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Women's Fiction
Betty Page Confidential

Betty Page Confidential

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.17
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLDS MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN !
Review: BETTIE PAGE MEANS MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF FANS.SHE HAS POSED IN SO MANY DIFFERENT SITUATIONS.THIS WORK PRIMARILY FEATURES BETTIE'S WORK WITH PHOTOGRAPHER BUNNY YEAGER.THE YEAGER PHOTOGRAPHS CAPTURE BETTIE AS THE NATURAL,EXUBERANT,HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF FEMININE BEAUTY THAT SHE WAS.THIS,I BELIEVE IS THE REAL BETTIE.THERE ARE ALSO A FEW OF THE KLAW STUDIOS'PHOTOS OF BETTIE IN LINGERIE WITH WHIPS,ETC INCLUDED.THIS BOOK IS A FINE INTRODUCTION TO BETTIE PAGE FEATURING A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY,A CHAPTER BY BUNNY YEAGER,A LISTING OF BETTIE'S FILMS AND MAGAZINE APPEARANCES,MEMORABILIA AND MORE.THE WONDERFUL BUNNY YEAGER PHOTOS ARE WORTH THE PRICE OF THE BOOK ALONE.YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS ONE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bettie Page at her peak
Review: Bettie was one of the greatest pin-up models of all time, and this book, with photos by the equally great Bunny Yeager, represents her at her finest and most beautiful. Bunny, a former model herself, had a way of bringing out the best in her subjects, and the rapport the two shared is clearly evident here. The commentary is pretty good as well. Buy it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the girl-next-door American icon in all her glory
Review: Bunny Yeager met Betty Page in Miami in 1954, during one of Page's annual pilgrimages to the sun, sand and surf she adored. Page was the top pin-up model in New York at the time and Yeager an aspiring photographer. They hit it off and Page agreeably posed even when Yeager could only pay her $5. They had a lot in common. Yeager started out as a model herself, taking camera courses at a vocational school, for fun and to augment her portfolio with self-portraits. Both were expert seamstresses, sewing their own bikinis. Bunny Yeager never intended to become a top professional glamour photographer and Betty Page never intended to become a legend. The "Prettiest Photographer in the World" title was bestowed on Yeager by US Camera magazine in August of '53 and paid off in increasing prestige and opportunities. Her famous seasonal shot of Page wearing a Santa hat and a wink, decorating a Christmas tree, was bought by Playboy for their January, 1955 centerfold for $100. This was a more innocent time. Pin-up was not pornography and girlie pix were not gynecological. Full frontal nudity wasn't published and photos revealing pubic hair were prohibited from the US Mail. Buck Henry, who wrote the introduction, had to resort to under-the-counter transactions with Times Square newsies to acquire amateur camera club shots of the girl-next-door American icon in all her glory. Acting was Betty's dream. But Hollywood and then Broadway rejected her due to her immutable Nashville accent and maybe due to her powerful build. She never looked like she needed a leading man to lean on. She was more Daisy Mae than Marilyn Monroe. Her regimen was ascetic: natural foods, no tobacco or alcohol, frequent workouts at the health club, long swims. She once beat several Navy men in a swimming race, much to their chagrin. On a long despairing walk on a Coney Island Beach in 1950 or so, she stopped to admire the exercise routine of a handsome NYC cop and amateur photographer who asked her to pose for him and subsequently suggested she grow bangs to hide her prominent forehead. By 1957, when she inexplicably disappeared from the spotlight, she had become the hottest babe in the world. The arc of her fame led from the camera clubs to the men's magazines to Irving Klaw, whose Movie Star News still offers glossy 8x10s of the thousands of shots he and his wife Paula took of Betty. Some Klaw photos are included here to document Betty's alter egos as vamping dominatrix, spanker, spankee and burlesque victim of baroque bondage. Note: Madonna did not invent the cone bra. Yeager brought out the best in Betty Page in her ideal milieu, the beaches of Florida; her skin a flawless suntanned sheen, her infectious joy lighting up that thousand watt smile even brighter and her natural intimacy with the camera making you swear you were there. Betty cavorts about an amusement park and the shoreline, playful, puckish, clowning with some seaweed, mugging on some kiddie rides, blazing with energy and abandon. It's no act. The book's climax is eight shots from the famous boat series, Betty au natural on deck offshore. In several, her eyes are closed and she's reveling in the pleasure of the waves, the salt air and the sunlight warming her beautiful form. Betty once said that she was "happy as a lark, stark naked." These photographs are not about sex but about exuberance, the sheer, physical delight of corporeal existence. Betty is Eve before the apple. She has no shame. She is in her favorite place, doing what she loves best, her magnetic vitality transporting us all. The secret of Betty's appeal isn't mysterious. She found perfect pleasure in simply being alive. And she gave it to us.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the girl-next-door American icon in all her glory
Review: Bunny Yeager met Betty Page in Miami in 1954, during one of Page's annual pilgrimages to the sun, sand and surf she adored. Page was the top pin-up model in New York at the time and Yeager an aspiring photographer. They hit it off and Page agreeably posed even when Yeager could only pay her $5. They had a lot in common. Yeager started out as a model herself, taking camera courses at a vocational school, for fun and to augment her portfolio with self-portraits. Both were expert seamstresses, sewing their own bikinis. Bunny Yeager never intended to become a top professional glamour photographer and Betty Page never intended to become a legend. The "Prettiest Photographer in the World" title was bestowed on Yeager by US Camera magazine in August of '53 and paid off in increasing prestige and opportunities. Her famous seasonal shot of Page wearing a Santa hat and a wink, decorating a Christmas tree, was bought by Playboy for their January, 1955 centerfold for $100. This was a more innocent time. Pin-up was not pornography and girlie pix were not gynecological. Full frontal nudity wasn't published and photos revealing pubic hair were prohibited from the US Mail. Buck Henry, who wrote the introduction, had to resort to under-the-counter transactions with Times Square newsies to acquire amateur camera club shots of the girl-next-door American icon in all her glory. Acting was Betty's dream. But Hollywood and then Broadway rejected her due to her immutable Nashville accent and maybe due to her powerful build. She never looked like she needed a leading man to lean on. She was more Daisy Mae than Marilyn Monroe. Her regimen was ascetic: natural foods, no tobacco or alcohol, frequent workouts at the health club, long swims. She once beat several Navy men in a swimming race, much to their chagrin. On a long despairing walk on a Coney Island Beach in 1950 or so, she stopped to admire the exercise routine of a handsome NYC cop and amateur photographer who asked her to pose for him and subsequently suggested she grow bangs to hide her prominent forehead. By 1957, when she inexplicably disappeared from the spotlight, she had become the hottest babe in the world. The arc of her fame led from the camera clubs to the men's magazines to Irving Klaw, whose Movie Star News still offers glossy 8x10s of the thousands of shots he and his wife Paula took of Betty. Some Klaw photos are included here to document Betty's alter egos as vamping dominatrix, spanker, spankee and burlesque victim of baroque bondage. Note: Madonna did not invent the cone bra. Yeager brought out the best in Betty Page in her ideal milieu, the beaches of Florida; her skin a flawless suntanned sheen, her infectious joy lighting up that thousand watt smile even brighter and her natural intimacy with the camera making you swear you were there. Betty cavorts about an amusement park and the shoreline, playful, puckish, clowning with some seaweed, mugging on some kiddie rides, blazing with energy and abandon. It's no act. The book's climax is eight shots from the famous boat series, Betty au natural on deck offshore. In several, her eyes are closed and she's reveling in the pleasure of the waves, the salt air and the sunlight warming her beautiful form. Betty once said that she was "happy as a lark, stark naked." These photographs are not about sex but about exuberance, the sheer, physical delight of corporeal existence. Betty is Eve before the apple. She has no shame. She is in her favorite place, doing what she loves best, her magnetic vitality transporting us all. The secret of Betty's appeal isn't mysterious. She found perfect pleasure in simply being alive. And she gave it to us.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SOME OF THE BEST BETTIE!
Review: I fell in love or lust with Bettie when my hormones arrived about 1955. This book is well worth the price as Bunny's photos of Bettie are among the best. Bettie belonged outdoors! The Klaw photos are fine; it was hard to take a bad picture of Bettie, but she was,to me, the ultimate "beach brunette"! I recognize the problem with the book title, it leads you believe it's some kind of "Bettie expose'", but beyond that it's a great photo-record of some of Bettie's and Bunny's best work. If your a Bettie Page fan old or new, this one is a must!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SOME OF THE BEST BETTIE!
Review: I fell in love or lust with Bettie when my hormones arrived about 1955. This book is well worth the price as Bunny's photos of Bettie are among the best. Bettie belonged outdoors! The Klaw photos are fine; it was hard to take a bad picture of Bettie, but she was,to me, the ultimate "beach brunette"! I recognize the problem with the book title, it leads you believe it's some kind of "Bettie expose'", but beyond that it's a great photo-record of some of Bettie's and Bunny's best work. If your a Bettie Page fan old or new, this one is a must!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Keep Turning the Page.
Review: I was slightly disappointed to find that this book was 95% pictures, all be it very nice paperback prints of the pictures. It is a worth while buy if you don't have an extensive collection of Betty Page pictures. There are a few pages collecting the publication dates of magazines that featured Betty in someway and a few pages noting the filmshorts she did with Irvin Klaw etc.

