An Interview with Nelofar Currimbhoy

I had the good fortune of interviewing Nelofar Currimbhoy after reading her book, “Flame” based on her Mother Shahnaz Husain’s life. Here is the interview for you to enjoy.

1. Why write a biography? Why not a story may be or something fictional?

Writing for me has been a passion as far as I can think back. I once wrote a 60 page poem ‘Eyes of the Healer’ and got it read by Darley Anderson , the well known British agent. He wrote back to say that , there was no doubt that there was talent but I should write prose because it was salable. Somehow the salability aspect of writing seemed like sacrilege and I still love my poetry. Why not a fiction ? Well I guess sometimes things take a life of their own. My mother and I happened to be at Barista when my she went to the little book shop they had started and came back with a copy of Gulzar’s biography by his daughter. When I opened it, it said ‘Promise me , you will write a book on me.’ For years she had been the audience for my writing and was convinced that I was the best person to write her story. I have written twelve thousand words of my first fiction novel and I am very excited about it. It’s an exotic romance, a saga. Ideally it should have come before the biography because it would keep the focus on my writing and not the subject. On the other hand the response from serious readers to the quality of my writing has given me -a first time writer- a thumbs up that’s propelled my enthusiasm a great deal. Many books to come from this pen, or should I say computer.

2. What inspired you to write this book?

My mothers life , in fact her ability to defy life and change every negative event that came her way into a challenge that had to be overcome was the sort of inspirational story that had to be told. I see this book as a self help book in the form of a life story that will inspire and encourage those that read it. Many women and men too will identify with it. Struggle is not gender specific and we all dream of success and fame. Here is the story of a girl born to a traditional Muslim family , married at 16 , she had her first child in the year and went on to become an iconic figure.

On the professional front her ability to stay ahead of her competition without advertising, her faith in the all Indian Dream of Ayurveda as a way of life and her astute and instinctive decision to market this science at a time when it was taken as outdated and old fashioned will make this book an interesting read for every dreamer who dares to dream the almost impossible.

I have walked her journey with her, and seen her life unfold like a saga of a story book and all I can say is that this story was worth telling.

3. Beauty is only skin-deep. Is that true? Do you believe in it?

Not at all. It starts with the heart , the goodness of soul shows in the eyes. A good nights sleep and a diet of fruits shows on the skin much more than any beauty product can. A beauty routine is a good addition to a healthy life style and above all a mind at peace.

4. How much of an inspiration has Shahnaz Husain been to you? If you had to name 3 character traits that you would want of hers, which ones would they be?

I have always maintained that no two people can be as different as my mum and me. She is fiery and passionate , I am calm and serene , she works best around a lot of people and noise , I am methodical and enjoy my space. Yet I have indeed been inspired by her in many . Her family values and her ability to find self expression without undermining the importance of her marriage is something I respect and endorse for all people. It is an aspect that is going to become more relevant by the day when the pressure of urban life is becoming oppressive and couples opt out too quickly. I would always like to hold the family values that she has taught me as sacred in my life.

Her ability to change the course of her destiny when its almost staring at her in her face and her desire to enjoy life to the level of making every moment lived a celebratory event are qualities I would love to keep for myself too.

5. How difficult is it to differentiate personal life from professional especially in a profession like yours when the borderline is too thin?

In my mothers life there is no separation between personal life and professional life. She lives and breathes her work every moment. If she is at coffee shop she is signing autographs. When she is shopping she is approached by people who want to ask her about a beauty issue. She never turns them back. I am sure she even dreams of her work.

As for me I am the other limit. I keep all media interviews away from my home. Home to me is sacred and a place for family and friends.I believe in privacy as the most essential aspect to keep my life and those near me functional. My children were never allowed to be photographed so they would grow up level headed. If I am out and recognized as my mothers daughter I find it awkward and an intrusion. I work meticulously , but only from my office table and when I come home I am mum and wife. I think my mum and I are best friends because we are perfect foils to each other.

6. Nelofar as a person…

Can a person judge themselves fairly. Its not an easy question to answer. Okay ! Here I go , giving it a try. I love nature and the outdoors. I am quite hung up on good values and principles. I feel that good work ethics in a company is a purifying experience. If I sound boring , I am not. I laugh a lot. I find things funny quite easily and I have sense of humour that I think is quick enough ! Well the rest is for someone to say when they write a book on me. Who knows ?

