Library Journal
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Part one of Huston's planned two-part autobiography delivers nearly everything one could hope for in an old-school Hollywood memoir. Not that there is much Hollywood, since the early part of Huston's life was spent at the family estate in Ireland, with pedigreed dogs and horses rather than swimming pools and convertibles, but the other ingredients supply plenty of glamor, with famous visitors and stories of tragedy, romance, and beauty. While Huston reveals much that could be considered difficult (suicide attempts, an abusive relationship), she does so with a certain steeliness and lack of self-pity, lingering only where it seems to please her, clearly taking great joy in remembering her beloved parents and the pleasures of her early years with them. In certain places, this restraint serves to heighten the emotion of the book, while in others it may increase the distance between the reader and the author, as with her sudden, almost taken for granted success in the world of modeling. Huston reads, and her rich voice, elegant accent, and occasionally quirky pronunciation make the audio version particularly delightful. Verdict Unusually well written for a celebrity memoir, this should delight those with an interest in Huston or Hollywood, as well as fans of memoir in general. ["Recommended for fans of the Hustons...as well as those who enjoy Vanity Fair-type showbiz profiles," read the review of the Scribner hc, LJ 11/1/13.]-Heather -Malcolm, Bow, WA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
An Oscar-winning actress from a celebrated entertainment family recalls her peripatetic childhood and adolescence, her various awakenings and epiphanies. The granddaughter of Oscar winner Walter Huston (1949, for The Treasure of Sierra Madre) and daughter of Oscar-winning actor and director John Huston (1949, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, for directing and screenwriting) writes that she "was a lonely child." However, so many personalities and celebrities swirl through the story that we begin to wonder about loneliness in a crowd. Born in 1951, she soon became a part of her father's world, though he was often absent, off filming. She adored her mother (John's fourth wife) but would soon learn that her father's carnal needs were immense. He would marry a fifth time but also carry on multiple affairs with--it seems--just about any woman who would yield. The earliest sections of Huston's memoir are the strongest: poignant details about her childhood affections, the men and women who worked on the Irish estate purchased with her father's film profits (his habitual gambling ever endangered all), the quotidian routines of girlhood. But as time progresses, the memoir sags. Soon, her selection principle seems to be "I remember this, so I'm including it," and a phone book of names assails readers, challenging both memory and interest. However, there are some amusing anecdotes--e.g., a plane ride with the Monkees, an appearance with an oddly detached Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. The death of her mother (car crash) was obviously traumatizing, as was a longtime affair with photographer Bob Richardson, an affair that veered toward abusive before its end. This first installment--to be followed next year with the second volume--concludes as the author heads to Los Angeles. Banality clutches the text tightly, too rarely releasing its wings.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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Actress Huston achieves some moments of ringing clarity in this memoir of her youth, especially as regards her famous director father, John Huston, whom she was both terrified and in awe of (people "considered him a lion, a leader, the pirate they wished they had the audacity to be"). The daughter of his fourth wife, the dancer Ricki Soma (who was much younger than him), Anjelica Huston and her older brother, Tony, were raised in a remote 110-acre estate in West Country, Ireland, called St. Clerans, where being homeschooled; being visited by famous, quirky people; riding horses amid wildly romantic scenery; and playing dress-up filled her youth. Her father was frequently absent on far-flung shoots, and her exotic mother was "out of her element." With her parents' separation, Anjelica moved between Ireland and London, where her mother lived and where Anjelica went to school in the 1960s. She gradually embraced an acting career, appearing in her father's A Walk with Love and Death, though without confidence. After the death of her mother in 1969, Huston slipped into a more comfortable role of modeling and serving as the muse for the troubled, brilliant (and much older) fashion photographer Bob Richardson over four tortured years. Huston ends her brave account by describing her complex relationship with her father. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
With her high cheekbones and piercing dark eyes, Huston was fated for success as a fashion model. As the daughter and granddaughter of film and stage royalty, she was also assured a career as an actress. How she fulfilled those dual destinies is the subject of the first in a planned two-volume memoir in which Huston delves into her past in stunning detail. Growing up on a sprawling Irish estate, Huston was in thrall to her famous director father John Huston's larger-than-life escapades and demands. As a teenager coming of age in London in the late 1960s, Huston fell under the spell of her passionately artistic prima-ballerina mother, Enrica Soma, who died just as Huston was coming into her own. Following that tragedy, the peripatetic Huston moved to New York where she captured the eye and captivated the attention of the day's leading fashion photographers, including the famously mercurial Bob Richardson. As a multitalented contributor to her family's theatrical legacy, Huston candidly reveals the heady and heartbreaking realities of life in that misconceived stratosphere.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
This nostalgic opus chronicles actress/model Huston's life (and burgeoning career) from childhood to young adulthood. In highly descriptive detail, Huston (b. 1951) tells the story of her parents, director John Huston and former dancer Enrica Soma, and their cultured, yet curiously distant marriage. Filled with correspondence from her parents and family friends, many of them quite famous, this memoir paints a portrait of artificial opulence tempered by tragedy and the financial and interpersonal struggles of Huston and her family. Her storytelling skills, honed at an early age, are evident throughout, though readers may feel that there is much more to the Huston family that remains untold. Perhaps those stories will surface in part two, covering Huston's later career and life, which is scheduled to publish in 2014. Verdict Recommended for fans of the Hustons (John; his father, Walter; Anjelica), as well as those who enjoy Vanity Fair-type showbiz profiles.-Tamela Chambers, Chicago Pub. Schs. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly
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This first installment of a planned two-part memoir by actress and former model Huston focuses on her childhood as the daughter of film director John Huston and his fourth wife, a young ballerina. Most of the author's early years were spent abroad, particularly in the west country of Ireland, so here listeners are occasionally treated to a hint of brogue. Huston reads her memoir in a quiet voice, betraying little emotion but showing flashes of affection for her father (who, in one memorable scene, gambled the last of their household money for a Monet) and her mother (who was tragically killed when Huston was just 17). Huston's low, rich voice adds a certain darkness to this audio performance, even when she's recounting lighter tales, and her wry humor is evident when she describes the hijinks that ensued at the many house parties her parents hosted. A Scribner hardcover. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.