
With Love, Mommie Dearest
The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic
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Narrated by:
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Kim Niemi
About this listen
When she died in 1977, Joan Crawford was remembered as an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age—until publication the following year of her daughter's memoir, Mommie Dearest.
Christina Crawford's book was an immediate bestseller, addressing the infrequently discussed topic of child abuse.
When Paramount Pictures released the film, starring Faye Dunaway as Crawford, it was critically panned, and remains one of the most legendary critical bombs in film history. The lavish, big-screen adaptation drew unexpected laughter in the scenes depicting life in the Crawford household. Rarely have such good intentions been met with such ridicule.
Despite this, the movie was a commercial success and remains, four decades later, immensely popular. With Love, Mommie Dearest details the writing and selling of Christina's book and the aftermath of its publication, as well as the filming of the motion picture, whose backstage drama almost surpassed what was viewed onscreen in the film.
Based on new interviews with people connected to the book and the film, Hollywood historian A. Ashley Hoff explores the phenomenon, the camp, and the very real social issues addressed by the book and film.
©2024 A. Ashley Hoff; Foreword copyright 2024 by Bruce Vilanch (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By Anonymous User on 03-13-25
By: Tim Robey
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Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
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Waste of money
- By bkw74 on 07-19-21
By: Donald Spoto
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Leading Lady
- A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy
- By: Charles Busch
- Narrated by: Charles Busch
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The Tony Award-nominated writer of The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and the long-running hit Off-Broadway play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and a Sundance Festival award winner Charles Busch has created a unique place in the entertainment world as a playwright, LGBT icon, drag actor, director, and cabaret performer, with his extraordinary gift for both connecting with and channeling the leading ladies of show business.
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A transporting memoir of a great talent.
- By dognique on 12-16-24
By: Charles Busch
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A Murder in Hollywood
- The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Casey Sherman
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all—a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana's teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother's life deteriorate as Stompanato's intense jealousy took over.
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Not what you think…
- By christopher j rago on 02-26-24
By: Casey Sherman
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Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
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A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
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Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard
- Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream
- By: Sam Staggs
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, a classic film noir and also a damning dissection of the Hollywood dream factory, evokes the glamour and ruin of the stars who subsist on that dream. It’s also one long in-joke about the movie industry and those who made it great - and who were, in turn, destroyed by it. One of the most critically admired films of the 20th century, Sunset Boulevard is also famous as silent-star Gloria Swanson’s comeback picture.
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ABRIDGED VERSION BADLY NEEDED!
- By The Louligan on 01-18-22
By: Sam Staggs
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Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties
- The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television
- By: Foster Hirsch
- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
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Captivating from start to finish
- By Steve C. on 02-01-25
By: Foster Hirsch
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Survivor
- A Memoir, 30th Anniversary Edition
- By: Christina Crawford
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Christina Crawford’s Mommie Dearest cast a spotlight on the unspoken horrors of family violence and exorcised the demons of her childhood. But in the years following the controversial best seller’s publication, the author’s resilience was tested in ways she never expected. Crawford was forced to brave a stunning backlash intended to shame her, a film adaptation that bastardized her story and compounded the trauma, a descent into alcoholism, a divorce, and a massive stroke that left her paralyzed. Staying true to her fighting spirit, she made a remarkable comeback.
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What a mess
- By Kristopher's Korner on 03-21-20
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My Mother Was Nuts
- A Memoir
- By: Penny Marshall
- Narrated by: Penny Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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her life story going her humble roots in the Bronx to one of the most liked and respected figures in the entertainment business, also covering her marriage to Rob Reiner and relationships with Art Garfunkel, Carrie Fisher, and John Belushi, and her bout with lung and brain cancer in 2009, to Julia Cheiffetz
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The audio performance should get an award!
- By M. S. Cohen on 09-21-12
By: Penny Marshall
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My Way of Life
- By: Joan Crawford
- Narrated by: Joan Crawford
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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An incredible recording of Joan Crawford reading her book, My Way of Life. Originally recorded in 1973, it was recently remastered from the original LP records. Hear the unabridged edition performed by the one and only Joan Crawford.
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Fascinating!
- By mari on 04-27-17
By: Joan Crawford
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Bette & Joan
- The Divine Feud
- By: Shaun Considine
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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This joint biography of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford follows Hollywood's most epic rivalry throughout their careers. They only worked together once, in the classic spine-chiller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, and their violent hatred of each other as rival sisters was no act. In real life they fought over as many men as they did film roles.
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Fun yarn suffers from clinkers.
