Customer comments on this selection.
 Nine Lives of Maggie the Cat
I was hesitant to buy this biography, because for some reason it gave me the feel of one of those biographies full of lies. But I ended up loving it! It's told as a complete story of Ms. Taylor's life, full of detail.
br /I would recommend it to any of her fans, or anyone who wants to read a very entertaining story.
 Made me a fan, but I wouldn't spend more than $6 on this book.
I didn't know much about Elizabeth Taylor before I read this book, but I am a fan now. Other reviewers have criticized this book for repeating information found in other Taylor sources, and I can't comment on that. As a read...this book is a little tedious. I purchased it from the bargain book rack at Borders. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise, but I'm glad to know more about such a fascinating American icon.
Nothing really new...but still great fun
Elizabeth "Don't Call Her Liz" Taylor has had such a crazy life, punctuated by frequent illnesses (at one point, the author provides a list of the health crises she'd suffered -- and it's a long one -- before she'd even turned thirty) and marriages and divorces and scandals and weight gains and weight losses and multiple trips to rehab, that it is easy to overlook what a great actress she was. Of course, many of her movies were lousy, but even in a turkey like "Butterfield 8" (which Taylor herself detested and only did because she was forced to), she gave a terrific performance.
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br /Oh, and she was beautiful too. Very beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that had she not already established herself as a fine actress from childhood, she may have been dismissed as purely ornamental. No one has had a face like Taylor's -- the sable hair, the flawless skin, the perfectly-formed lips, the incredible eyes (not violet, as legend has it, but a luminous blue, surrounded by, as is revealed in the book, a double set of eyelashes), and as if all that wasn't enough, she had a stunning hourglass figure.
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br /Yet, she has never been fixated on her own looks; her mother Sara is quoted as saying, "She has no idea how beautiful she is," and though that's commonly said about beautiful people, I'm inclined to believe that it is true in Taylor's case. This book doesn't shy away from showing Taylor's flaws -- basically, she's monstrously spoiled, selfish, childish, tantrum-prone, and sometimes downright nightmarish -- but vanity is not one of them.
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br /This biography has many surprisingly touching moments which help balance out some of the more appalling scenes. Sometimes she was such a pill that it's hard to fathom why anyone put up with her. But it's clear that she met her match in Richard Burton, who was just as much of a pill as she was. Burton was perhaps the only person who had no qualms whatsoever about insulting Taylor to her face, and he really could be cruel. Given the knock-down drag-out fights they had in public, it is more than a little scary to imagine what their private fights were like.
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br /In sum: this book doesn't contain any earthshattering revelations, although it does have some rare photographs, such as one of Taylor's mother Sara during her brief spate as an actress. However, it is written with great affection and respect, and it is a fascinating story.
simply irresistable
A fascinating book! Very well researched and written by Taraborrelli with great respect for the "legend" Elizabeth Taylor.I bet Ms. Taylor would enjoy reading this book too,because it is honest and there is no bad gossip at all.
 A superstar's saga
Frankly, I'm enjoying this bio of La Liz. After 60 years she is still considered a quintessential superstar. No matter how much you've read about her, there is still a tidbit or two for readers to enjoy. Elizabeth Taylor has continually fascinated the public with her multiple marriages, escapades, and addictions - and we never seem to get enough. And she has survived it all. Which is the stuff Hollywood legends are usually made of. A good read!
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