Rating: 
Summary: An Inspirational Suprise
Review: After reading Patrick McGilligan's book on Clint Eastwood, I wanted to read more. It is fascinating what the power of celebrity can do to one's head. The details of her trial against Clint and his studio is a must read. You may want to have you picture taken next to Clint Eastwood, but Sondra and her husband Gordon, are rare, special people; people you'd want to have as friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, well-written book gives chilling look at H'wood
Review: First things first: I love Clint Eastwood and his films, but just as with Albert Goldman's The Lives of John Lennon, I can read a book that details the sordid aspects of a person's character and still retain my love for their work and for them as an artist. Personally I find the fact that Eastwood, like Lennon, is no one's ideal as a person is irrelevant to my appreciation of their art, though it does seem that dysfunctionality is a hallmark of the best artists.Sondra Locke's autbiography is a must read for all Eastwood fans as it does help give a fuller picture of Eastwood. The book is well-written and, when focused on her relationship with Eastwood and the movie industry, quite a fascinating read...a real page turner. I don't know quite what to think about Ms. Locke's relationship with her husband Gordon, but you can always skip over those pages!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Pleasant Surprise
Review: I bought this book because I had met Sondra Locke a couple of times in business and social settings and liked her immensely. She was unpretentious, kind, funny, focused and very intelligent. I was saddened that she had to carry the burden of people's negative expectations until they could see the real Sondra. What created this misperception? I simply had to find out what had transpired between her and Clint Eastwood to merit all the vitriol. It's a cliche, but I couldn't put this book down and I never wanted it to end! As a previous reviewer has already stated, the parts of this book about Mr. Eastwood are the least interesting. Sondra has had a "wonder-full," almost magical life, like a character in a fairy tale. I was so pleased that, by the end of the book, she seemed to have found her Prince Charming. With luck and synchronicity, we shall meet again and I can tell her myself (maybe she'll sign my book!).
Rating:
Summary: What a pleasant surprise!
Review: I found this book at the library and took it out on a whim. I had no recollection of the lawsuits Sondra Locke had pressed on Clint Eastwood and was a big fan of his movies. I figured it would be a good, light read on a lazy summer day - as insubstantial as cotton candy, and just as sweet. Was I ever wrong!
When I started reading it after looking at the flyleaf, I was fully prepared to dislike Sondra and write off her motivations as callous greed and self-pity - a means of staying in the public eye at the expense of Eastwood. After the first dozen pages, I started to like her and relaxed my judgment. This is the story of the journey of a strong, intelligent woman who refused to roll over and play dead despite the brick walls she ran up against.
I ended up disliking Clint Eastwood and liking her. Although the relationship was over, she had the courage to try and leave it on a more positive note and to resolve things. She grabbed at one olive branch he proffered between lawsuits, unable to see the hidden thorns. That, to me, meant that it wasn't a vendetta or sour grapes. It was Clint Eastwood's own actions, as relayed by Locke, that caused him to tumble off his pedestal. Indeed, she showed restraint in her portrayal of him and their relationship.
However, I found that the true star of the book was Gordon Anderson. He was depicted as quirky, unique, spiritual, kind, understanding and strong - what a contrast to Clint's true nature. (Had this been a work of fiction, I would have found the contrast a rather blatant literary device the difference was so profound.) I wanted to read more about him, less about the narcissistic Eastwood. Their incredible journey together made this book special - an examination of avatars and Karl Jung, cats that thump on freezer doors and the synchronicity of licence plates. I wanted more of this - more of the descriptions of their homes, and Gordon's designs - outward manifestations of their inner lives, more insight into Gordon's mind, and more about the incredible coincidences that shaped their lives!
Thank you for this book, Sondra. Good for you for pursuing your lawsuits and for writing this!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - A Real Page Turner!
