Elizabeth Taylor: The Lady, the Lover, the Legend - 1932-2011

by David Bret

At 1.28 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, just three weeks after celebrating her 79th birthday, the biggest star Hollywood has ever known died. The tributes and eulogies to Elizabeth Taylor were legion. A weeping Elton John said, "We have just lost a Hollywood giant

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Film

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

David Bret is a French-born British author of showbiz biographies. He chiefly writes on the private life of film stars and singers.

Reviews

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a truly awful book. I very rarely give books one star, but this one left me feeling sad, angry, confused, and disgusted. The author approaches Elizabeth Taylor, her life as well as her friends, with a slant that I really don’t understand very well. If he is to be believed, everyone around her was either gay, bisexual, promiscuous, drug addicted, shallow, or psychopathically manipulative. He took pains to point out which people were gay, bisexual, or sexually confused and frustrated. For every positive thing he said about Elizabeth Taylor and her friends, he had three negative things to report. I don’t know why he wrote this book since he seems to dislike her and view her as some kind of freak. I know she had many faults, and most of them were very public. Still, I don’t think anyone deserves to be written about in this way. There is so much more to learn and understand about each of these people. They are not just their sexual escapades, amount of alcohol consumed, and films they chose to act in. They were people with dreams, hobbies, families, and fears.I’m sorry I read this book at all.

[Edi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst biography I've ever read. Mistakes were obvious, there were errors in summaries of film plots and the worst of all - I had the feeling, that the author has some sort homo-phobia/fetish. Hard to say, cause he himself seems undecided. The greatest pearl of all - Liz's mother was lesbian, because she had short hair. Geez! Are we back in 1950's?
All throughout nearly 300 pages I felt like I was reading a tabloid. Of the worst kind.
There was so much spite in this, so much envy and jealousy and cynicism. How Bret managed to fit it all into one book is beyond me.

[Alice Jackman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so bad. Badly written, poorly researched, over reliant on hearsay and gossip, possibly defamatory. The author seemed to dislike his subject and an element of misogyny permeated his constant criticism of her life choices. I’m not the biggest Liz Taylor fan in the world but I feel bad that people may read this and only see her from this viewpoint. I’ve given a generous extra star because of the coverage of her AIDS work but otherwise this is probably one of the worst biographies I’ve ever read.

[S.N. Humphreys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trashy but entertaining. Bret doesn't seem overly concerned with backing up his version of events with any sort of proof, but I imagine the book might be less interesting if he had been. He claims to be a fan, but is quite happy to assume the worst when it suits him. Still, Liz's character manages to shine through. I'd recommend this for a holiday pool-side read.

[Victoria Frow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. Enjoyed reading about Elizabeth Taylor's life and all of its ups and downs. Recommend for fans of 'Old' Hollywood.

[Sharon Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Checking his bio details in Wikipedia, I discover David Bret has made a tidy living writing books about stars. If they're all as trashy as this one, I don't think I'll bother chasing them up! Luckily, a star of Liz Taylor's calibre can survive the treatment.

There's no point in going into much detail about this book: it's simply a catalogue of Taylor's progress from child performer through Hollywood Princess to megastar, chiefly in terms of her movies, affairs and marriages, to her final apotheosis as global goddess-celebrity who championed AIDS sufferers and campaigned tirelessly for research into the disease. Despite her excesses - deplored even by her great friend Montgomery Clift - she is rightly admired for her stance on gays and AIDS campaigning and remembered fondly by friends and fans alike. Even the fact that Bret cites few sources for his many claims hardly matters - the book is full of the sort of prurient, gossipy stuff you find in trashy magazines. His many claims that practically everyone in Hollywood was gay or bisexual don't really stand out either - they've been repeated elsewhere.

Recommended for beach-reading, holiday light reading or convalescence!

[Clive Marcus · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is trashy, sensationalist and bitchy. I skimmed through it. Utter crap.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read a book which is only full of "the good stuff" about an idol, this isn't the one for you. Included are many stories and quotes from other actresses such as Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich that put Elizabeth in a negative light. I didn't find this off-putting however and it just made me like the personality of Elizabeth even more - she didn't care what she did or what people said about her. I found the book extremely informative and it sounds quite honest and genuine too because of the very fact that the message isn't "she's brilliant." which you get with a lot of biographies written to "suck up" to the subject with a false sense of over-niceness which is just boring!

[Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read some trashy Hollywood biographies in my day, but this one beats them all. National Enquirer caliber stuff. According to the author, literally everyone in Elizabeth's life was a closeted homo/bisexual, including her mother, because she had short hair! Not so curiously, this book was in the works for years, but only published after Taylor's death, probably so he wouldn't be sued.

[Elena Hull · Rating 1 out of 5]

Waste of my time reading the book.

