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Rating: 
Summary: For the educated reader
Review: Colette is not an easy person to like, and this biography is dense and thick with information and literary interpretation, meaning that it's not an "easy" or quick book to read. That said it is an accomplished, thoughtful book. Judith Thruman is an excellent writer and I personally was engrossed -- I really couldn't put this book down. But it is not for everyone. It is for those interested in Colette or at least in her milieu. Thurman gives a vivid sense of the time Colette lived in, and a persuasive look at her motivations, personality, and contradictions. She shows those of us who love Colette's writing that it is possible to enjoy a writer's books without necessarily admiring that person's life and deeds. It is a facinating dicotomy: how can a person, Colette, or anyone else, be so senstitive in her writing life, yet so insensitive to those who actually surrounded her? It is a question to which there is no answer, yet one which Thurman beautifully illustrates.
Rating:
Summary: A feast for those who can't get enough of Colette
Review: Colette is one of those authors whose life is as fascinating as her writing, and this book ably describes the former, also containing many wonderful photos. Colette's uniquely sensitive yet unsentimental way of experiencing life has been a source of inspiration to me since I first discovered her as a preteen. One moment she can be devastated by the suffering of an animal, or write with exquisite insightfulness about the insecurities of her unconventional friends; the next she can swear off a failed marriage or friendship without a hint of pity (or self-pity). This book was very satisfying from the standpoint of her personal and family history, and contained extensive information about her long-standing affair with her teenaged stepson, which, while perhaps her most problematic moral transgression, certainly made for interesting reading. While the book was far less occupied with conveying the brilliance of Colette's writing, for that one need only go to the source. There is so much to learn from Colette's life; despite facing considerable hardships, she managed to thrive and celebrate all that she found beautiful and fascinating in nature, the theater, humanity -- really any topic to which she turned her magnificent vision. Betrayal was a major theme in her relationships, and the way that she survived and even exploited repeated psychic wounds, ultimately finding peace with a kind and compatible partner, is instructive and inspiring. She will always have a very special place in my heart, and I thank Ms. Thurman for making her more accessible.
Rating:
Summary: A feast for those who can't get enough of Colette
Review: Colette is one of those authors whose life is as fascinating as her writing, and this book ably describes the former, also containing many wonderful photos. Colette's uniquely sensitive yet unsentimental way of experiencing life has been a source of inspiration to me since I first discovered her as a preteen. One moment she can be devastated by the suffering of an animal, or write with exquisite insightfulness about the insecurities of her unconventional friends; the next she can swear off a failed marriage or friendship without a hint of pity (or self-pity). This book was very satisfying from the standpoint of her personal and family history, and contained extensive information about her long-standing affair with her teenaged stepson, which, while perhaps her most problematic moral transgression, certainly made for interesting reading. While the book was far less occupied with conveying the brilliance of Colette's writing, for that one need only go to the source. There is so much to learn from Colette's life; despite facing considerable hardships, she managed to thrive and celebrate all that she found beautiful and fascinating in nature, the theater, humanity -- really any topic to which she turned her magnificent vision. Betrayal was a major theme in her relationships, and the way that she survived and even exploited repeated psychic wounds, ultimately finding peace with a kind and compatible partner, is instructive and inspiring. She will always have a very special place in my heart, and I thank Ms. Thurman for making her more accessible.
Rating: 
Summary: Colette's life is fascinating
Review: Colette's life makes this a 4 star , she is so interesting that I have to recommened this book. I found it a good read.
Rating:
Summary: A thread of continuity.
Review: I am reading the book for the second time (that is rare for me), excellent insight into the movers and shakers at the last turn of the century. Great references to other writers and artists whom Colette supported financially and emotionally. I am using the names she referred to frequently to create a list of women cross referencing their stories or biographies with hers. This book gave me an improved image of Colette and a desire to read more of her material.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written, and it held my interest, but.......
