Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud

I’m one of those queer women who’s taste might better at times be likened to a stereotypical 40-50 smth gay man. At least as far as old Hollywood divas and musical theatre are concerned. Ever since I was like.. I dunno, four? Five? And saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time and discovered Judy Garland, I gobbled it all up and never looked back.

This took me a long time (nearly a month!) to listen to, because, one: it’s long, and two: it’s nonfiction, and three: I was visiting my sister for two of those weeks and not spending a lot of time with headphones on and instead, enjoying my time with her. But I’m glad I savored it. Is all of this true? Who knows—the truth is in there somewhere, for sure, and it’s a hell of a ride. show more I discovered this narrator while listening to Daisy Jones and the Six, and wanted to find more titles narrated by her, as she is absolutely fantastic. Her voices for Bette and Joan were really good, but, I really loved her Joan. (I love both of these horrible, fabulous women, but I’m honestly a tiiiiiny bit more of a Joan girl, whoops). All in all, this was a hell of a listening experience and I had an absolute blast. show less

Deliciously dishy tale of the 40+ year feud between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Packed full of name-dropping and "insider" information, often self-contradictory but always entertaining.

Movie buffs will revel at the glimpses of Big Name Stars like Gable, Bogart, Hepburn, and Monroe. Fans of the wickedly honed bon mot will relish the verbal barbs these two outspoken women shot at each other. And both groups will be combing Netflix archives to get their hands on many of the films mentioned.

If you like old school Hollywood gossip, you’ll love this book. The stories of both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are the stuff that keeps celebrity gossip magazines going forever. Eternally in competition and continually trying to upstage each other in every aspect of their lives, It must have been exhausting; both for themselves and for anyone who had to work with them.

The longer the book went on, the more I longed for a studio head, producer, director, ANYONE to just tell them to cut it out & to get to work. But then, I guess that’s what “stars” did back in the golden age of Hollywood.

The story of these duelling divas is by turns hilarious, monstrous and tragic. This account of it is exhaustive, explosive and unsparing.

A scathing bitch fest which makes you scream with delight. A comparison of the lives and careers of two very strong Aries women who had it out for each other. Digs are made, slander cast around and then the two Uber Bitches make a movie together--then the REAL sparks fly! There has never been any actresses who have ever rivaled these women for talent and star quality. These women required men who could stand up to them as directors and actors. While Crawford's strentgh was her prescene and beauty, Davis had real acting talent above and beyond and was never afraid to get her hands dirty. This book is more than the two Queens of Hollywood but a look back at the Hollywood of yore that made real Stars.

Bitchy all the way through. Not much about their movies. Too bad.

You can see the fur flying from a mile off. Fun, fun book.