(Anonymous)ABAA
The Intimate Journal of Rudolph Valentino
1931ref. 18378New York: William Faro Inc. Very Good in Good dj. 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. a nice clean copy with only minor shelfwear to book; the jacket has a triangular piece torn away at the top left corner of the rear panel and is modestly faded on the spine panel and along the left edge of the front panel. Valentino's utterly fascinating if utterly bogus memoir-from-beyond-the-grave presented in a series of thirty-four portentiously-titled "entries" e.g. "The Eleventh Entry." Purportedly ghost-written by Samuel Roth the book opens with the "Last Entry" Valentino's purported account of the sudden onset of his final fatal illness then proceeds into more or less standard autobiographical mode. There's a good deal about his romance with and marriage to Natascha or Natacha if you prefer Rambova nee Winifred Hudnut which is regarded by many Valentino fans as one of the more unfortunate choices-of-partner that he made during his short life and meteoric career -- although R.V. rebuts this view in The Twenty-Third Entry in which he addresses the rumors that she was controlling manipulative etc. According to dead Rudy she was "a woman of the highest culture with a sane and judicious mind and I know she is loyal to my interests and that she thoroughly knows motion pictures" and that he "would indeed be a fool" if he ignored her advice. Given how well she comes off in this account I don't think we can discount the possibility that Natascha herself might have been behind its publication. . William Faro, Inc. hardcover books
ReadInk · Estados UnidosUS$ 350,00≈ € 312,70