7. If not beauty therapy, then what profession would you be in and why?

I could be so many things. But within my circumstances I would still like to expand myself to experience something beyond, follow my bliss for a while and write many more books. I believe that we need to extend our vision to the maximum, to touch, feel, celebrate the entire universe if one can. I don’t believe in remaining trapped in a tight environment. Prisons are often of different kinds, not always concrete and sometimes we build them around ourselves. There is too much happening in the world and life’s opportunitiy can’t be a missed experience.

I was first introduced to social work by a precious friend, Ms. Jetsun Pema, His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s sister and since my training centres for women have become a rewarding part of my life. Apart for my contribution to Shahnaz Herbals, I would like to be known as someone who made a difference to people’s lives.

8. What does success mean to you?

Sleeping at night with the belief that I did my best and that I have retained a clear conscious about what ever I did.

9. Nelofar the writer….

As a writer I am completely influenced by my childhood hero John Keats. A story needs to be seen , felt , tasted and touched. Your words must be palpable. The reader must walk the journey with you, you have to take him along . One cant be a distant narrator but an up close and personal voice that rings within you. That is my idea of writing and I believe – from those who have read my book – that I have achieved that in Flame.

You can buy the book, “Flame” on Flipkart on this link:

Buy Flame: The Story of My Mother Shahnaz Husain from Flipkart.com

Book Review: The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer

Title: The Man Within My Head
Author: Pico Iyer
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, Penguin India
ISBN: 978-0-670-08627-6
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 242
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

We all have our literary heroes. Sometimes in the form of characters, which we have loved reading about and idolizing while reading or sometimes in the form of writers themselves, who bring stories and characters to life. For me, there are so many writers who have changed my life and the way I see things and the world around me and then there are those who stay on irrespective of time.

Pico Iyer’s new book, “The Man within my Head” is homage to Graham Greene, and at the same time, it is a travelogue, a memoir and a literary biography of sorts. It is everything rolled into one, taking pieces from Graham’s books and his life and that is what makes the book an interesting read.

The book opens during a visit to La Paz, Bolivia and the imagery that Iyer leaves you with is fascinating. A lot but of course has to do with the fact that he can describe a regular scene with great intensity, and make it appear magical to the reader. I picture Iyer on his journeys, sinking in what he sees, settling in his hotel room and writing for his readers, writing about Graham Greene – his writing style, his books and his life. He does all of this and at the same time, gives us a sense of his (Iyer’s) life, juxtaposing the two, which makes for great reading.

Graham Greene was always an outsider and that sentiment was forever depicted through his characters – from the whiskey priest in The Power and the Glory to the adulterous wife in The End of the Affair to The Quiet American, Iyer takes the reader through a Greene journey, and pushes readers to visit Graham Greene.

Now to Iyer’s writing style – at times it is broken, fragmented, but then I love that kind of writing. I like writing that makes you think, that has layers and that is not given on a platter to ease the reading. The man inside Iyer’s head is Greene for most of his life, and later does he realize that there is another man who he has never known and lives within him – his father. Through this book, Iyer then learns how fathers and sons function – the relationship they share, what are they made of and what it takes to bind them.

Iyer’s writing is crisp and almost there – it made me stop and wonder about life at various points and if a book manages to do that, then for sure it has done something to you. We all have a man within us – someone different, someone similar, and someone who sometimes we want to be. As Iyer, eloquently puts it, “A man within your head whispers his secrets and fears to you, and it can go right to your core”. A must-read.

Affiliate Link:

Buy The Man within My Head from Flipkart.com

Book Review: A Life in Words: Memoirs by Ismat Chughtai

Title: A Life in Words: Memoirs
Author: Ismat Chughtai
Translator: M. Asaduddin
Publisher: Penguin India, Penguin Classics India
ISBN: 978-0-670-08618-4
Genre: Memoirs, Autobiography, Non-Fiction
Pages: 282
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

It is sometimes sad to know that readers (most of them) only remember Ismat Chughtai for “Lihaaf” or “The Quilt”. She has written a lot more and the “more” is even more interesting than “Lihaaf”. I remember the first time I was introduced to her works. I had turned twenty-three and my friend had taken me to watch a play, “Manto Ismat Hazir Hain” produced by Motley, – which featured two short stories by Manto, a story by Chughtai and an essay by her as well with reference to the court trial that almost got both the writers imprisoned in the 1940s for so-called “obscenity” in their writing.

