Customer Reviews (2)

Nice concept done on the ''cheap''
Of course Jayne hated Mamie,so the concept of the premise of this book is an attractive one.They were fighting for similar parts,mostly after 1962 when their original inspiration was dead and buried.
So what is this bookshowing us or learning usreally ?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Apart from (very cheaply done)scanned pictures of copies of covers of all the magazines and/or movie posters these two ladies were on or in,we learn nothing about their rivality.What rivality,you might ask ? In the only movie they both appeared in together (Las Vegas Hillbillys),Jayne Mansfield had in her contract that she was not going to have ANY contact on screen,or even off screen with the ''Drive-in answer to Marilyn Monroe''.
The only text you will be reading in this book is coming from whatever equivalent to the ''National Enquirer'' they had in the fifties and sixties= LOW-BROW all the way !

platinum blonde review
i found this book to be very interesting due to the fact that i'm a fan of female actresses from the 50's and 60's.this book is very intriging with the allure of two of the most stunning women of that era in their best and worst times.if i were to buy ,only, one book this year this would be my first choice. ... Read more

Product Description


The True Story of The Original Tabloid Blonde!

Before Anna Nicole, Before Pam Anderson, there was Jayne Mansfield. The original working mom with severe determination and drive. The original Playboy centerfold, the first huge Hollywood star to appear nude in a film. Marriage, Divorces, Five Children, Success and Dissapointment, the Story of Jayne Mansfield's life has it all, and I'm happy to tell the true story of TV Star Mariska Hargitay's mothers life! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Glad I got it!
I like this book, but wish the family would put out a thick volume loaded with letters, family photos, and press pictures, magazine covers, ect to give us a complete picture of Jayne. The Author has obviously been speaking to the family and wrote a nice book, but it's real thin volume, but packs a punch. I find the more I read about her from other sources, the more I want to know. I feel that this book is as close as you can get to knowing Jayne because of his contact with the family and he does fill in the blanks in certain areas. I would love to see some color pictures or at least a glossy photo insert in this book, but it comes up short although there are several pictures that are just marvelous, there are alot that are fuzzy, too dark and disappointing. But the few that stand out are wonderful. There is one in particular where she is in high school, where she looks so much like Shirley Temple did at that age. They could have been twins! The same hairstyle and that "look" that Shirley has ,facial wise. Ironic . Jayne and her mother used to sing "The Good Ship Lollipop" together and were Shirley fans! Must see and must read in my humble opinion. I am glad I got it!

Bad writing
I am not surprised this was self published because the writing is awful! From the grammar to the poorly reproduced photos it's just a bad book.

Good Info, BAD Writing
This book contains a lot of really interesting information about Jayne Mansfield. However, it seems to me that no one actually edited this book; the grammar and syntax are awful!

I would recommend the book for those wanting to learn more about Mansfield's life, but if poor writing irks you (as it does me), just be fair-warned that reading this not-so-well-written book will probably bother you a bit!

A Terrific Book for any Jayne Mansfield fan!!! A Must Have!!
Well after reading all the bad reviews written here on Amazon, I hesitated buying this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the refreshing approach taken in the manner it was written. Mr. Ferruccio, although not an english teacher, writes a truly interesting view on the life of this amazing woman. I must say to all the negative reviewers, What have you written? and why so critical??? Sounds like you have a biased opinion of Mr. Ferruccio and want to make him look bad. This is a very good book, an easy read, and totally worth the price of buying it. The pictures I have never seen before, and are truly original. Dont hesitate, buy this book, you won't be sorry!

Most Amateur Bio Ever Published!
This slim tome on the life and death of bombshell Jayne Mansfield is so poorly written, it is a chore to get through a single page of it. It is obviously self-published as no editor has been anywhere near it, obviously. Commas pop up randomly in the most peculiar places (example: Zsa, Zsa Gabor), while not ever going where they should, like in the middle of his many rambling run-on sentences.

The author is obviously passionate about his subject, worships Mansfield and has insinuated himself into the lives of her children (one can only imagine how they feel about that), so why wouldn't he ask anybody to proof read his schlocky bio even once for grammar and spelling?