[pężyrka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chciałam w końcu poznać bliżej legendę, kobietę, która przez tyle lat zachwycała i wciąż zachwyca, a okropnie się zawiodłam.
Najłagodniejszyn zarzutem jest to, że to nie jest biografia. To streszczenie fabuły filmów, w których grała, przeplatana ocenami gry aktorskiej i samych aktorów przez autora. Z opinii autora można wynieść tylko tyle, że Taylor to egoistyczne beztalencie zapijające się w trupa, lubiące wydawać pieniądze i ostry seks.
Zatrważająco dużo tu tandetnej sensacji, spekulacji (choć autor bierze to za prawdę objawioną) na temat orientacji seksualnej ludzi wokół Elizabeth. Odniosłam wrażenie, że na świecie są jedynie geje, lesbijski i Elizabeth Taylor. Pomimo tego, że według autora wszyscy mężczyźni wokół Liz to geje, to nie stoi na przeszkodzie snucia historii o ich romansie z aktorką.
To oczywiste, że autor nie lubi Taylor, a jego źródłem były plotki i informacje od osób, które jej nienawidziały. Fragment z końcowych stron o tym, jak odnalazł notatki na temat Taylor w mieszkaniu jednej z gwiazd, a którą on chwali na stronach tej biografii, dużo mówią o faworyzacji autora. Totalnie nie widzę sensu pisania biografii osoby, której się tak nie lubi.
Byłoby mi wstyd być wymienioną w tej książce, nawet w podziękowaniach. Byłoby mi wstyd zatwierdzać taki gniot do wydania. I byłoby mi wstyd napisać takie coś, ale jak widać dla pieniędzy i sensacji można zrobić wiele.
Jedynie końcówka jako tako ujdzie, bo faktycznie mamy tu opis życia Elizabeth, jest też o jej działaniach na rzecz promowania świadomości o AIDS. W porównaniu z całą resztą książki to jest jednak ułamek.
Ta jedna gwiazdka jest tylko i wyłącznie za możliwość przerwania lektury i popatrzenia na piękne zdjęcia Elizabeth Taylor dla ukojenia nerwów.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 Stars

Tbh I’d probably give it 0 stars if I could.

This was hard going. I like reading biographies to learn more about the person they’re about - and good ones can teach you many things you didn’t know. All I learnt from this one was that the author didn’t seem to like Elizabeth Taylor or any other Hollywood stars, and didn’t seem to be overly a fan of human beings.

The writing is very biased and every negative aspect of every part of Taylor’s life is focused on. It’s also wordy - it reads like someone being forced to write an essay for their homework and trying to hit their word count by repetition and using 5 words where 1 would do.

I wouldn’t recommend it. I guarantee there will be better biographies about Elizabeth Taylor out there.

[Hj Secord · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one to review. it is more like a tabloid than a biography. The writer's disdain for certain people (or type of people) is obvious. The lack of editing is distracting. Elizabeth was born the same year as my mother and died at the same age. The culture over the decades was very familiar to me. For that trip down memory lane, I continued reading. I "self-edited" once I understood the writer. All in all I was glad I read it. I'm still not sure how to give an overall rating??? Categories of rating would be easier.

[Emma Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked the biography up in a charity shop. I don't know a lot about Elizabeth Taylor so thought I'd have a read.

All I can say is, if the author was writing about me, I'd be worried. His biography about Miss Taylor painted her as a drug addict, booze hound and a terrible actress with an unquenchable appetite for men.

My Grandmother was a good judge of character and loved Miss Taylor and her perfumes so I'll take this biography with a pinch of salt.

[Marnie Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second book by David Bret, I also read Joan Crawford and he did go on and on in that book as well about how everyone in Hollywood was gay. I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than the Joan Crawford one, maybe because Elizabeth was more interesting. She certainly had bad taste in men.. according to this book Richard Burton was an alcoholic loser but I guess she did really love him.

[Julene Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this interesting and quite readable. Maybe not totally believeable. He delves into her marriages,affairs and how she was percieved in hollywood. I suspect some of the more tittilating stories may be exaggerated. It certainly opened my eyes to the private life of her that general public might not have known about.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book felt very mean spirited. The author seemed to have a disdain for his subject for most of the book. Softening towards the last two chapters.
The language used was very negative throughout. No benefit of the doubt given at all. Personal opinions often treated as fact.
The press don’t come off well in this (they ever?)

[Ratty Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a bad book lol. The author was obsessed with Taylor’s rumoured love affairs and possible gay friends. Didn’t feel like a biography, more like a weird sexual rambling. Couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written as though the author hates the subject. Completely unobjective and unprofessional with Bret trashing Elizabeth and those around her.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trashy but entertaining..

[Jack Enright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. It detailed everything i needed to know about who Elizabeth Taylor was and what she did in her lifetime, which is all I wanted to know. Would recommend, if curious.

[Piper Winchester · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book on Elizabeth Taylor. She was amazing!
I didn't learn much of her before fame even though she did start acting when she was young.
Beautiful book on a true beauty

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super boring, just rattles off historical facts with no attention to the person behind the celebrity. Irritating to find that every weekday was preceded by The, The Saturday, the Sunday, and his patent dislike for Elizabeth Taylor. He stands on the morally high ground judging everyone in her life. Just write the biography please I can make up my own mind...jeez

[Rena Searles · Rating 2 out of 5]

One long, catty gossip column....almost seemed as if the real goal of this author was to let the readers in on Hollywood's fiercely guarded list of gay or bisexual actors. A lot of the information was entertaining and interesting, and certainly did add depth to Elizabeth's bio, but the author seemed to carry a rather critical tone throughout the book. Don't know if I would recommend this book.

[Sarah Batty · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was so trashy and poorly written, but because Miss Taylor was such a character, I couldn't put it down.

Only someone who is fascinated with Taylor should read it. It should not be treated as a way to learn about the icon, but like a nearly 300 page gossip magazine dedicated to her.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated by her. It was a good book to read. Loved the pictures of

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun trashy read you can finish in a few hours. The narrative is mainly hearsay tabloid gossip but who cares, its entertainment great for reading at the beach!

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book but can't say that I liked the lady