I was mesmerized after watching the play. The urge to know more of her and read more works by her was immense. I had read a bit of Manto earlier, however Chughtai took my attention and held it there. Prithvi theatre bookshop was the ideal place to find her books, though translated in Hindi (now I cannot read Urdu. I only wish I can someday). I remember reading almost all of her books, except her memoirs, “Kaghazi hai Pairahan” which I ultimately did. I did struggle a bit as I do not read so many books in Hindi (and am not proud of the fact). The beauty of the language was brilliant. The words used to describe her life from early childhood to being a mother and a wife and a famous writer before all of that resonated way after finishing the book.

I received the much-awaited English translation of “Kaghazi hai Pairahan” from Penguin Books India, aptly titled, “A Life in Words: Memoirs” and delightfully translated by M. Asaduddin. The minute I started reading this edition, memories of the Hindi edition came sweeping by. The same intensity with which Ismat Aapa (I cannot think of anything better to call her) wrote in the original (I am assuming) is captured vividly and precisely in this translation.

One cannot define Ismat Chughtai’s character as anything but colourful and introspective. May be to a large extent that passed down to her by her large and varied family. When you read the memoirs, it almost feels like you are reading a story. One gets the necessary information about her works as well – from short stories to novels to essays (as footnotes) which is needed while reading about a writer. What I loved the most about this book was Chughtai’s family and their antics. Ismat Aapa was born into a large family – she had nine siblings – so one can only imagine the life lead during the Indian Independence and seeing times through Partition, her schooling, her youth, her stubborn nature, her want to get educated and then subsequently the need to write and tell tales.

Chughtai’s tone is fictional and caustic throughout the book. There are a lot of diversions which are fun, despite the danger of losing track of semi-plots and characters, but I guess that can be overlooked when reading memoirs. It is quite natural that the tone will shift, which works well to hang on to the reader’s attention. There are pieces which I loved – for instance, “Aligarh” – which depicts the writer’s hostel life, “In the Name of Those Married Women” – the piece on the much talked about courtroom trial of Manto and Ismat, “Sujat” – revolving around politics and “Chewing on Iron” – depicting class differences.

For me, reading this in English was a treat, thanks to the wonderful translation by M. Asaduddin, who has translated Chughtai’s other works. The translation is subtle and he doesn’t shy from using the words as used in Urdu by the writer sometimes, owing to the fact that there is a glossary as well, which serves the purpose well.

“A Life in Words: Memoirs” by Ismat Chughtai is an honest and stark account of a writer’s life – from childhood to youth to old-age. The ideas in the book are numerous – from women’s liberation to class differences to the inner-life of a Muslim girl. Here is a book that is integral to its ideas, structure and words. I cannot recommend this one enough and while you are at it, please read more of Chughtai’s works. You will not be disappointed at all.

Affiliate Link:

Buy A Life In Words from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Coltrane by Paolo Parisi

Title: Coltrane
Author: Paolo Parisi
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
ISBN: 978-0224094108
Genre: Graphic Novels, Biography
Pages: 128
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

John Coltrane is probably one of the best saxophone players who ever lived and performed and yet when music enthusiasts speak of Jazz they conveniently forget him. I had almost forgotten how much I loved his music till I started reading the very-well capsulated and drawn graphic novel of his life by Paolo Parisi.

I believe that if you are setting to capture an artist’s life through a graphic novel, it isn’t enough sometimes. You need more than graphics to do justice to the artist and his or her life. However, while reading Coltrane, I did not feel that way at all. Paolo Parisi has done a great job of telling the story of one of the greatest Jazz musicians beautifully – from his humble beginnings of a deprived childhood in North Carolina to his journey and stumbles along the way in form of drugs, a broken marriage and a successful second one to his solo recordings and his name high up there with the legends such as Miles Davis (who he started working with coincidentally). The book but obviously ends with his death due to liver cancer.

