Hollywood Babylon The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets
Author: Kenneth Anger

From Chaplin to Garland, this shocking classic uncovers the film capital's history of sex, drugs, violence and tragedy. Hundreds of rare photos.

This was a quite interesting account of the scandals that have rocked Hollywood since the early days in the teens and 1920's up until the 1960's. The stories include sex scandals, drug scandals, murders, and suicides and involve almost all the top Hollywood stars of the day. Included is the death of a young starlet at a drunken party where Fatty Arbuckle is put on trial for murder; the divorce of Charlie Chaplin after he is coerced into an unwanted marriage; the shooting of a Hollywood director on board the yacht of William Randolph Hearst (this incident was made into an interesting movie called The Cat's Meow);

the death of Rudolph Valentino; the sexual hijinks of Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Mae West, Errol Flynn, and many others; and the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sharon Tate, and many many more.

I enjoyed this from a somewhat voyeuristic view. But probably the best part of the book were the countless photos that were included of many of the stars and events that are included in the book. I would recommend this for anyone interested in the heyday of Hollywood.

Off to Bkind2books who selected this from the Nonfiction VBB. Enjoy!

Arrived while we were in Knoxville (babysitting our grands while our daughter & SIL went to concert [Sir Elton John - her favorite since she was a kid] and then we all went to the Smoky Mts).

Thanks for sending - it looks like a fun, quick read!