Product Description

Ava Gardner was the sex symbol who dazzled the other sex symbols. Elizabeth Taylor and Lana Turner thought her the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. She drove Frank Sinatra to the brink of suicide. Ernest Hemingway carried around one of her kidney stones as a sacred memento. Howard Hughes begged her to marry him: she punched out his front teeth. Her charismatic presence, jaw-dropping beauty and scandalous adventures fuelled the legend that she became. Yet she was a farmgirl who became a reluctant goddess, and who retreated from the world's gaze for the last years of her life. Filled with fresh insights gleaned from interviews with Ava's colleagues, friends and lovers, this is the definitive biography of Hollywood's most glamorous, restless and uninhibited star.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152399 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 580 pages

Review
'An extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman Gardner's genius was not her work, but, as this book proves, her life' Observer 'Server gets movie stars, and he gets movies That's quite a trick for a biographer to pull off - both to immerse himself in his subjects, yet make them utterly his own' Tom Shone, Sunday Times 'Server has gone to extraordinary lengths to track down publicists, make-up artists, servants, friends and neighbours to provide the most intimate, fully rounded portrait A great read that allows us to see Gardner in a different light' Glasgow Herald 'In the space of these pages, we befriend, then fall in love with, then finally mourn a remarkably beautiful woman who was surprisingly shy, yet spoke her mind fearlessly (and often colourfully), who thought little of herself as an actress, who lived in a man's world yet managed not to be fooled into losing sight of who she was. She remained, ultimately, free to be herself, no matter what the price' Peter Bogdanovitch, New York Times

Tom Shone, Sunday Times
`Server gets movie stars, and he gets movies ... That's quite a
trick for a biographer to pull off - both to immerse himself in his
subjects, yet make them utterly his own'

Glasgow Herald
`The most intimate, fully rounded portrait ... A great read that
allows us to see Gardner in a different light'

Customer Reviews

The definitive biography
A lengthy but addictive read about the bitter sweet life of Ava Gardner. Thorougly well researched, particularly in respect of film production and anecdotes from co-stars and others who knew or met Ava. Written in a dispassionate yet understanding style by clearly an intelligent and insightful biographer.
Any fan of Ava Gardner or a curious on-looking should read this excellent and defining biography.

Not just a great biography...
This great book reveals the truth and insight to the stories that are now legend. Moving without being sentimental, the work of this author is immense. It wont matter if you know nothing about Ava Gardner, or if you didnt think you had any interest in her - this book will amaze you.

Ava: Goddess or Witch?
If you have ever watched a film starring Ava Gardner and been enchanted by her face, acting and voice, you will surely want to know how her life unravelled and what her many loves, husbands and one-night stands resulted in.....
Lee Server has used a lot of slang, presumably to match his subject, and he does give you a pretty complete picture of this somewhat wild, amoral woman. But he also makes you realise she was a very decent person and certainly her own woman.
She was a better actress than she was given credit for, and was one of those movie-stars one simply couldn't take one's eyes off....not just because of her classical beauty, but because of something warm, earthy, lovable and fascinating within her.
She did not lead a very happy life, and this book is no hagiography. But it's fascinating account of Hollywood in the 40s, 50s and 60s, shows very well how a beautiful woman like Ava Gardner could get caught up in the star-making machinery, meet men of all types, some of whom wanted to "mould" her, went her merry way the moment a man did something she didn't like, failed to have a child which might have grounded or fulfilled her, and finally grew old, lost her beauty, became ill, and died like everyone else. But not quite like everyone else because, after all, she WAS Ava Gardner. I could not put this book down. A well-researched, rivetting read.