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Rating: 
Summary: Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are
Review: After reading this book, I went out and bought several more copies for friends. It's about time someone stopped the Hollywood Game of "They're Icons. Let Them Rest In Peace." It's well known within private circles that the women Axel Madsen supposedly "outs" were lesbian but because of the homophobia that exists (and still exists...look at the outrage to Ellen DeGeneres' coming out) they couldn't be open about their private lives. I've read the other reviews of this book and can only shake my head that people are so upset because their shining "stars" weren't as they imagined them. Get over it! People have a right to lead their own lives and this excellent book has the honesty to finally tell these stories. Needless to say there's also a lot of great "dish". Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Every Girl Should Have a Mercedes
Review: I am grateful to this book for bringing to readers' attention the fascinating and sadly forgotten Mercedes de Acosta. It is troubling that so many reviewers have raised questions about the validity of this book's claims, and its 'style' when clearly the business of writing interpretations of the past is to do just that - interpret. To infest this subject with queer theory jargon would be to kill it outright. Authors and historians of whatever stripe are entitled to their own 'take' on situations, and some are better than others at interpreting 'between the lines'. Thankfully, times have so changed that the book's 'accusations' are less likely to do the damage they clearly would have during the performers' lives. I found this book, though scattered, very illuminating, and I would be interested to see reviewers come up with evidence to support their own criticisms.
Rating: 
Summary: rumors get started from some reason or another
Review: the author might have had some type o's and skipped around a lot, but the book does have some hidden truth. We may never know what the truth was about barbara stanwyck, but take in consideration that she was an over private woman, and a proffessional at that. I am in the same circumstance and have many rumors about my private life,,,but the rumors are pretty much true. some women just hate secrets and like to keep them to themselves. think about it, if you were a rich and famous movie star in the 30's and 40's, would you really be open abot your sexual preferance? its hard enough in the 90's..there are too many homophobics that are threatend by gay actors...so what if they were..i admire barbara stanwyck in every form of the matter..if she was gay or bisexual so what,,people knew what the book was basically about so thier curiosity made them mad,,what did they expect, there are a lot of us gay and bisexual women out here in the world that will never "come out" because of critics like the homophobes,,get over it..i love barbara no matter what she did in her private life. so should all you fans..look past the judjements and adore the greatest actress ever!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating subject, sloppy book
Review: The subject of famous Hollywood starlets who were, in fact, deep in the closet is certainly a fascinating one--imagine the harsh, paranoid life one would have to lead, hiding one's true feelings and lying to protect one's careers while still seeking love. And I'd really love to read a well-executed, thoughtful study of this subject.This isn't it, kids. Axel Madsen's "The Sewing Circle" is, at best, a sloppy book, with plenty of rumor & opinion presented as fact & more typos than I've ever seen in any other "professionally published" book. For crying out loud, they misspelled Greta Garbo's name--at the head of the chapter dealing with her childhood! There are some interesting tidbits here--the speculation as to why Garbo ended her career when she did, the behind-the-scenes gays & lesbians who drove the creative engines of Hollywood, the sad, ultimately lonely endings that many of these women met--but the presentation is so haphazard that it's difficult to get anything useful out of it. And if every mention of Mercedes de Costa were deleted, this wouldn't be a book--it would be a pamphlet. This book sorely needed an editor, a fact-checker, a proofreader...it needed help. Had such help arrived, this might have been an interesting, trashy read. As it stands, it's just trash--recycle it & move on.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: This book was pretty good. I think that Mr. Madsen is a good author and he should be commended. I believe there is a fair amount of information given about the characters in this survey, although the book "The Girls" is much better at covering Hollywood's lesbianism. It is a good read anyway, and I would recommend it. Oh, and I LOVE the cover photo! Too-shay!
Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: This book was pretty good. I think that Mr. Madsen is a good author and he should be commended. I believe there is a fair amount of information given about the characters in this survey, although the book "The Girls" is much better at covering Hollywood's lesbianism. It is a good read anyway, and I would recommend it. Oh, and I LOVE the cover photo! Too-shay!
Rating: 
Summary: So much promise . . . ah, well.
Review: When I first came across this book, I was very excited, because I am interested in all aspects of how the various entertainment media manipulate the world and present only a selected vision of what it's really like. I looked forward to reading a detailed account of life in Hollywood and how hard it was to deal with oppression and prejudice and have to live a secret life. Instead of an inspiring, enlightening read, I got a scatter-brained, typo-laden gossip column. I can't believe, as was stated in another review, that the typos were the fault of the printer. The amount of effort put into researching and writing this book is reflected in the quality of the copy editing. It could have been worth my money. Oh well. I'm glad I bought it from the Quality Paperback Book Club and not at retail price.
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