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Recommended for anyone who likes the 1920s. I had no idea how shockingly bad Clara Bow's tenement childhood in Brooklyn was, making her ascent to Box Office Blockbuster truly remarkable. However, unlike other Flappers like Louise Brooks, she comes off as naive and uneducated. Her habit of "tellin' it like it is" regarding her affairs with men, got her into trouble repeatedly until Paramount got tired of bailing her out.

Later, after retirement induced by severe burnout and one scandal too many, she was actually diagnosed as a schizophrenic (which seems severe). Hence, she spent the last 35 years of her life as a semi-recluse. It makes you wonder what might have happened had she been allowed to transition into more dramatic roles like she wanted? Her star status ensured that she would be placed in nothing but schlock films that cost nothing to produce. The studio viewed anything better as a waste of money because Clara Bow's name would sell tickets no matter what.

The book does make me want to watch TCM's "Pre-Code Hollywood" festival this month as they are showing one of her early talkies, "Call Her Savage," with a plot that makes Peyton Place look like a Nun's Story.