All of this in the book is layered with quotes from interviews and articles with Coltrane, Malcolm X (in whose movement Coltrane was highly involved), to the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church by the Klu Klux Clan (to whose victims Coltrane then dedicated a song).

The book worked for me as I wanted to know more about Coltrane’s life. About the artist who constantly broke boundaries in his music and was not afraid to experiment. Parisi through his writing bows to that musical genius by converting his life to a graphic novel. Or maybe at some level it is easier and more accessible for people who don’t have the patience to read biographies anymore. The book interestingly is also divided into four parts that mirror Love Supreme’s four parts: Acknowledgment, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm.

At the end of it all, Parisi provides a simple and yet emotional insight to one of the greatest artists’ who ever lived. Read this one while listening to Coltrane’s music. It has quite a mesmerizing effect. Here is Love Supreme for you:

Affiliate Link:

Buy Coltrane from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Chaney

Title: Chanel: An Intimate Life
Author: Lisa Chaney
Publisher: Fig Tree, Penguin Group, Penguin Books
ISBN: 978-1-905-49036-3
Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography
Pages: 496
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

One icon that instantly comes to my mind is “Coco Chanel” and it is not because of the laurels. It is because of the life she led. So when I received a detailed biography of Chanel’s life, I jumped at it and finished it in a matter of two days. Prior to this I had seen the movie based on her life, “Coco Chanel” starring Shirley MacLaine (who by the way made a perfect Chanel in her later years) and wanted to know about the designer who ruled the fashion scene for years.

Lisa Chaney’s book, “Chanel – An Intimate Life” is the most comprehensive biography there is on Chanel’s life and I say this after the research I have done on works written on her. Chanel not only chronicles Coco’s life before she turned Coco, but also proves to be an entertaining read.

The sadness and deprivation of her early years are heartbreaking – when the family did not have enough to eat and survive. Lisa then moves on from here to her emergence into fashionable society and the love affairs that defined her, to the man she loved the most and lost (Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel), to the point when she became a brand thereby changing the face of fashion to the war years as well as the loneliness of her later years to the re-emergence of Chanel in fashion.

Chaney clearly has the extraordinary ability to enter into and make her readers also understand the lives of people who were closely connected to Chanel. The writing did get pedantic in parts; however I ignored it because the rest of it was beautifully written. I liked how the author described the times Chanel lived in and how difficult it was then for any “new fashion sense” to make its presence felt. The analysis of the artistic scene then (Dali, Picasso, Cocteau) had a great impact on Chanel’s work and Lisa has given us a brilliant take there in most chapters.

Chaney’s book is an honest attempt to detail one of the most talked about lives in Fashion. It is a moving portrayal of a strong woman who did not let go of what she thought and believed in. Chanel makes for a great read.

Affiliate Links:

Buy Chanel: An Intimate Life from Flipkart.com

Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life

Book Review: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Title: Steve Jobs
Author: Walter Isaacson
Publisher: Little Brown and Co, Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 9781408703748
Genre: Biography
Pages: 627
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5/5

Writing a review about a book on Steve Jobs’ life is not easy. It is close to being very difficult, nonetheless here is a review of, “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. This might sound a bit strange, however I have never owned a single Apple product and yet I am so taken in by the man behind it all.

Steve Jobs at the same time was also a person and not just the man behind Apple and that’s the beauty of this book. The way it unearths the person behind the persona. I will be very honest – I did not want to read the book when I first laid eyes on it. I was skeptical only because technology as a topic has never been of great interest to me, so I was under the assumption that the book would be all about Apple and its making and nothing else. I am glad that my assumption has been put to rest.

The book is spread across forty seven chapters, talking about the man and his life. It is written in form of stories, which is what makes it so interesting. A lot of interesting people are spoken about throughout the book – from Tony Fadell and his role in the development of the iPhone to John Lasseter and the entire Pixar story. About how Jobs created Mac and then was ousted by the company he founded only to come back to it.

What almost took me by surprise in the book was the fact that the emotional aspects of Jobs’ life were also covered and not ignored. The chapters about his illness and his family around that time almost had me close to tears.
What I thought could have been spoken of more was Apple and what really happened there and how Steve helped fix it, after coming back to it. Nonetheless, what was written seemed alright to me at the end of it all.

