I know that most people buy this book to read the nitty-gritty, salacious details of Mia's tragic relationship with Woody Allen, but that is not the reason this book seemed to call out to me. I was curious about Maureen O'Sullivan, one of my favorite old actresses (and the best Jane to grace the silver screen), and Mia's mother, as well as Mia's time with Frank Sinatra. Quite before it got to the Woody section that completed the book, I learned many facts I was surprised to find out. I had assumed Maureen quit the Tarzan pictures to work closer to home and be with her children (and SEVEN of them at that!), but, as it turned out, she merely didn't enjoy her time, which is a bit disappointing, but understandable. I find it hilarious that the monkeys felt territorial over Johnny Weissmuller and felt her an encroacher, so she called them "jealous homosexuals", and referred to Cheetah himself as "that little bastard". The "marriage" she shared with John Farrow, however, seemed to be deeply rooted in 1950s Irish Catholicism-- i.e., they weren't happy, but allowing him an "extra door to his room for his hussies" was preferable to divorce, apparently. I was unaware that Mia had grown up so religiously, including the bulk of her education in Catholic boarding schools, which made her at one time desire to become a nun-- that part was not quite so surprising, actually, knowing her great humanitarian desire to help others, especially children in need. Her marriage to Frank Sinatra-- I enjoyed reading of this. While their love affair was brief, they sustained a cordial friendship that lasted the rest of their lives (he threatened to break Woody Allen's legs for her-- she should've let him!), and gained her very close friend, Nancy Sinatra, through the relationship. However, the Ava Gardner connection... Ohhhh... Walking in on your father with a woman, then ten years later marrying her ex-husband? Awk-ward... Not to mention that she once drunkenly came to Mia and said, "Isn't she CUTE?? She's like the baby Frankie and I never had!" (Beyond awkward.) And, though she adored Frank, too many differences seemed to get in the way-- she liked the quiet life, it just wasn't him. It seems that her happiest love was with Andre` Previn, actually, with whom she shared her first six children, Matthew and Sasha (twins, biological), Lark (adopted), Fletcher (biological), Daisy (adopted) and Soon-Yi (adopted). However, too much time apart can ruin even a real, great love, and the small amount of time they spent together it seems that they were more together to have babies... And, then, she was alone with her babes and her mother... she should probably have stayed that way, but hindsight is always 20-20. She allowed Woody Allen into her life, and, surprisingly, though he took over great chunks of it, and was omnipresent, he never actually LIVED with her at all. There seemed to be red flags all over the place, but perhaps fear, or loneliness, or both made her allow him to remain in her life, despite his cold indifference to her dearly loved (now seven) children. And, when they decided to adopt a child together, this is when the REAL trouble began... from the moment of BIRTH she could see his behavior as "wildly inappropriate" towards little Dylan, but merely tried to coax him out of it. When she became pregnant with a child of their own, more red flags appeared, as he had no interest the second he found out the child was a boy, and no desire to have anything to do with him in following years, including threatening (and once attempting, only to be thwarted by Mia) to break his legs and referring to him constantly as "that superfluous little bastard". Still, apparently all the red flags in the world weren't enough, and she surprisingly was shocked when his sociopathic, pedophiliac, unethical, devious and without-conscience behavior came to true light, slapping her in the face. She won the right to keep him from her precious, innocent and scarred children, but lost a daughter (Soon-Yi) in the process. She is regretful of bringing him into their lives, and admits her own shortcomings in doing so. However, this strong woman was able to move forward with her family, though it doesn't sound as if she'd want to risk her heart again. I found this a beautifully written, detailed memior; one of the best I've actually read. I literally COULD NOT put it down.
This is a biography that I picked up at Value Village and read pretty rapidly. I allow myself one of these kinds of fastfood type books every so often-- usually feel a little greasy and ill after I consume them. Mia Farrow writes well and the book is interesting on many levels, mostly because my "inner judge" just wouldn't lay down the gavel. I'm not keen on books that I don't learn something positive from, and I'm still attempting to figure out what it is that I learned from this. I guess I am admiring of the fact that Mia seems to have the gift of compassion and adopted no less than 10 children, most with profound challenges (blindness, cerebral palsy, etc.)from other countries where they had no hope of being adopted. She also birthed four of her own (3 with Conductor Andre Previn and one with Woody Allen). That, my friend, is 14 children. I doubt that Liz Taylor and Angelina can even hit those figures? So, I will grant her that-- she seems to honestly love each of the children (or from what she writes) and has parented exceedingly well, given how little time she likely had between traveling around doing movies and trying to attend to the needs of all those children, not to mention the men she was involved with...THE MEN SHE WAS INVOLVED WITH: this is where my 'inner judge' goes balistic with the gavel. First she was married as a mere slip of a girl (maybe still a teenager, forget) to Frank Sinatra who was into his 50s, and then Andre Previn, who was maybe closer to her age, and last, to Woody Allen, who was only 10 years her senior. The age-thing aside (her father had been a womanizer in Hollywood as she grew up-- she loved him, but could never quite get enough of him-- he was also depressed and attempted to murder her mother, actress Margaret O'Sullivan), she seems to have made decisions to be with men who were successful in a way she could relate to (high-flying Hollywood guys in 'the biz'). She lived the rich & famous life with them, and then paid through the nose with all kinds of heartbreak. Woody Allen was the WORST of the pack of husbands. By all accounts he was emotionally/mentally abusive and totally self-absorbed. The saddest and most disgusting part, of course, is that he seduced the oldest adopted child, Soon-Yi, and married her. I'm not sure if they are still married. He also sexually-abused the much-younger little girl, Dylan, from the time she was a toddler until she was around 7. All the signs were there, but naturally he hired a stable of lawyers to make sure there was enough doubt, etc. for him to get off with a slap to the wrist. Allen had the audacity to keep a custody battle going throughout at the end of their relationship. Farrow wisely (I think) includes a reproduction of the Supreme Court decision in its entirety in the appendix. If you don't believe what she writes, you can read what the Judge had to say. In conclusion, because I was disgusted by all the amoral crap in this book, I gave it less than the 5 star rating. But because it was well-written and I came away liking Mia Farrow, regardless of her flaws and her bad judgement, I gave it 4 stars. I'm not really recommending it because I believe there are also many more productive ways to spend your time and more positive role models out there to read about.
