I bought this book many months ago from a local department store for only £2.99, and recently picked it up as I had a bad cold and couldn’t do much else while convalescing.
The story is set in the mid 1940s to 1950s in the Golden Era of Hollywood, centred in and around Los Angeles, and tells the story of Rita Hayworth’s relationship with Orson Wells. Told from the point of a fictional character involved with the pair, it weaves many real characters and events into the story, that I had to look them up online, such as Tom Mix, whom was a big star of the early Western films (he also appears on the cover of The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the great studio owners like Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures, and the gossip columnists of the time, Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper.
The story goes at break neck pace, and in my opinion, cramming in too much detail, as the author seems to be frightened to miss someone and something. The other thing which the book would have benefited from is a glossary of who's who, as it's a bit off putting have to do internet searches for them. Overall, a nice and easy read, which I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in old Hollywood.
Tracy Thomas
#Booktube : What I read in February 2025
Big Red by Jerome Charyn
I bought this book many months ago from a local department store for only £2.99, and recently picked it up as I had a bad cold and couldn’t do much else while convalescing.
The story is set in the mid 1940s to 1950s in the Golden Era of Hollywood, centred in and around Los Angeles, and tells the story of Rita Hayworth’s relationship with Orson Wells. Told from the point of a fictional character involved with the pair, it weaves many real characters and events into the story, that I had to look them up online, such as Tom Mix, whom was a big star of the early Western films (he also appears on the cover of The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the great studio owners like Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures, and the gossip columnists of the time, Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper.
The story goes at break neck pace, and in my opinion, cramming in too much detail, as the author seems to be frightened to miss someone and something. The other thing which the book would have benefited from is a glossary of who's who, as it's a bit off putting have to do internet searches for them. Overall, a nice and easy read, which I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in old Hollywood.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
#books #fiction #paperback #BigRed #RitaHeyworth #OrsonWells #Hollywood #films #movies #JeromeCharyn
1 month ago | [YT] | 0