- By Gary & Jay on 06-11-17
By: Shaun Considine
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The Fixer
- Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn
- By: Josh Young, Manfred Westphal
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays, Manfred Westphal
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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During the height of Hollywood’s golden age, one man lorded over the city’s lurid underbelly of forbidden sin and celebrity scandal like no other: Fred Otash. An ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. vice cop, Otash became the most sought-after private detective and fixer to the stars by specializing in the dark arts that would soon dominate the entertainment industry. The Fixer delves into the extraordinary life of Hollywood’s most infamous private detective and “fixer” to the stars, revealing newly discovered shocking revelations from his never-before-seen investigative files.
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For Hollywood gossip lovers!
- By Janna Wong Healy on 06-01-24
By: Josh Young, and others
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Hollywood Pride
- A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film
- By: Alonso Duralde
- Narrated by: Alonso Duralde
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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On the eve the 20th century, in Thomas Edison’s laboratory, one of the earliest attempts at a sound film depicted two men dancing together as a third plays the violin. It’s only a few minutes long, but this cornerstone of early cinema captures a queer moment on film. It would not be the last. Hollywood Pride is a tale spanning from “pansy craze” of the 1930s to the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, all the way up to today.
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An Outstanding and Deeply Informative Read
- By Michael Morley on 01-31-25
By: Alonso Duralde
What listeners say about With Love, Mommie Dearest
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- A. Diozzi
- 06-16-24
AMAZING narrator for a wonderful book!
I have such a problem finding good stuff to listen to on my long commute. It's it's too "thinky", I can't follow it, but if it's too "lite" I get bored. This gem is everything you want on your commute, or when walking the dog, or when just relaxing at home with a tasty story. First, the narration. For me, it matters. With some books and podcasts, if the narrator is not skilled, I literally can't continue listening. Kim Niemi knocks it out the park with this delicious material, I mean, imagine having to say "No wire hangers.....EVER!" and "Tina, bring me the axe!" but not exactly try to imitate Faye imitating Joan. Ms. Niemi has figured it all out, and delivers the iconic lines with just a touch of Faye/Joan like the perfect amount of salt on your chips. Not too much, not too little, just right. Kim's voice is expressive without being over the top, and she uses inflection and a touch of an accent here and there so you're always sure who is being quoted. No easy feat, and something that I really need in the car so that I can follow what's going on. I'm in awe of the talent here.
But to the book. I'm at the perfect age to hear ALLLLL about the backstory of Mommy Dearest. One of the wackiest movies ever made, compelling, disturbing, hilarious, a guilty pleasure, a mixed bag of emotions and reactions, you won't be surprised that the backstory is juicy and jaw dropping. It also exposes all of us; what it means when we react to (what they hoped would be) serious material with gales of shocked laughter. This movie that had hoped to be some kind of serious exposé of the dark side of Hollywood, addiction, and child abuse became a camp classic with a Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe. If you want to know how that happened, what the intentions were, how Paramount changed their messaging to just roll with it, you've got to purchase this book immediately. If divas, backstage drama, Hollywood history and gossip, greed, ego, good intentions, and misguided direction are your thing, then you will never want this book to end.
A big BRAVA to Ms. Niemi and A. Ashley Hoff, Bruce Vilanch. Loved it!!
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- Richard Lopez
- 06-04-24
I am "wired' to this book!
This book is just plain fun. I grew up watching Mommie Dearest...and it is still one of my favorite movies. A true cult classic...camp at its best. This book is the perfect companion to the movie. Great inside stories, behind the scenes details and cutting room action. Each chapter is fun and fantastic. I loved hearing more about Mara Hobel and Diana Scarwid too.
If you love the movie...you will love this book. But...be warned...the book will give you the itch to watch the movie again.
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- Barbara Johnson
- 03-24-25
A good read
I had enjoying reading this book, Mommie Dearist. 4 stars! I highly recommend this book.
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- charlie tuna III
- 05-31-24
Starts out slow
Started out slow, increasing got better. Had some interesting thoughts and stories
Could definitely go much more in-depth.
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- Russ and fam
- 05-13-24
amazing storytelling
the book is so well written that I listened to the entire book all at one time. I've always loved behind closed doors Hollywood stories and this delivers. highly recommend to all
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- HSW
- 09-06-24
Narration is awful
I’m about halfway into this book and find I cringe more and more often at the narration style. We don’t need her to tell us Bette Davis is quoted as saying something…and then launch into a really poor and almost condescending imitation of Ms Davis. And using voice styling when mentioning what people have said in a manner other than own voice is distracting. Just speak the words. You’re not going to get an Oscar for this. I may not get through this book.
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- K.
- 04-09-25
It’s everything you could ever want.
Great book on the making of this iconic camp classic, what went right AND wrong, and particularly well-researched discussions on both its development and legacy.
Very much enjoyed the narrator, who reads all the requisite lines the way they sound in the film, and is quite good at impressions (who would have expected her to have an Alonzo Duralde impression in her back pocket?).
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