Ferruccio is no writer. The pictures are nice, though. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous!
Pretty much everything you want (or need) to know about her! Filled with more random facts about & quotes from Jayne than any other book. Must read if you love the "Bombshell" stereotype. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Promises of Jayne!
I have heard so much about this issue being banned in certain states in 1963 for its content of jayne during shooting of the B-Movie "Promises Promises"! This is such a great and historic issue, along with Jayne there's a great interveiw with Billy Wilder.
If your a Playboy reader, a Jayne Mansfeild Fan or just Love old Hollywood this issue is a must! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

jayne mansfiel
i liked the book i bought the paper back version.the book has lot of pictures some nudes.the book was done by jayne and mickey i liked the read and hope to buy the hard cover version soon!

Little gem of a book writen by Jayne and Mickey
It took me a very long time to finally get a copy of this rare book.
It is writen by Jayne and Mickey in 1963,after the release of the ill-fated ''Promises,Promises''.
It has a bitter-sweet tone to it,because they were about to divorce at the time,but the pregnancy of Jayne (with Mariska) kept Mickey in the picture for a little longer.
The book was obviously written as a promotion tool for the movie ''Promises,Promises'',the last project that the couple was involved in.So you get to see 32 pages of black and white pictures (on glossy paper) of scenes of the movie,but also many other pictures of Jayne that I personally had never seen in the 30 years of being a die-hard fan.
The tone of the book os typical Jayne:Light,fluffy,scandalous(for the times),but it obviously shows little of the difficult times Jayne was having on a personal,and professional level in 1963.
No matter what,this book is a must-have for a Jayne Mansfield collector,because even if a ghost-writer must have been involved in its writing,it is a campy little read,and if read at the first degree,without reading through the lines,a amusing book,showing Jayne in a kind of ''I've got to dance to keep from crying''-situation.
Conclusion:I STRONGLY suggest this book ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties
I enjoyed reading Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties. It had a lot of insight, but there was irony in the writing; a thought provoking point would be made and then dismissed with more information. Some parts of the book were slightly confusing, but the interesting coverage of Jayne's wild life makes up for that.
This book does in fact live up to its name. The life of Jayne Mansfield is tied into the culture of America in the fifties very well. I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about "Old-Hollywood" actresses and their antics.

NOT the definitive biography, but it'll do
I'll keep it short and sweet.If you're looking for a quick, easy to read biography that covers a lot of Jayne Mansfield's life, this is it.
Martha Saxton's writing is easy and to the point.HOWEVER,this book was written at the height of the Women's Lib movement in 1975 and Saxton is an obvious feminist.This makes her distaste for her subject very obvious.But if you can get past that you may just enjoy it.

Very interesting book about Jayne Mansfield
This is the first book that I read about Jayne Mansfield,and made me a fan.
It is very well written,and describes how Jayne became an ''has-been'' by 1960,at age 27.
The drastic changes in morality,and roles of women in America from the fifties to the sixties,made Jayne an anachronic figure as far as the views of what a woman were or should be.
To describe this state of affairs,Ms. Saxton describes the meeting with the Beatles in 1964.When they arrived as ''The British Invasion'',Jayne was the first person they wanted to meet.The result of that famous encounter? George Harrison referring to Jayne (then 31) as an ''old bag''.
Well spirited book,with an intellectual,and ''women's studies'' edge.
One of the best book written about the Jayne Mansfield Phenomenon,and how much she symbolised the American Fifties,the Good,the Bad and the not-so-good sides.
Recommended reading

Feminism and Jayne
You would not ordinarily expect Jayne Mansfield to be held up as a feminist model, but that's what Martha Saxton does in this unusual book.

Martha takes the view that Jayne was a cluster of paradoxes - very intelligent yet "played dumb," very down-to-earth yet adaptive to an extreme degree of glamour, very ambitious yet reticent in a strange way.

I learned a lot about who we were in the American 50s because of this book, and enjoyed the ride - except for the very end of Jayne's life in the tragic auto accident.

