Ava : My Story

About this book

Hardcover Edition of Ava Gardners own story with no hold barred. Like a novel but Ava really lived it.In this chatty autobiography Gardner tells of her upbringing in a poor but proud Southern family her sudden success in early-40s Hollywood--mainly because of her beauty--and rails against MGM which played up her cheesecake potential. She neatly sums up the problems in each of her three short Mickey Rooney was a blatant womanizer; Artie Shaw was cool and overbearing; Frank Sinatra (the two were the loves of each others lives) was as jealous as she leading to drunken marathon fights. Gardner also sketches a creepy portrait of Howard Hughes who for years stopped at no machination in an unsuccessful attempt to bed and marry her. A shy woman who used drink to feel comfortable socially Gardner seems very likable down-home spontaneous and sadly derogatory toward her intelligence acting abilities--and even her beauty. Of the seven included "eulogies" from friends and colleagues Stephen Birminghams best captures the joy and tragedy of Gardners life.