Review: I must admit, I really didn't know much about Colette until I read "Secrets of the Flesh" Only that she was some sort of genius. After all, one writer said of her...."There is enough beauty in ten of her lines to content a lesser writer for a lifetime."I found this to be true after reading this book. "I've had enough! I Want..I want...I want to do what I want!...I want to go on stage, to become a mime, even an actress. I want to dance naked if I feel that a leotard...cramps my style, I want to retire to an island...or spend my time in the company of women who live by their charms..I want to write"..... COLETTE 1923 And she does...... Colette does it all, not giving a damn what people thought. She
says, "I have never been able to take interest in anything that
doesn't relate to life." Judith Thuman did her homework! "Secrets" is almost 500 pages long and filled with interesting details about Colette's life...for example...she weight-trained, loved food, danced naked, loved women, was not a feminist,adored cats, wrote by the light of a blue lantern, was not discreet about her sexualality, and her mother, Sido, was a huge influence on her. "I write with my senses, with my body....all my flesh has a soul."---Colette, Retreat from Love My suggestion.... after reading "Secrets of the Flesh"
Put on some Aretha
Franklin or Alisia Keys and dance naked in your living room. If Colette did it in Public, we sure as hell can do it in our own
home!
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Enjoyable Study of A Wonderful Person
Review: I say "wonderful," though I don't mean in the chaste, good person sort of way, but in a fiery, accomplished one. This biography, amazingly in depth (though at times almost too chronological, and not enough insight into Colette's persona) reveals all that Colette did and was, the good, the bad and the ugly, though despite her flaws she contributed an oceanful of herself--her books, her plays, her child, her love, and her histrionic talents to the world. She lived without being afraid to be herself in a time, as Thurman truthfully puts it, when contempt for both women and homosexuals (of which she was both) ran rampant. Thurman has definitely done her research, and switches back and forth between a sort of fictitious, dreamy scape and a very forward, matter of fact report, which can get a little austere. I went back and forth to being completely absorbed to just reading it to get past this or that part, but thankfully, there was much more to praise than to criticize. I found Willy's "character" particularly amusing. The pictures are a nice gesture, my favorites being the one where Colette is holding a cigarette, dressed in drag, and the one where she's in a dance costume, kneeling and watching Willy. They both sum up that Moulin Rouge, anything goes, youthful era, which Colette basically incarnates. I hope we can all be sort of like her, in one way or another. On the whole, this is one piece of nonfiction I indefinitely enjoyed, and Thurman, though not perfect, is a dedicated and effective author. Recommended highly.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Enjoyable Study of A Wonderful Person
Review: I say "wonderful," though I don't mean in the chaste, good person sort of way, but in a fiery, accomplished one. This biography, amazingly in depth (though at times almost too chronological, and not enough insight into Colette's persona) reveals all that Colette did and was, the good, the bad and the ugly, though despite her flaws she contributed an oceanful of herself--her books, her plays, her child, her love, and her histrionic talents to the world. She lived without being afraid to be herself in a time, as Thurman truthfully puts it, when contempt for both women and homosexuals (of which she was both) ran rampant. Thurman has definitely done her research, and switches back and forth between a sort of fictitious, dreamy scape and a very forward, matter of fact report, which can get a little austere. I went back and forth to being completely absorbed to just reading it to get past this or that part, but thankfully, there was much more to praise than to criticize. I found Willy's "character" particularly amusing. The pictures are a nice gesture, my favorites being the one where Colette is holding a cigarette, dressed in drag, and the one where she's in a dance costume, kneeling and watching Willy. They both sum up that Moulin Rouge, anything goes, youthful era, which Colette basically incarnates. I hope we can all be sort of like her, in one way or another. On the whole, this is one piece of nonfiction I indefinitely enjoyed, and Thurman, though not perfect, is a dedicated and effective author. Recommended highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Very Engaging
Review: On the strength of reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post, my book club selected this book as a must read. To a woman, we found this book difficult to plow through. Thurman is enamored of subordinate clauses, tangential references and elliptical thoughts. If she were a journalist, her editor would tell her that she buried her lead at every possible opportunity. The book club came away not giving a hoot about Collette, who her mother was or who either of them slept with. Bottom line: if you are a huge fan of Collette, this might be an interesting book. For the rest of us, it is not.
Rating:
Summary: I got lost in this book
Review: Reading this book I found myself lost among the outrageous, glamorous and exotic characters Colette lived among, including, of course herself. It was such a different world! For that alone I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a 'meaty read'. ie it's not for someone who wants to just skim the pages lightly, you've got to commit. I found it highly readable and it lead me on, page by page, quite effortlessly right through to the end. For a fan of Colette's work I thought the book did an admirable job of setting her works in the context of her life without taking any of their magic away - as so many author biographers are wont to do. I found it a bit predictable that her life could be plotted so closely against her novels - this is always a biographers dream - but perhaps in Colette's case it's true.....
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