The only book to buy on Jayne Mansfield!
Martha Saxton's 'Jayne Mansfield And The American Fifties' is a fascinating, deeply probing biography on the short, tragic life of a Hollywood ... symbol. Ms.Saxton does extensive research and interviews with all the surviving key players in Jayne Mansfield's life and career,and is able to fit all the pieces of this puzzle together for a well rounded portrait of the star. The author illuminates the tail end of Hollywood's golden age, and how a brunette girl from Texas became a Hollywood blonde bombshell and star!Martha Saxton points out that unlike Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield could speak three languages and showed real acting talent!
This is the book to buy on Jayne Mansfield. ... Read more

Product Description
The sex goddess's seemingly endless power to influence and fascinate, to achieve in a sense her own self-reproduction through many decades of "re-makeovers" reveals her positioning in American culture as not only a lasting image but also as a potentially powerful and subversive force. The sex goddess is often thought by feminist film theorists to be little more than a projection of the male imaginary. However, this book makes a necessary correction to this trend by demonstrating how the actresses performing the role of sex goddess in fact use the feminine imaginary to create their own agency. Through their performance of "hyper" femininity, and with their seductive power, they exert control not only over their filmic narrative "targets of seduction" but their viewers as well.The ability to hold their objects of seduction in such thrall suggests that the image of the sex goddess possesses a power far more subversive than what has been previously explored; in fact, to date there has not yet been a critical study of the sex goddess in film. Cinema becomes a place where the sex goddess's designation as sex itself can further suggest her bodily signification as a whole discourse on sex outside of her cinematic representation, thus loading her body to be read almost entirely in terms of sex and its corresponding contemporary social thought. During the period of Classical Hollywood Cinema, the construct of the sex goddess warrants especial attention because of what this study can reveal in broad terms about cultural ideas of feminine sexuality, American cinema, and visual culture.In the first critical study of the sex goddess in film, Jessica Hope Jordan illustrates how Jean Harlow uses her sexualized body to "affect" and seduce viewers away from any primary identification with those characters and their plotlines that are supposed to lead the film, to identifying instead with the kind of sexual empowerment and self-possession her characters consistently display. Linking the idea of sexual empowerment to the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality, the book additionally covers previous feminist discussions of Mae West's performances as "feminist camp" to argue that West sought to both celebrate and embody for women viewers what she viewed as cultural ideals of femininity and women's sexuality. With Lana Turner and the "cinematic code," the book considers the many problems inherent in both the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality in relation to censorship and considers the effects of the Hays Code on hyper-feminine sexuality as depicted in film noir. The book also importantly presents the first critical discussion of the actress Jayne Mansfield, suggesting that her 1950s open acceptance, celebration, and public promotion of her feminine sexuality, both onscreen and off, makes her not only a precursor of the more sexually liberated 60s, but also, like the other actresses discussed here, a kind of prescient performance artist, even theorist, of feminine sexuality in particular, and cultural ideas about sexuality more generally. Beyond recouping her image as feminist, the book demonstrates how the kind of desire aroused by the sex goddess, a desire which remains endlessly suspended, works as a supreme example of the aesthetic apparatus of cinema itself.This is an important book for inclusion in all film, film history, film theory, gender and sexuality studies, women's studies, and American studies collections. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Jayne Mansfield by May Mann
Wow -- I first read this book when I was ten and just finished re-reading it now that I am 33 and a writer myself.Mann paints a glorious, personal picture of Jayne, but periods and events seem glossed over and there is little mention of Jayne's decline into B and C films and her drinking problem.Mann must have had a wonderful editor while she was a columnist, because she certainly didn't have one for this book.The spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors are so frequent, one wonders if she did it on purpose.Pretty shoddy in that respect, but a good read if you can get past the fact that clearly no one proofread this material....