Steve Jobs as a book is a great read. It is not a PR piece (as the danger might be in an authorized biography most of the time) nor does it try to glorify the person. Jobs at the same time also gave Isaacson complete freedom to write what he wanted to and did not at any point demand editorial control. The book is a treat for all those who want to know more about Steve Jobs and the kind of person that he was. A fitting tribute to a genius.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Sonia Gandhi – An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny by Rani Singh

Title: Sonia Gandhi – An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destny
Author: Rani Singh
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography
ISBN: 978-0-230-34160-9
Pages: 268
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Sonia Gandhi is one of India’s most influential women alive. I am not saying it just for effect. It is a known fact. I have always admired her as a woman, as a politician and as a spokesperson for the country at probable International forums. I love the way she has carried herself from being a foreigner to someone who is an integral part of the country today. And this is what Rani Singh’s biography brings to surface – the woman, with her strengths and flaws – all rolled in one.

One cannot read Sonia Gandhi’s biography without being mesmerized by her. She is that sort of a lady – made of steel and yet the humane side is well-observed and documented through this biography. Rani Singh has given us a glimpse into Sonia’s life through six sections – charting her life from the Italian Girl to the Indian Household name that she has become today.

Rani Singh has an acute understanding of writing a biography. She has chronicled Sonia Gandhi’s life as is – speaking of the incidents and events in a fair manner. There is no biasness involved as one would expect from an influential biography – there are empathetic moments in the book, however they do not get sentimental and that’s what holds the book together.

I was personally fascinated by the read. One doesn’t know much about Sonia Gandhi besides the fact that she was the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi and wife to Rajiv Gandhi, both imperative to where she stands today in her career and as a woman of destiny so to speak. I got to know more about the person that Ms. Gandhi is – preserving the Gandhi legacy and at the same time trying to be the true blue, “Mother India” (by default) to India’s people.

Rani Singh’s writing is not biting and neither is it boring – the book is written gracefully, and carefully examining Sonia Gandhi’s life and what it means to the Indian sub-continent. This is the first time I have ever read something on Sonia Gandhi’s life and her entrance to politics, coming from Italy to being what she is today on the map of Indian Politics.

If you would like to discover more of the lady that survived the deaths of two most important people in her life and yet overcome the tragedy to being where she is today, then Sonia Gandhi by Rani Singh is the perfect book for you. I cannot recommend it enough.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Sonia Gandhi: An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny from Flipkart.com

Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan

Along with Buster Keaton, Marcel Duchamp, Howard Hughes, Duke Ellington, Louise Brooks and Fritz Lang, I think Frank Sinatra is an icon of the 20th Century – or in many ways he is the 20th Century. Famous, but still a mystery, and a man who saw things differently then everyone else. James Kaplan, the biographer, sees him as a genius, and if that is true, then he is a man pretty much made up by his inner personality – which is insecurity, doubt, and pure instinct.

The plus side of the book is that it deals with Sinatra from birth to 1954. Professionally speaking, a bumpy ride to end all bumpy rides. He went from being an early teen star to the bottom of the heap, to the top again – but over time he became a great recorder of human emotion via his music.

So the book in ways reads like a fictional narrative where it starts off good, the middle part is despair, and the ending is hopeful for a better future. And all of this pretty much has a strong second character Ava Gardner, the muse, the wife, and demon for Mr. Sinatra. In many ways a perfect couple, in the Sinatra world, but in reality it must have been a total mixture of boredom, total despair, and pure blissfulness all in parts, but never put together like a perfect cocktail drink.

Although the book doesn’t cover the entire 1950′s, which I consider to be the golden age of Sinatra-life, due to making perhaps the first of a series of conceptual albums with a particular theme for capital Records. Those series of albums are without doubt landmark albums, and they are made to play all the way through from the first song to the last. I am certain this will be touched upon in the second part to this book. After all one cannot say everything about Sinatra in one book, can one?

Mr. Kaplan, whose book is mostly assembled from secondary sources, does deftly portray some of the noted arrangers and composers associated with Sinatra. Such figures as Axel Stordahl, Billy May, Nelson Riddle, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, and others, are well, if briefly sketched.

Emotionally fragile, deeply flawed as he was, he remains one of the foremost song stylists of popular culture. For a thorough look at his life, and the family and cultural forces that shaped him, I would highly recommend this biography with his music to go by on the side. That is what I did and trust me it will make this read even more wonderful.

