Debbie Reynolds (1932–2016)

Debbie Reynolds is a strong woman with a weakness for morally bankrupt men. I admire her efforts for trying to preserve Hollywood memorabilia from the golden age of movies, especially from big studio musicals. I really wish for her, and for all of us, that it did become a reality. She had some amazing artifacts. There is no doubt she did try very hard to establish the museum, but due to her poor choices in her last two husbands, who basically robbed her blind, she eventually had to auction show more off nearly all of her memorabilia collection putting an end to that dream. This made me very sad because it seemed she did not learn any lessons from her second marriage, and her poor choices with her third marriage, in my opinion, bordered on self-sabotage against her own life and happiness. The cliched saying..."Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" came to mind several moments as I read of her train wreck of a third marriage. Although, I viewed her third husband as despicable, it sickened me that Ms. Reynolds was so complacent and enabling of the whole situation. Even after she suspected her husband contemplated murdering her, she still harbored faint hopes it might work out. What?! It often amazed me as I was reading the book how strong her son Todd was to always be there to support his mother and scramble to fix the messes that she had a major role in creating. Not to mention the unnamed friends she had to borrow money and services from. This being said, I do admire her work ethic, sense of humor, and love for her children, parents, and brother. I enjoyed the memories she shared of the films she has done over the years. The fact that she has lived to such a ripe old age and still working so hard lives up to her memoir title "Unsinkable", yet it's plain to me she repeatedly and needlessly fired the torpedo on herself. show less

Let me start by saying I love Debbie Reynolds. I've seen "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" countless times. I wanted to love this book but I think it really fell short.

I think Debbie had two reasons for writing this book - 1) to talk about her awful experience with her 3rd husband, who deserves every word she wrote about him and 2) to talk about her failed attempts at building her Hollywood Museum and all of the problems and headaches that came with that.

I did not show more dislike this book but I think her best stories were told in the first book. My interest in her museum was just not there and I really wasn't interested in reading dozens of pages about it.

Not a bad book but I wish I'd given it a miss. show less

Debbie Reynolds is a strong woman with a weakness for morally bankrupt men. I admire her efforts for trying to preserve Hollywood memorabilia from the golden age of movies, especially from big studio musicals. I really wish for her, and for all of us, that it did become a reality. She had some amazing artifacts. There is no doubt she did try very hard to establish the museum, but due to her poor choices in her last two husbands, who basically robbed her blind, she eventually had to auction show more off nearly all of her memorabilia collection putting an end to that dream. This made me very sad because it seemed she did not learn any lessons from her second marriage, and her poor choices with her third marriage, in my opinion, bordered on self-sabotage against her own life and happiness. The cliched saying..."Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" came to mind several moments as I read of her train wreck of a third marriage. Although, I viewed her third husband as despicable, it sickened me that Ms. Reynolds was so complacent and enabling of the whole situation. Even after she suspected her husband contemplated murdering her, she still harbored faint hopes it might work out. What?! It often amazed me as I was reading the book how strong her son Todd was to always be there to support his mother and scramble to fix the messes that she had a major role in creating. Not to mention the unnamed friends she had to borrow money and services from. This being said, I do admire her work ethic, sense of humor, and love for her children, parents, and brother. I enjoyed the memories she shared of the films she has done over the years. The fact that she has lived to such a ripe old age and still working so hard lives up to her memoir title "Unsinkable", yet it's plain to me she repeatedly and needlessly fired the torpedo on herself. show less

This autobiography is in three parts, the first beginning with the end of her third marriage and thus starting with the end end of her previous memoir. This period of her life is marked by multi-year tragedies of divorcing her vicious and criminal husband and vainly trying to setup a Hollywood memorabilia museum until the painful auction of her collection proves to be her financial salvation. This is a period of crisis and betrayal, all taking her resolved and resourcefulness to survive show more making the "unsinkable" title apt. After the auction, where the recollection could end, the memoir limps on for a few discursive chapters about her earlier starlet life as an MGM contract player in a forgettable middle act. After this is a complete filmography of everything Reynolds was in - I mean, everything including 30-second background appearances. She offers a paragraph or more on what she remembers -or doesn't- on every role, cameo, and narration.

This is running up to 2013 with the final listing being the portrayal of Liberacci's mother in "Beyond the Candelabra". The book includes an index and additional listing of her films without commentary. show less