Sunday, September 13, 2015

The Stars Shine

The Road to Happiness is Always Under Construction – Linda Gray – (Regan Arts)

WOW! Linda Gray is 75 years old! One look at those incredible legs sticking out from that fur coat that adorns the cover of her new memoir, The Road to Happiness is Always Under Construction and you’ll find that hard to believe; but relax…it’s true…Gray is one of those rare women willing to not only admit her age, but share it with the world.

In fact that is the purpose of The Road to Happiness, she decided to celebrate her 75th birthday by sharing her story as they say, warts and all. Gray does it all with the requisite Hollywood style; gorgeous girl sets out to leave a difficult childhood behind  and head out for the adventure of a lifetime and a career in modeling only to find frustration despite her obvious good looks, somehow ends up married too young and trapped in an abusive marriage.
 

Later after a rebellion, she lands her “big break”  at 38 and the role of a lifetime on the night time soap opera set in the land of big oil and rich men, Dallas. Gray also couples the almost expected Hollywood side of the story with what has become the go to story for aging starlets, the how to road map for a happy, healthy life. Gray doesn’t pull any punches as she shines a light on the dark side of her life.

Raw – Pamela Anderson and Emma Dunlavey – (BenBella Books)

Playboy Playmate. Baywatch Babe. Modern day pinup. Actress. Porn star. Activist. Rock star groupie. Just about any one and/or all of these words/phases can be use to describe Pamela Anderson.
 

I’m not sure that her latest effort, a book entitled Raw put together with photographer Emma Dunlavey will add the term author to that list. Comprised largely of what are described as “fly on the wall” or backstage photos shot by Dunlavey over a period of years; you end up with a range of high gloss glamour shots, lingerie shots and a whole pile of photos of Anderson in various states of undress. Pretty much what you would expect.

Add to that a variety of poems(?), random thoughts, rants and raves that are scrawled, scratched and scribbled over, around and on top of the photos. Perhaps the most striking thing in the book are the early photos of Anderson, who was a staggeringly gorgeous young girl, before the endless enhancement surgeries that turned her into a caricature of what passes for beautiful.

There is no doubt that Anderson is sexy and her fans will eat this book up. The fact that proceeds from the sale of the book will be utilized to further her activist work for human, animal and environmental causes may or may not be a bonus.

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