Now, girls, you know it is a rare day in Hell, when I read non-fiction. I have nothing against it, I just prefer the fictional side of things. But sometimes I am compelled in the other direction, and when I posted, recently, about seeing Melissa McCarthy do her dramatic turn as forger Lee Israel, whom I was acquainted with, I knew I had to read the book.
So, I did. It is like sitting down, and having Lee talk at you, because if face to face, you would not get a word in edgewise. The reader also gets her abrasive personality, without having to deal with it, one on one, which is a blessing.
But there is more to Lee than the movie suggested. She was quite a social gadfly, not quite the pathetic Manhattan spinster the movie made her out to be, though she did exhibit that side, and she apparently had more relationships with women than the mysterious "Elaine," in the movie, who turns out to be a real person, but, like the movie, these relationships went nowhere, most likely because of Lee.
In a brilliant stroke, Lee goes on to detail she how pulled off her forgeries, and displays ample evidence of her work. She also had a fixation on Louise Brooks, who comes off as fascinating in her own right, and she even--now 'OZ' loves will flip over this--forged letters from actress Clara Blandick, memorable for portraying Aunt Em in "The Wizard Of Oz." Lee really got around.
She also had a mother and stepfather, living in Florida, whom she did not want to find out about her escapades, and a brother with whom she was estranged. In other words, she had family; she was not the all-out loner the film portrays, but she chose to live that way. Cats were her only humane connection.
Lee's book is slight, but fun. She does have a sense of humor. At the end of the book, she signs her actual signature, proof that the book is not a forgery. Lee gets the last laugh on everyone.
If she were here today, she would be having a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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