I didn't spot any out of the ordinary pictures in the book, mostly the kind that turn up in the card collector sets with a couple of candid shots showing the filming crew. Not a bad book over all but not so much a read as a flick though picture book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words...
Review: The time-worn cliche "a picture is worth a thousand words" fittingly describes this book, because that is about all you get -- pictures. If you really want to know more about Bettie Page, you may be disappointed. It does offer many photos of this captivating pin-up vixen, but I was rather disappointed to find that all of them were black and white. It is a quick and easy read/look through. If you are looking for more detailed information about Bettie Page, or a picture book with nice glossy photos to set on your coffee table, this may not be the book for you. However, if you are a Bettie Page fan looking for a fun, entertaining no-brainer sort of book with lots of great photos, it is a worthwhile starting point.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Photo-rific!
Review: There's not a lot of reading material in this book, but for beautiful black & white photos of Bettie, there's plenty of eye-candy in this one. If you haven't read a lot about the Queen of the Pin-Ups (hail!), this is a great starting point before seeking out some other hard to find volumes about her life and career. In all honesty, a book about Bettie that isn't at least 50% photos doesn't make sense... she was, after all, an image and not a Hollywood personality. A must have for any Bettie collector or admirer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Photo-rific!
Review: There's not a lot of reading material in this book, but for beautiful black & white photos of Bettie, there's plenty of eye-candy in this one. If you haven't read a lot about the Queen of the Pin-Ups (hail!), this is a great starting point before seeking out some other hard to find volumes about her life and career. In all honesty, a book about Bettie that isn't at least 50% photos doesn't make sense... she was, after all, an image and not a Hollywood personality. A must have for any Bettie collector or admirer.


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