Mary Astor's Purple Diary
The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
A hilarious send-up of sex, scandal, and the Golden Age of Hollywood by legendary cartoonist Edward Sorel.
In 1965, a young, up-and-coming illustrator by the name of Edward Sorel tore away layer after layer of linoleum from the floor of his $97-a-month Manhattan apartment until he discovered a hidden treasure: issues of the New York Daily News and Daily Mirror from 1936, each ablaze with a scandalous child custody trial taking place in Hollywood starring the actress Mary Astor—and the journal in which she detailed her numerous affairs. Thus began a half-century obsession that reached its peak in Mary Astor’s Purple Diary, “a thoroughly charming” (New York Times Book Review, front-page review) account of the scandal in which Sorel narrates and illustrates the travails of the Oscar-winning actress alongside his own personal story of discovering an unlikely muse. Now in a stunning paperback, featuring more than sixty ribald and rapturous original illustrations, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary is the life’s masterpiece of one of America’s greatest illustrators.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Acclaimed illustrator and writer Sorel (The Mural at the Waverly Inn: A Portrait of Greenwich Village Bohemians) shares his lifelong appreciation of classic film in this utterly charming, and colorfully illustrated, account of the life of Oscar-winning actor Mary Astor (1906 1987). Astor, best known for The Maltese Falcon (1941), lived a life that was often more fascinating than the roles she was offered. Despite being acclaimed both for her talent and beauty, she suffered several professional lows and endured one of the most scandalous episodes of 1930s Hollywood when her ex-husband stole her diary and used passages revealing her affairs to contest Astor's custody of their daughter. After coming across old tabloid newspapers detailing the trial, Sorel developed an obsession with Astor that has lasted for more than 50 years. In this succinct and poignant book, Sorel traces the trajectory of Astor's career as it melds with his own. She emerges as a troubled figure who struggled to navigate the choppy waters of success. The author's lively narrative and vibrant images gives the actor a new role as an artist's muse.
