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Rating: 
Summary: 15 years later ,the revised book is still under researched
Review: After all this time you'd have thought someone would have informed Mr Bego that Billy Cunningham was a musical director more so than a piano player and that when he stopped playing for Ms Midler at the Baths he didn't exactly exit . Even after writing Cher If You Believe, he still doesn't know who Kenny (Claude )Sasha was and why the off Broadway run of French Dressing at the Village Gate (Top of the Gate) and Cher's Act had a lot more to do with the drag bar scene in "The Rose" than Bette' s wanting to be a legendary movie star. The sad part is by the time he revises the book again even more of sources he should have interviewed the first time around won't be with us.
Rating:
Summary: Best that's out there, but....
Review: For years, I have searched for the ultimate Bette Midler biography - one that is chock full of never before heard or told anecdotes, a fresh perspective and insights into oft told situations or tales. Mark Bego's book is the closest thing we've got right now to a definitive, somewhat linear bio, but it still leaves much to be desired. I do appreciate that Bego (clearly a fan in his own right) takes the time to go in depth with Midler's albums, making sure every track is commented upon and giving us loads of quality info about the recording process. I love hearing about why certain songs were chosen, discarded, arranged the way they were, et cetera. The most in depth album commentary in this book is in regards to Bette's *Songs From the New Depression.* The more I read about this lost possibility, the more curious I am to hear the material. It genuinely sounds like it could have led Midler's career in a completely different, more upward musical direction. I do hope Atlantic Records gives Klingman the master tapes back. No other book has given me a clear picture of what Bette's days at the Continental Baths were like, and I am grateful for that. Such a vivid description of the place and the time. It must have been a ball. This is also the first telling of Bette's life that gives an indication that Aaron Russo (Bette's manager in the 70's) and Bette were never romantically involved at all. However, the narrative seems fuzzy on whether or not that is entirely accurate. The aspect of Bette's career that seems to get shortest shrift is her movies. Each one is given a full plot synopsis, which in my opinion, isn't a good idea, for it ruins the movies for newer fans or people who have not seen them. These plot synopses seem to be masking some glaringly obvious missing information. No 'tales from the set' are told. No comments from co-stars or directors (except in the Jinxed section) on what it was like to work with Bette beyond your standard "press-kit" comments. Even so, there are still some interesting tidbits spread out here and there. One of them is that Anne Archer and Donna Mills where considered for the role of Hillary Whitney in Beaches! One rather odd thing is the use of numbers in parenthesis after every single quote. I've never seen a device like that in a book, and it made me feel like I was reading a college term paper. Although, on the flip side, I appreciate the quotes are there -- it ensures a degree of accuracy and if I ever want to look up these articles, it's a good resource. Also, there is serious need for a fact-checker / proof-reader here. Too many noticeable spelling errors, character or actor names misprinted or mis-spelled, etc. I don't want to blame the writer entirely, because this stuff should be checked before going to press. All in all, I recommend this book, but more for the fact that there really isn't a quality Midler bio out there to compare it to. Perhaps there never will be, unless Bette decides to tell her own story.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Bette Biography
Review: This book which was first released in the 1980s by author Mark Bego gets updated and reworked here. It is impressive to see such a comprehensive scaling of the Divine's long career. Want to hear about some current projects like Bathhouse Betty and her films such as DROWNING MONA and the like, this is the book. I am someone who enjoys reading about others' perspectives on some of my favorite artists. I especially like to read and hear about recent endeavors. Because there has not been a Bette biography since 1997's spectacular BETTE MIDLER SCRAPBOOK and 1995's BETTE by George Mair, that was a long period of no coverage of some of Midler's material. Well, here goes. Even if one is not a Bette fan, one could still enjoy this biography which provides various aspects of the entertainer in a unique form.
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