Frank: The Voice; Kaplan, James; Doubleday; $35.00

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J.Randy Taraborrelli

Unlike most people on this board, I have only read maybe four or five books on Monroe. I really only care for her still work, which to me is unparalleled. But her life is fascinating no doubt. My experience reading these biographies on Monroe is that they all seem to have an underlying fear of dealing with the reality of Monroe as opposed to the mythology of her.

Although Mr. Taborrelli is not afraid to lay it on the line about Monroe, he nonetheless seems to feel the need to rationalize his findings by overemphasizing the extent of her mental illness as an explanation for the realities behind who she was and what she was. While no one will argue that Monroe was not seriously unstable, most of her problems can probably be linked to her own persistence in wallowing in self pity, abusing drugs and alcohol, and her indulgence in a self obsession so profound that it left her an emotional cripple.

What separates this book from all the rest is the fleshing out of Monroe’s childhood and her relationship with her mother and other early figures in her life. In stark contradiction to what Monroe mythologized about herself, it appears that she was surrounded with a very dedicated collection of strong women who tried to do what they could to provide young Norma Jeanne with love and security. From what the book reveals, the women in Marilyn’s early life were strong, determined, capable and ahead of their time. They were also struggling themselves under great financial and emotional burdens but were willing to carry the weight of both Monroe and her mother – an obviously thankless task by the way. Taborrelli notes the pain that these women, as well as the orphanage she lived in, experienced by Monroe’s stories.

According to Taborrelli, Monroe threw many to the wolves, she hired lawyers to excise people from her life, she paid someone to deal with her mother and she often refused to take phone calls from her sister after she became famous. According to this book, Monroe surrounded herself with people who she paid, or manipulated, to isolate her from the realities and responsibilities of life and when that didn’t work, she pulled the “woe is me” card as DiMaggio described her constant whining.

What I also admire about the book is Taborelli’s willingness to include the harsh criticism of Monroe by two of her husbands and some of her co-stars. I’ve gathered from anecdotal information that Monroe was roundly despised in Hollywood because of her gross unprofessionalism and total disregard for cast and crew on the movies she made. Taborrelli doesn’t shy away from the well deserved resentment Monroe earned from the people she worked with including Billy Wilder and Tony Curtis (in a documentary I watched one time, Monroe’s co-star in Bus Stop could barely conceal his contempt for Monroe but he too, kept it in check). Dean Martin’s observations can be summed up best as describing Monroe as living like she was the only one who ever shed a tear. Evidently, even though Martin was a saint in dealing with her on the set of Something’s Got to Give, he wasn’t much of a subscriber to her pity party excuses for treating people like she did.

After reading this book, it too becomes obvious that Monroe’s death was nothing more (as opposed to exotic murder theories) than a ploy for sympathy gone terribly, terribly wrong. Seems the cavalry didn’t arrive in time on that night. Given that her entire life was devoted to manipulating others with her own personal tragedies, her death makes perfect sense now. There are no additional facts in the book on this point but in light of the book’s emphasis on Monroe’s underlying emotional machinations, it stands to reason that such a dramatic event as suicide attempt would have played an important part in the publicity push she was engaged in at the time to undo some of the damage she’d suffered during her battle with Fox (then there was the hostility directed towards her from the cast and crew of the movie she shut down as well to deal with.) A break down is pretty convenient when you need a way out of something – in this case, damaging her standing in the press and with the public (this behavior is consistent with certain personality disorders from what I understand).

I personally came away from this book with a whole new perspective on Monroe and that’s more than any other book or material I’ve ever seen or read about her. Taborelli’s revelations challenges the notions that Monroe was a secret intellect, easily used (aside from the fact that she had absolutely no capacity for seeing through the star f**&ers she surrounded herself with) and sensitive. Mr. Taborelli’s book lays this all out for consumption and digestion but often seems to feel the need to almost apologize for what he’s found out by periodically regurgitating the “fragile, insecure, vulnerable” blah, blah. Mr. Taborelli should not apologize for providing the reader with what appears to be well researched and consistent information. This book explains a lot by forming the foundation of fact that the reader can take away and use almost as a Rosetta Stone for Monroe’s life and why it unfolded the way it did.

