Thursday, January 25, 2007

My brush with greatness

Jimmy Starr was a Hollywood figure from the 1920s through the '60s, with a string of careers as a screenwriter, gossip columnist, publicist, and press agent. He also wrote some crime fiction in the 1940s.

In 1926, he wrote a book of short stories entitled 365 Nights in Hollywood. He self-published the book in an edition of 1000, with each copy signed (I think).

I had never read any of the stories, but I was intrigued by the idea of a collection of insider tales about Hollywood written in the 1920s, so I took the plunge and bought a copy.

I've read one of the stories (plus a little introductory piece), and it's very odd and not so good. The prose is overwrought, and unless the story's two primary characters return later in the book, I have no idea what the point of the whole thing was.

But there are little etched color graphics throughout the book that are quite lovely, and the book is signed to Louise Keaton.

Who was Louise Keaton? Why, none other than Buster Keaton's sister, that's who (she also had a minor acting career of her own).

Posted by brett at 12:26 PM | TrackBack
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