Hedy's Folly: The Life And Breakthrough Inventions Of Hedy Lamarr, The Most Beautiful Woman In The World (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
I feel like the title is a misdirect because the book's material seemed more focused on George Antheil. The aspects of the environment of WWII and Hedy's personal life were fascinating. I am interested in reading more about Antheil, but I feel more informed about him than the woman in the title. Not going to lie, I'm pretty disappointed in that aspect alone. However, the book was still informative and it made me more curious about that era and the people who influenced it. This is really a dual biography of the man and woman who developed the idea of frequency-hopping, now widely used in all sorts of wireless devices and mobile computers. The movie star, Hedy Lamarr, emerges as a remarkably sane and happy woman who simply walked past the persecution of Jews in 1930's Europe, the glitzy attractions of Hollywood's studio system, and the disregard for her inventions of the male-dominated military and engineering communities. The experimental musician, George Antheil, was in many ways her polar opposite (name-dropping, boastful, always seeking the lime-light.) Ironically, while Lamarr went through husbands at a staggering rate, even for Hollywood, Antheil's wife Boski, whose unpublished reminiscences make some of the best reading in the book, remained true for his life.
What do You think about Hedy's Folly: The Life And Breakthrough Inventions Of Hedy Lamarr, The Most Beautiful Woman In The World (2000)?
Interesting but I don't think it was well written. He jumps around and I found it very confusing.
—Geo
What a boring way to tell a fascinating story.
—charlymc
