Dropped Names

My goal is to read 100 books by the end of 2013.  I just finished book 6.


Dropped Names by Frank Langella
Summary:  Frank Langella has been an actor for over 50 years.  In that time he's met, worked with, and befriended (or, in a few cases, made enemies with) many other famous people, and each chapter of this book tells a story or two about a star Frank has crossed paths with.  It is interesting to note that the only stars Frank mentions in the book are deceased, and the book is arranged in the order of the year the star passed away (as opposed to the order in which they met).  

This book was almost like a collection of short stories since each chapter stood independently from the others.  Like most short story collections, some chapters were better than others but overall, it was a good book.  I find it interesting that this is labelled as a biography because I don't feel I know any more about Frank himself after reading it.  It was gossipy but not terribly meanspirited.  He acknowledges in the beginning that this is based on his memory and may not have been exactly how the meetings happened, and I believe that becomes obvious as the stories are read.

If you're familiar with "older" Hollywood and are interested in behind-the-scenes stories, this book might interest you too.  I don't regret that I read it, but I probably wouldn't have missed it if I hadn't.

Quote of the Blog:
"She never lets the truth get in the way of a good story" ~ Mike Mally, my dad (describing someone prone to embellishment)