Review: I have to admit that I never really liked Sondra Locke or Clint Eastwood and only read the book because it was handed to me as something that I just had to read... Sondra Locke's ability to tell her story is absolutly breathtaking. She is someone I have now come to admire. I do not beleive the book is as much about Clint Eastwood as most people would have you believe, but instead it is about a woman's journey through life and Hollywood - Clint is mentioned because he was part of it - I found the sections of the book that had nothing to do with him a lot more interesting anyway. One of the things that touched me the most about this book is the author's ability to honestly state that she never thought to tell Clint to have surgery himself - it never even crossed her mind. She admits her mistakes in life and speaks about the lessons she learned along the way - something we all go through daily. Her relationship with Gordon Anderson is something very special - How many of us in the world can honestly say that we have had, ourselves, someone that has loved us and we have loved equally in return since childhood - through the good times, tears and triumphs? Both Sondra and Gordon are very special people in my opinion and this is a book everyone should read. Forget Eastwood!
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Synchronisity
Review: I love this book for all its craziness! I swear this book has it all! Sondra married to her psychically intuned gay husband while carrying on a long standing love affair with Eastwood. Dead cats that return from the grave to scratch the inside of freezer doors! Wacky gay husband fashioning a wig for a little girl and then chasing her bullys through the school. By the way, if anyone really does know how to get ahold of Marge Beebe's cattery in Schenectady...please let me know! Bravo to Sondra, not only for a great book, but a great film (Ratboy)!
Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly
Review: I quite literally could not put this book down until the last page -- even reading it at the dinner table with my five-year-old looking on in amazement. When she saw the cover and how beautiful Locke is, she said, "Mommy, that's a movie star and I want to be one!" The book itself is beautifully written, and while I was looking forward to reading about Locke's longtime relationship w/ Clint Eastwood, the real surprise was hearing about her childhood friend, mentor, spiritual guide and first husband, Gordon Anderson. Don't we all wish we could have someone as extraordinary as this in our corner! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly
Review: I quite literally could not put this book down until the last page -- even reading it at the dinner table with my five-year-old looking on in amazement. When she saw the cover and how beautiful Locke is, she said, "Mommy, that's a movie star and I want to be one!" The book itself is beautifully written, and while I was looking forward to reading about Locke's longtime relationship w/ Clint Eastwood, the real surprise was hearing about her childhood friend, mentor, spiritual guide and first husband, Gordon Anderson. Don't we all wish we could have someone as extraordinary as this in our corner! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rating:
Summary: Sensitive, well-written, and horrifying
Review: It's sad it is not? the way men can treat women? what of love, kindness, and respect? The word "dog" comes to mind...but that is probably an insult to the black lab I had as a boy...at least he was loving! Why are women more open and honest? "Honesty - it's such a lonely word..."bill joel...I found the book to be gripping and embarrassing, as a man to hear about another man (Clint) being SO mean to her...it does not make any rational sense...why?...to what end? there is no logic?....the Clint / Sondra relationship story reminds me of the Burt / Lonnie Anderson (another example of men being mean to women)... but despite... [what] Sondra has been given...she has survived...and if one is to make any sence out of all this ... maybe the lesson for us twofold: for women to be strong and not get run over or give up...and for men...to be honest with word and deed......
Rating:
Summary: Sensitive, well-written, and horrifying
Review: One of the strangest Hollywood stories I've ever read - strange largely because it is so sensitively written in spite of the nastiness of the "plot." Locke paints a truly terrifying, creepy portrait of Mr. Eastwood, the American hero who is apparently a self-centered, manipulative, sociopathic control freak. What gives Locke so much credibility is the love she still clearly feels for her ex-lover, the fact that she is not writing out of anger but out of love and sadness. Eastwood's two-faced twists and turns are too peculiar not to be the real deal. This is an amazing book. My heart goes out to Locke, who seems to have been black-balled in Hollywood, and who was bumped from many TV talk shows (unable to adequately promote this fine memoir) and whose rave review in Entertainment Weekly was even pulled from publication by execs at the last minute - and replaced with a negative review! Entertainment Weekly was part of AOL-Time Warner - Warner being Clint's studio. (SO much for freedom of the press!) The man instills fear in peoples' hearts - and he'll instill it in yours after you read this bizarre love story.
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