Dropped Names: Famous Men And Women As I Knew Them (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm not sure why I picked up this book beyond thinking Frank's story might be interesting, to which it was. The stories featured at times were boring; simply because I was unfamiliar with the characters featured in a few chapters. However in spite of that, his honesty with regards to who these people were to him was admirable. Additionally it was so in the way he spoke of those who touched his life throughout and though they have died he still thinks of them and has (often) more pleasant memories from having known them. Langella is the rare celebrity who realises that we read actors' bios mostly for the great gossip about the famous. These books usually following the same chronological order: who my parents and grandparents were, where and when I was born, how I grew up, my marriage(s), children, and where I am now, and we all plow through that when what we really want is the stories about people we recognise. Langella dispenses with the usual boring structure and instead gives the reader what s/he wants: a series of great stories about the famous. Each chapter is given a celebrity's name as title. They stories are told not in the usual chronological order, but instead in the order in which the celeb in question died. This is arbitrary; the order doesn't matter, and Langella explicitly tells readers to start anywhere they want. And you could dip into this anywhere, in any order at all. I've seen one review that called Langella "bitchy" for his stories, but I would strongly disagree. He gives his personal view of the celebrity in question, and is not mean about them, not even the ones he doesn't like. I found the stories if anything gallant; he doesn't state outright that he had sex with a particular actress but rather allows the reader to infer it. And he doesn't give the dirty details of any such encounters. I found this to be great fun, and very enjoyable indeed! My only regret: that he restricted the stories to celebrities who are dead--I would have loved to read about his relationship with Whoopi Goldberg!
What do You think about Dropped Names: Famous Men And Women As I Knew Them (2012)?
Exactly what was promised. Frank discussions of famous show biz people.
—lillangel1995
Interesting, entertaining and informative read.
—hschindler12
