- Hardcover: 376 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's Press; First edition (27 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312285655
- ISBN-13: 978-0312285654
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 3.4 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 741,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Moviegoers worldwide have spent more than USD1.5 billion to see her movies, but her real life has been seen only in dubious tabloid glimpses until now. James Spada has gone back to Julia's parent's beginnings in Georgia to unearth fascinating facts about her dysfunctional family background, her troubled childhood, and her early dating life. He offers fresh details about all her famous movies and uncovers an intensely dedicated but deeply insecure artist. For the past six years she has delighted audiences everywhere in a series of smash hits and achieved the distinction of earning the highest per-film paycheque of any actress in history. As a person, she's grown from a skittish girl moving through volatile relationships with handsome co-stars to become an assured woman making her own bold - and often controversial - decisions about how to live her life. This unputdownable book is a lively and vivacious as the star it explores.
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First Sentence
Well, if that don't beat a goose a-gobblin'!" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Well, if that don't beat a goose a-gobblin'!" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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11 reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Balanced biography of a superstar
3 Jun 2004
Format:Hardcover
As a typical movie fan, I had to idea what was behind the appealing, beguiling screen presence of Julia Roberts. I only saw the incandescant smile and the undeniable charm of this young actress. James Spada has done his homework and he uses multiple sources to put together the story of this complex, often insecure woman. In the early part of the book, the reader learns that Julia's parents created and directed a children's theater in Atlanta, Georgia. They were some of the first people to cross the color line, and their clients included the four children of Martin Luther King. Julia's father was charismatic, but troubled, and ran the gamut from charming to abusive. Her mother had her own problems and was unfaithful to her husband. Julia and her estranged brother seem to hold divergent opinions about their parents, but clearly this was a dysfunctional family. Spada chronicles Julia's school days, during which she considered herself an ugly duckling. He follows her during the lean early years of her acting career and traces her meteoric rise from a walk-on part in "Firehouse" in the mid-80's to her first big break in "Mystic Pizza" in 1988 and "Steel Magnolias" in 1989. During this time Julia began the pattern of pursuing men, falling in love with them, and then leaving them which repeated itself countless times in her life. The book continues through the 2003 release of the "Mona Lisa Smile" and the projected 2004 sequel to "Ocean's Eleven". Although there is no evidence that Spada spoke directly to Roberts, he manages to assemble a lot of information which he shares with the reader. This book shows all sides of Roberts, some which support her charming on-screen persona and some which are a lot less charming. Kudos to him for a job well done.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
In response
9 Mar 2004
Format:Hardcover
As the author of this book, I would like to
respond to the "review" below. It seems to me that when someone purports to review a book, they should do so based on more than one caption. Yes, the caption incorrectly says that Julia's character suffered an epileptic fit, but the text of the book goes into great detail about the character's diabetes. I viewed every one of Julia's movies several times. I welcome serious, thoughtful criticism of my work. but I don't feel that someone who can't bother to read more than the captions has a right to lambast my work.
respond to the "review" below. It seems to me that when someone purports to review a book, they should do so based on more than one caption. Yes, the caption incorrectly says that Julia's character suffered an epileptic fit, but the text of the book goes into great detail about the character's diabetes. I viewed every one of Julia's movies several times. I welcome serious, thoughtful criticism of my work. but I don't feel that someone who can't bother to read more than the captions has a right to lambast my work.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Revealing!
2 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
This book is highly enjoyable and a page turner if you are intrigued by Julia Roberts. It starts at the beginning growing up in a family separated with anger and distrust. It goes on to show her moving out of Georgia and living with her brother Eric and sister Lisa in New York. It talks of how she broke into acting and fame. It really gets into her relationships with men and her interactions with male co-stars. After reading this book I have a somewhat different view of the actor. I used to wish I had her life and envied her tremendously. It seems like she has difficulties with men, possibly falling in love with love and when it begins to get deep and intimacy is the next step forward, things start to get rough. It seems like anger and distrust keep coming up in her life and at least in her relationships with men. It does not really go into many female friendships, touching on Susan Sarandon and her sister Lisa. The author does a good job of tieing his research together to make a cohesive picture of Julia. He had a little bit of help, from private sources and her brother who send emails of info to him. It is interesting to me as to why she and her brother are still estranged. It seems as if something big must have happened to create such a chasm. It also seems as if Julia has followed her mothers and Eric's abandonment of each other on in her own life, I think this is sad. I see her as an open, say what's on your mind person, yet this may be because she is a hot commodity and can do this without as many repercussions as some of us have to contend with. If she was getting shunned for this behavior, and maybe she has, I don't know if it would be so quick to happen. It seems like an exciting life but with addiction of some kind having to be there is it really being enjoyed as completely. Is love being enjoyed completely if both partners can speak the truth without fear of some form of abandonment. Oh well, I had alot of thoughts come up from reading it and am grateful. I am glad I read the book. I do not feel the envy that I had once felt and see Julia as much more human, which I would think the author would want you to walk away with.
Lisa Nary
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