Diana McLellan (1937–2014)

It's a history book, in that it's nonfiction and written about the past, but McLellan's writing is just as titillating and gossipy as you want it to be when reading about such a delicious subject. However, the level of detail can be confusing and tedious, since so many names come in and out of the picture you'll have to re-read some parts just to keep everybody straight (no pun intended). In fact, it's SO detailed that it made me doubt the veracity of the material; could McLellan really know this much about what went on in the daily lives of these women without being there herself? Add to that some laughable conclusions she draws (like that Garbo and Dietrich were once in a movie together and lied about it, therefore they were lovers!!) and you'll realize that the "nonfiction" categorization only loosely applies here. If you take it all with a grain of salt it's an enjoyable read, though it does go on for perhaps a bit longer than one would like it to.… (més)