Saturday, July 18, 2009

Doris Day: The Untold Story of The Girl Next Door by David Kaufman


Doris Day: The Untold Story of The Girl Next Door by David Kaufman

As I have always been a huge Doris Day fan, it was surprising to read of her troubled chilhood with a father who was very cold and distant, hrdly ever home. Her parents divorced when she was 13, and her mother was the domanating force that got her into singing on the radio, then in the movies. It was very surprising, also, to hear of her obsessive compulsive disorder and that she didn't like performing in public, due to stage fright. The author interviews family, friends and others to get more details about Doris. She didn't like her last name that her first band leader gave her. The author also quotes a lot of passages from her autobiography, that does seem to have some inaccuracies. The author gives details of each movie she made, which does seem to be too drawn-out, as this book is way too long with very thin pages, which makes for longer reading time. My hubby and I have been watching a lot of her movies, enjoying them immensely. She is still the number one movie actress of all time. She was a quick learner, but never thought she was good enough, always wanted to have a happy married home life, which she never got, being married 4 times. If you enjoy biographies/autobiographies, you will enjoy this one.

Forever Friends Rating 4 Stars by Teri
Until Next Time, See You Around The Book Nook.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date: June 2008
ISBN-13: 9781905264308
630pp

3 comments:

Michele Ashman Bell said...

I can't wait to read this book. I'm so glad to know another Doris Day Fan. Even though her life was hard, she gave fans so many wonderful films and brought so much joy. Thanks for the review, I loved it!

JoAnn Arnold said...

Thank you, Teri, for you excellent review. I'm also a van of Doris Day. She made some excellent movies.

Linda Weaver Clarke said...

I didn't know that Doris Day went through so much. I guess that the "happily ever after" in her movies wasn't something she had in real life. I liked the fact that she always played parts that were uplifting and made you laugh. My 6 daughters are also fans of both her music and her movies. Their friends often say, "Who's Doris Day?" They come to me and say, "I can't believe they don't know Doris Day." Of course, my daughters weren't around during that era but they watched the movies with me.