Uncle Mame: The Life Of Patrick Dennis
by Eric Myers, Eric Myers

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780306811005
• Condition: New
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Book Reviews of Uncle Mame: The Life Of Patrick Dennis

Book Review: Interesting life, poorly written.
Summary: 2 Stars

Unfortunately, the author simply quotes the photographer's (Cris Alexander) extremely spiteful comments about her, without any balancing commentary. An incident detailed in the book describes the source of the enmity: halfway through the shoot, Jeri Archer demanded double her promised fee to continue, creating bad blood and ill-feeling. Although she later expressed regret at her hardball tactics, the photographer Alexander is merciless in denigrating her in this book. A casual reader would gather that she was a mere prostitute pulled off the street for the project, when in fact she was an actress who had appeared in plays and vaudeville burlesques, worked as a model for both high fashion and Good Housekeeping, and did voiceover work for commercials.
In "Uncle Mame" Alexander crassly describes how many sex acts she would have to perform to earn the same amount as for "Little Me", insinuates strongly that she was a prostitute, calling her an "operator".

It strikes me as extremely unfair on several counts: most importantly,her portrayal of Belle Poitrine contributed immeasurably to the book's success; she played the role extremely well, and humorously; and as the endnote of "Little Me" attests, over half the costumes and jewelry used in the shoots were her own.

I only wish that the photographer's comments were balanced with some overview of her career and her contribution to "Little Me"- her expressions had me in stitches 42 years later, and I think it saddening that she is so denigrated in this book . She portrayed a gold -digger and acted like one- so what? Hollywood actresses do it all the time.

The final sloppy insult: in the endnotes to "Uncle Mame" it says that Jeri Archer died of cancer "ca. 1970" Circa? We're not talking about ancient history here, just lazy research and smears upon the person who helped make "Little Me" such a classic. She deserves better , I think.

Other than this, I found it very poorly written, chronologically incoherent at times, and the author is given to undignified,subjective declarations( "it was fabulous!") and tiresome attempts to explain "camp" humor.

Summary of Uncle Mame: The Life Of Patrick Dennis

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