued with it affecting her throughout her adulthood. I always thought her books a bit redundant but always enjoyed reading them and thought they were great beach reads. I will consciously now pay more attention to the storylines (not hard to do anyway) to see where they might relate to her real life as she seems to somewhere in her books now and then. And because of that, I will continue to enjoy reading her books when I need a break from my favorite: mysteries.
February 26, 2023
I found this book to be interesting. One thing that stuck out for me was how similar her stories were to her actual life. It also was fun to revisit past titles I had read many years ago. I’d completely forgotten them. Her life has certainly been chock full of twists and turns. Another fun fact was the timeline reading this in 2023 and comparing it with the time period this book was written in. I definitely learned things I didn’t know about her.
January 12, 2021
Very interesting "peak behind the curtains" look at the life and personality of the author albeit from outside information and perspectives, but very well analyzed and.compared with some of her early.books...
October 4, 2021
I enjoyed this book. Getting to know about my favorite author was great. I never knew she tried her hand at crime/suspense before finding her talent for the romance. I have almost everyone of her novels, some twice...in paperback and hard cover, however, I'm currently behind by at least 10.
August 18, 2021
I read this as background for a book discussion. It was so invasive (the point, I get it) and I was annoyed at myself for finishing it, but it was like watching a train wreck...
March 7, 2024
This was actually fascinating to me. Danielle Steele is one of the best selling and most successful authors of all times. I found it interesting to hear about her life.
April 29, 2016
The lives of Danielle Steel, the unauthorized biography of America's by Bane_ Vickie L - Benet_ Lorenzo T
Have enjoyed many of the author's works and it's going to be interesting to read about custody battles, divorces and life for her.
Some of her earlier recollections of life are in her books. Can't imagine the life she's led but you can see where she gets the story lines for some of her books-from her own life.
So extravagant with her gifts.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Have enjoyed many of the author's works and it's going to be interesting to read about custody battles, divorces and life for her.
Some of her earlier recollections of life are in her books. Can't imagine the life she's led but you can see where she gets the story lines for some of her books-from her own life.
So extravagant with her gifts.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
November 3, 2010
I found this book tucked behind some other books in a junior high classroom. I think because it had the word "fuck" in it. As a teacher I thought I should read what the students are sneaking. Surprisingly, it was interesting and inspiring. Allegedly, Danielle Steel would sit and write for 22 hours straight some days. On the other hand, her writing is not "literary" and Bane and Benet's writing is tabloid at best.
November 21, 2019
Maybe many TRUE FACTS in the book. But you can feel a STRONG undercurrent of DISLIKE of "Not an I going to show the world Danielle Sheep's NOT so GREAT! So what if she had two prev MARRIAGE! That were to assholes, we ALL Blake big mistakes!!!!! But she tried! That's more than some people can say!!!! IT'S just a trash book in my opinion
August 4, 2021
(c)1994 Autobiography written by Vickie L. Bane and Lorenzo Benet. Wow is all I have to say. The genre takes you through Danielle's youth, her marriages, her divorces, court battles and everything else. It is shocking as a Steel fan. I never knew the book even existed. There are black and white photos included. This is for those die hard fans.
December 30, 2008
I just could not finish this book.
February 7, 2012
Deliciously tabloid-y and highly unauthorized tell-all.
March 10, 2013
interesting read. Her life is full of drama & is part of her book plots.
August 3, 2014
Never cared for Bane at all! Book was fun to read though!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews