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Rating: 
Summary: Terrific
Review: Excellent book about Peter Lawford and everything else going on in Hollywood! The book begins with Lawford's parents and his upbringing and how he got into the movie business and into Hollywood. And then you begin a rollercoaster ride that will leave you out of breath and unable to put the book down--the stars he meets, and dates, his marriage to Pat Lawford, the Kennedys, Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Marilyn.... The book also has a lot of information, as the title implies, about what Lawford knew from so many of his acquaintances. I was actually sad to finish the book and sad when Peter Lawford dies, he became somewhat of a welcome friend reading the book over the course of those couple weeks. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific
Review: Excellent book about Peter Lawford and everything else going on in Hollywood! The book begins with Lawford's parents and his upbringing and how he got into the movie business and into Hollywood. And then you begin a rollercoaster ride that will leave you out of breath and unable to put the book down--the stars he meets, and dates, his marriage to Pat Lawford, the Kennedys, Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Marilyn.... The book also has a lot of information, as the title implies, about what Lawford knew from so many of his acquaintances. I was actually sad to finish the book and sad when Peter Lawford dies, he became somewhat of a welcome friend reading the book over the course of those couple weeks. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Lawford: His Life Given Meaning
Review: I am a long-time amateur film historian, and have read many film and theater personality biographies over the past 25 years. James Spada is an absolutely top-notch biographer. His detailed book on Peter Lawford, a pleasant, eager-to-please, nominally talent, gentle-spirited soul, is not only historically accurate, but is historically important. Why? Because Peter Lawford, a performer of modest ability only deserving of a footnote in American film history, if any at all--was also a well-bred, well-traveled, well-liked and well-associated gentleman who easily cultivated significant relationships with significant people. He had a romance with Princess Margaret of England, and even married the sister of the a man soon to be the most beloved 20th century American president. Lawford was intimates with and loved by major players in both industry (the Fords) and Hollywood (Monroe, Garland, Taylor, Sinatra). James Spada's gentle but non-editorializing understanding of human nature, his interest in his subject, his research, organization and writing style are among the best I've ever seen. I say that this work on Peter Lawford is, in many ways, a relevant companion and addition to an American presidential history reading list as is the assiduously-researched and reported Doris Kearns Goodwin book, "THE FITZGERALDS and THE KENNEDYS". Many times, movie personality biographers conclude their works with a paragraph that they hope gives a hindsight summation to their subject's life. Without indulging in writer's ego, Spada allows Lawford's captivating, charmed--and ultimately, pathetic--life to speak, loud and clear--for itself. Gently, painfully, Spada leads the reader through Lawford's train-wreck of late-life, showing that Lawford's salvation was impossible for the actor...speaking out--talking about his enchanted but isolated early years; his formidable, mentally ill mother; his personal choices; the strange, dead-ending professional roadblocks--his PAIN--was something Lawford--and all sweet, lost souls--need to do to save themselves...to survive...to heal...to move on...to live. Lawford was unable to listen to his own horrific life truths, and was therefore helpless to save himself. And this is why "PETER LAWFORD--THE MAN WHO KEPT THE SECRETS" is such a poignant, true, morality tale.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Lawford: His Life Given Meaning
Review: I am a long-time amateur film historian, and have read many film and theater personality biographies over the past 25 years. James Spada is an absolutely top-notch biographer. His detailed book on Peter Lawford, a pleasant, eager-to-please, nominally talent, gentle-spirited soul, is not only historically accurate, but is historically important. Why? Because Peter Lawford, a performer of modest ability only deserving of a footnote in American film history, if any at all--was also a well-bred, well-traveled, well-liked and well-associated gentleman who easily cultivated significant relationships with significant people. He had a romance with Princess Margaret of England, and even married the sister of the a man soon to be the most beloved 20th century American president. Lawford was intimates with and loved by major players in both industry (the Fords) and Hollywood (Monroe, Garland, Taylor, Sinatra). James Spada's gentle but non-editorializing understanding of human nature, his interest in his subject, his research, organization and writing style are among the best I've ever seen. I say that this work on Peter Lawford is, in many ways, a relevant companion and addition to an American presidential history reading list as is the assiduously-researched and reported Doris Kearns Goodwin book, "THE FITZGERALDS and THE KENNEDYS". Many times, movie personality biographers conclude their works with a paragraph that they hope gives a hindsight summation to their subject's life. Without indulging in writer's ego, Spada allows Lawford's captivating, charmed--and ultimately, pathetic--life to speak, loud and clear--for itself. Gently, painfully, Spada leads the reader through Lawford's train-wreck of late-life, showing that Lawford's salvation was impossible for the actor...speaking out--talking about his enchanted but isolated early years; his formidable, mentally ill mother; his personal choices; the strange, dead-ending professional roadblocks--his PAIN--was something Lawford--and all sweet, lost souls--need to do to save themselves...to survive...to heal...to move on...to live. Lawford was unable to listen to his own horrific life truths, and was therefore helpless to save himself. And this is why "PETER LAWFORD--THE MAN WHO KEPT THE SECRETS" is such a poignant, true, morality tale.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was quite addictive.
Review: This book is very well-written. It soaked me in. It was as though every moment I read it, I disappeared into another world, and the moments I was away from the book, I longed to disappear into that world again. A world that I, at first, believed epitomized all that is lush & lovely gradually eroded into a world of illusion, darkness & loneliness, and a man who I once saw as one of the head angels of that heaven, was gradually brought down to earth. This novel revealed to me Peter Lawford: the man. It revealed him in every dimension. At times I fell in love with him; at times I loathed him. At other times I weeped for the man who was a victim of his own shaky foundation. A foundation which began crumbling at childhood, and inevitably led to his fall. Many who knew him personally, couldn't understand how a man as gifted as he was, in all facets of life, could lead a life so carelessly & self-destruct so willingly. This book gives the reader something that those who personally befriended the mysterious Peter Lawford weren't even able to obtain. It gives the reader a crisp, clear & intimate portrait of the man who hid behind the beauty & the charm which fooled so many. This book is more than a story of a man's life, it's a story of life in all it's light & darkness. It will, inevitably, give the reader a brand new outlook on life & the people who inhabit it: from the "lifestyles of the rich & famous" to the regular folks who lust after it. This book will open yours eyes.
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