My criticisms of Monroe will be viewed as some sort of sacrilage and I will be excoriated for this review. But that is consistent with my theories about utter refusal of people to accept the fact that about half of what they have been taught about Monroe is just utter BS. Taborelli refers to several Monroe “historians” in this book. That’s a real indicator of how out-of-hand Monroe’s legacy has gotten. Time to rein it in with a few facts.

Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, The; Taraborrelli, J. Randy; Pan; £8.99

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Author Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize winner and in another case was a Pulitzer finalist. She also won the George Washington Book Prize, the Ambassador Award in American studies, the Gilbert Chiard Prize of the Institute Francais d’ Amérique and three NYT Notable Books, The LA Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, and Economist books of the year. She received Fellowships from: the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities, a Director’s Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers and much, much more.

In line after line, paragraph after paragraph, the writing, vocabulary, color and tone of the book is perfection. Words flow into sentences four to ten lines long, and in a few cases paragraphs often cover most of a page, ala Henry James, (Turn of The Screw, etc.) and if you are used to reading the classics in any language, you don’t mind it a bit, and some may welcome it.

Cleopatra, a Greek woman, who spoke at least eight languages, played most games as well as or better than her male companions, who were often in awe of her. She who could and did easily charm men with even half an effort, even those who resented, hated and were envious of her (and there were many) made Alexandria the art, cultural and commercial center of the world. Her net worth before her death was valued at roughly $95.7 Billion American dollars, the richest woman in the world, or ever, and among the richest humans (men or women) of all time.

Her nation became a storied and mythical land in which women excelled in many fields and in comparison to Rome; it was a paradise of perfection. In that and the production of art, decorative items, jewels and ship building was unique, her output of grain was stupendous, as were the creation of exotic clothing, jewelry, and brightly colored clothing were unmatched in all of antiquity. It was a storied land of Amazon females which were also exquisitely feminine. In her case more so. And yet by most evidence and descriptions, though she was not not drop-dead gorgeous, she, by velvety soft, articulate and eloquent voice, and quick wit, quick response, with a satiric sense of humor and the ability to tease, roast, attracted men with her vibrantly vivacious force of personality and her amazingly classical education, which was often superior to that of her enemies.

Few males could withstand or compete her charm wit and repartee’. These are good reasons why two of the most powerful men on earth fell deeply in comradeship and love/lust with her. Two men who threw away a kingdom and three quarters of the world, just to be with her, whenever possible. Yet, through all of this, she was not, “the whore queen.”

Caesar and Mark Antony were the Charley Sheen of their era, bedding down more women than Hefner, many of which were married to senators and other political and business types. The truth is that despite the slanders of Cicero, Octavian, her rival brothers and sister, Dolabella, Delius, half the women of Rome, and historians of her day later and long after her death, including Lucan, and for centuries afterwards many others using the errors and intentionally reading of motives onto the circumstances surrounding a woman, whose very existence caused them to shrivel in fear of castigation, or swell in lust, despite their fear, even when not in her presence.

The events of the final years of Cleopatra’s life, from the Donations of Alexandria (late 34) until her death in 30, were enormously complex. Schiff meticulously combs through the ancient sources to distinguish Roman propaganda from history. At the Donations, Antony gave Cleopatra the title Queen of Kings, promoted Caesarion to King of Kings, and gave their three children lands from Parthia (now northern Iran) to Cyrenaica (now Libya). To say the Donations angered Octavian is a vast understatement; the Roman civil war blazed up again and was not quenched until, following the battle of Actium in 31 from which the queen so famously sailed away, the Romans invaded Egypt and Antony and Cleopatra both killed themselves. With the death of the richest woman in the world, Octavian had no more competition. He renamed himself Augustus and founded the Roman Empire.

After you’ve read this beautifully researched and historically accurate biography, has some fun. Rent the bloated 1963 Elizabeth Taylor movie. Play film critic. Comment on the historical errors, the anachronisms, and the utter nonsense. Of all of the historical biographies, I have read in my life this ranks it the top five-ten. If you read only one such book this year, I urge you to make Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff, the one.

Cleopatra: A Life; Schiff, Stacy; Little Brown and Company; Hachette Book Group; $29.99