Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It

 

I have never seen a Jayne Mansfield film (and unlikely to at this point, since none of the 9,000,000 streaming services I pay for every month have one that I can watch without paying even more money). But after reading "Hollywood Babylon", I was intrigued about Jayne's tragically short life. I saw this book by Eve Golden was brand new and decided to give it a go. It was pretty good, she had a lovely, snarky, sarcastic sense of humor that I love (for instance, one of the pictures showed Jayne and then boyfriend Mickey Hargitay showing up a at Hollywood party in skimpy matching bathing suits, and her caption read: "Jayne and boyfriend Mickey Hargitay make a quiet and tasteful appearance at the press agents' Ballyhoo Ball"). 

Golden really tried to cut through the rumors that have surrounded Jayne's life for decades, most of those rumors started by Jayne herself. She never turned down a chance to appear in public, going to any grocery store opening or ribbon cutting ceremony she could. Rarely a day went by without some mention of Jayne in the newspapers. She was, of course, often compared to Marilyn Monroe, but unlike Monroe, she was extremely professional. Everyone who worked with her agreed she was punctual, knew her lines, worked very hard, and was generally a joy to be around. She had three husbands and five kids when she died at the age of 33 in a tragic car accident in Louisiana. Her boyfriend, Sam Brody, and a young man who had been hired to drive them to Jayne's next appearance (Sam had recently broken his foot and couldn't drive) named Ronnie Harrison were killed instantly when their car smashed into the back of a truck on a dangerous stretch of highway. Three of Jayne's kids were in the backseat (Mickey Jr., Zoltan, and Mariska). All three were injured, and two of Jayne's Chihuahuas were also killed. Rumors that Jayne was decapitated were false, but her death was extremely gruesome (don't look up the pictures online. Seriously, just don't). It was a tragic end to a fun-loving, kind woman who didn't always make the smartest decisions.  

Ordinary Heroes

I cried a lot while reading this one. For the last twenty years, I really haven't watched or read anything about 9/11. I think all of us who were old enough to remember that day will never forget the sheer horror of what we were watching on TV. For me it was the people leaping to their deaths, clinging to the side of the buildings. It was surreal and awful and enraging and terrifying. I was working at B&N at the time, and a few days later a couple of us were discussing it, and one of my colleagues said he thought America deserved it because of how we interfered with other countries. I've never come so close to attacking anyone in all my life. I went off on him verbally (ironically enough, he was arrested for stealing money from the bookstore not long afterwards, so that tells you what kind of fine, upstanding citizen he was). I have never, and will never, understand that sort of hatred and disdain for this country. It is the greatest in the world. Are we perfect? No. But we are full of ordinary heroes, like Joseph Pfeifer, the first FDNY Chief at the disaster that morning. 

By happenstance, two brothers, Jules and Gedeon Nauder were filming a new recruit, Tony, who was assigned to Pfeifer's firehouse. The summer of '01 was quiet, fire wise, and everyone felt bad for Tony and the documentary filmmakers, who really wanted to capture what it was like for the first responders. On Tuesday, September 11, Chief Pfeifer, with Jules in tow, responded to a call about a possible gas leak. They heard the first plane and Jules instinctively turned to look, capturing the only footage of the first plane hitting the North Tower. As the closest chief to the scene, Pfeifer and his crew hurried over to the World Trade Center and took command. I watched Jules' footage for the first time a few weekends ago during the 20th anniversary and it was horrifying to realize they were in the North Tower, just minutes before it collapsed, barely escaping with their lives. The looks on the firefighters faces as they heard the bodies hitting the ground outside the lobby where they were stationed, helpless to stop the jumpers (the first firefighter who died that day was hit by a someone who jumped as he was trying to run into the building). They went up while everyone working in the building hurried down. Joseph sent his younger brother, Kevin, to the South Tower and never saw him again. Kevin's body was eventually recovered in February of 2002. 

It was a heartbreaking account of what happened on that day our world changed, told by one of the extraordinary heroes. He was hopeful, though, and talked about the good that had come out of the tragedy, the things they learned and how to handle disasters like this in the future.  About the importance of not focusing on our differences, but rather coming together and realizing that first and foremost, we are Americans. 
 

My Best Friend's Exorcism

 

I actually read the hardcover version of Grady Hendrix's "My Best Friend's Exorcism", which has a completely different cover than the paperback, but I loved this cover so much I had to use it. 

I somehow missed reading this book when it came out a few years ago, and when I finished "The Final Girl Support Group" I decided to read this one. It was really good, I liked it a lot. God, he's big on the gross out scenes. Not quiet as bad as Bentley Little, but he's definitely right up there.

It takes place in Charleston in the late 1980s. Margaret, Glee, Gretchen, and Abby are high schoolers and best friends. One night they drop acid and Gretchen disappears into the woods. The other girls aren't able to find her, and the next morning just as Abby is starting to really panic, Gretchen comes stumbling out rather worse for wear. She says she got lost and she's okay, but over the next few weeks Abby notices a marked change in her friend's behavior. She stops changing her clothes or bathing, stops eating, basically becomes a wreck. Abby is desperately trying to get all the adults in her life to help (for once, a teenager doesn't try to solve it on her own, she actually does get an adult and they all let her down). 

Then Gretchen does a 180 and seems fine again. Better than fine, actually. Everyone else is eager to move on and forget what happened, but Abby knows that there's something seriously wrong with Gretchen and she's determined to save her from the demon possessing her. It had a lot of fun 80s cultural references. 

War of the Roses: Stormbird

 

I've had this series on my to read list for a while now, I was just concerned with how he would treat Richard III. Obviously if he was going to malign him I wasn't interested in reading it, but I went online and looked and it seemed like he would be fair, so I read it. It was okay, not the best I've ever read. He changed some things unnecessarily, I thought, like having Richard born years before he actually was and I'm not sure why. 

The book starts out with King Henry VI wanting a truce with France as well as a bride. His spymaster, Derry Brewer, and Somerset arrange for Margaret of Anjou to marry Henry and they give a lot of English territory back to France, which makes the English people living on those lands none too pleased. Rebellions arise, Henry starts getting ill and fading, leaving his young bride to try to run the kingdom and keep Richard, Duke of York (Richard III's father) from running away with it. The book ended with Richard being named Protector of the Realm during the king's illness, and Margaret about to give birth to her son, Edward.