Do You like book What Falls Away: A Memoir (1997)?
Mia Farrow has managed to tell her harrowing story through three marriages, fourteen children, a narcissistic Woody Allen who abused her seven-year daughter and then started a sexual relationship with her teen-aged daughter (although not in that order), and tried to win custody of three of the children. By some amazing gift, she can not only tell the story in quite a personal and poetic way, but does not make the reader cringe or run for the exits; she is just an excellent writer who reveals her own depth and integrity while making us wonder many many things.Here is what I wondered throughout the entire book ( I did not wonder about Woody Allen's slimyness; he is obviously a hopeless nutcase; the worse kind...):1. I wondered about Money. How could Farrow afford all the expenses of raising so many children? (And I was always counting on my fingers just many children there were. There were SO MANY.) Her father died broke; her mother, Maureen Sullivan was acting on the Broadway stage at the age of 55 to support her own 7 children! Did Mia inherit some money somewhere along the line? I think her 2nd husband Andre Previn, who seemed a decent sort,did help support his 6 (or 7) kids with her, but still. (Maybe she made her money in Peyton Place, or Rosemary's Baby.)2. I wondered about space. Where did all those children sleep? IN the cabin on the lake in Connecticut or wherever that was, it did not sound like a mansion.3. I wondered how all her children got along so well. Here you had special needs orphans who had been traumatized in Viet Nam and elsewhere; yet as soon as she brought them home to the USA, it was like a Disney movie.4. I wondered about childcare. There is some slight mention later on in the book about a "babysitter" and a "French Tutor," but with 7,8, and 9 small children in a home and Mia free to go act in films and on the stage, who was home taking care of the kids? How many nannies? Was there a cook? Who did the laundry and washed the dishes, not to mention the bathroom? These are the details that were missing.So after all that wondering, I have to admit that I think Mia Farrow must have just had a magical amount of love to give these children. It seemed like every few months she was taking in a new child, with seemingly no qualms. And flying all around the world, to pick up the child from the orphanage, often bringing along one or two of her other children. In my experience as a lower-middle class working person who raised a mere 3 children, that was pretty demanding. I cannot even imagine having 7, 8, 9, 10, and eventually 14 children! And while still having an acting career and maintaining a relationship with a partner (although we do see how that went downhill.)Am I the only one with all these questions?This was a terrifically revealing and inspiring book. I have nothing but respect for Mia Farrow. She certainly has the "right stuff." And I would also comment that way before Angelina Jolie introduced the concept to the public of adopting orphans from various third world countries and blending with the children she gave birth to, apparently there was Mia Farrow, although we really did not get the blow by blow accounts in the press. At least Mia Farrow was able to shield her family from that for the most part.
—Silvio111
I read this because I never turn up my nose at a good trash-talkin' celeb-biog, but this is actually a good book. Yes, it dishes the dirt on Frank Sinatra and Woody and Soon-Yi, but I didn't find myself skimming just to get to the good parts. She's an odd woman, but smart, and she writes about her life -- and all its weirdness -- with real intelligence. The prose is even good. So...not what you might expect. Good for a long airplane ride, a rainy Sunday, or a day at the beach. You won't hate yourself afterwards.
—Emily
If you still pay money to watch Woody Allen films after reading this book, then shame on you. This 1960s icon dishes the dirt on American's most famous neurotic, leaving the reader with a bad taste in the mouth about Allen, an obvious creep. Allen's paedophile tendencies, as exhibited in the New York home he ocassionally shared with Farrow and her children (he was so afraid of their germs he tended to stay in his own pad, on the other side of Central Park) are positively shocking to read. And it's not just sour grapes: Farrow includes court documents about her custody case afgainst him for the child Allen disgustingly loved too much. The judge alone seals his fate. So why do people still herald him as a genius? The times are warped indeed. My main criticism is of Farrow: How could she have been so blind for so long? But beyond that, she is a brilliant and sensitive writer and her book has moments of poetry in it.
—Deirdre Kelly