Jayne Mansfield
This book is a fun read. The author, a close friend of Jayne's, sometimes seems to bend the truth a little. This is a book Jayne would have been proud of. Fact and Fiction are confused and her legendary image is preserved. I thouroughly enjoyed it as an homage to a great Love Goddess and a great entertainer. I recommend reading it if only for the playful voyages into the supernatural. There is a nice section of photos and this book will keep you interest piqued. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Biography or Ghost Story?
Wow, in the very first chapter of this book, you feel like you are viewing an episode of Night Gallery. May Mann states Jayne returned from the dead and wanted her best friend May to finish her book because of false stories about Jayne. Blood covers the draft of the book. One questions May's state of mind, when she starts talking about her cat. However, book keeps you entertain with the stories of Jayne's involvement with Anton Lavey, head Satinist. Also, it tells in detail about Jayne's last days, including the car wrecks with Jayne's last lover Sam Brody and the mauling at the zoo of Jayne's son Zoltan. Book keeps you entertain but it is up to you to believe its contents or not. There are many great rare photos of Jayne. I personally enjoy it but treat it like a work of fiction mixed with facts. Recommend this to readers. ... Read more

Product Description
People today remember Jayne Mansfield as a famous Hollywood movie star. However, she starred in only three American movies before moving to low-budget European films. She was a master of publicity who appeared in newspapers across the nation almost daily. Through her frequent exposure in the media, she gave the public the false impression that she was a major movie star. This book explores her stormy love life and gives annotated entries for all her performances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An Excellent Source for Jayne Mansfield Memorabilia
I disagree with the previous reviewers of the contents of this book. There are rare Jayne pictures. However, the bio-bibliography's purpose is to give a Jayne Mansfield collector a great reference source for collecting. Jocelyn Faris did an excellent job in her research. There are countless souces for newspaper collecting, album collecting, magazine collecting, and other surprises. I for one was able to prove that a dress I bought worn by Jayne Mansfield was the real mccoy by Faris's research. The book is a great tool for your collecting on Jayne Mansfield and a must if you are a Jayne fan. It is well worth every cent you pay for the book. Enjoy, you will not be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a 100 page picture book of Jayne, then you will be.

Where is Jayne Baby...
This book was entirely too exspensive for the content. There was a short dissappointing biography, lists of rather meaningless things, and only a few photos. The author should be ashamed for ignoring the image of Jayne Mansfield and her loving, intelligent personality...the very things that made her famous and keeps her alive in our hearts and minds. Jayne deserves more than a high priced assemblage of paper that offers little to the reader.

A book full of boring lists
This book is quite disappointing... only some meager pages of biography, a handful of rather bad pictures...the rest are boring lists of records, awards etc. I expected much more of this book! I was looking for a load ofinfo along with beautiful pictures. ... Read more

Product Description
The Self-Fashioning of Oliver Cromwell provides a close analysis of Cromwell's letters and speeches. It assesses the influence of Cromwell's Puritan faith, and evaluates Cromwell's role in the main public arenas of his life. The work also examines the significance of the title 'Lord Protector', and discusses Cromwell's acceptance of that title. Self-fashioning theory is employed to highlight the ways in which Cromwell fashioned himself in opposition to threatening Others. The book also discusses the ways in which the parameters of Cromwell's time, such as the religious and political environment, influenced his self-fashioning. The final chapter explores the relationship between Cromwell's self-fashioning and his public image.This book will be of interest to historians, to literary scholars, for those concerned with self-fashioning, and to the general reader. ... Read more

Product Description
Jayne Mansfield (April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was anAmerican actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood.One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s,Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films thatemphasized her platinum-blonde hair, hourglass figure andcleavage-revealing costumes. While Mansfield's film careerwas short-lived, she had several box office successes. Shewon the Theatre World Award, a Golden Globe and a GoldenLaurel. As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the1960s, Mansfield was relegated to low-budget filmmelodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity.In her later career she continued to attract large crowdsin foreign countries and in lucrative and successfulnightclub tours. Mansfield had been a Playboy Playmate ofthe Month and appeared in the magazine several additionaltimes. She died in an automobile accident at age 34. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jayne Mansfield (April 19, 1933 June 29, 1967) was an American actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, hourglass figure and cleavage-revealing costumes. While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes. She won the Theatre World Award, a Golden Globe and a Golden Laurel. As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the 1960s, Mansfield was relegated to low-budget film melodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity. In her later career she continued to attract large crowds in foreign countries and in lucrative and successful nightclub tours. Mansfield had been a Playboy Playmate of the Month and appeared in the magazine several additional times. She died in an automobile accident at age 34. Mansfield, of German and English ancestry, was the only child of Herbert William and Vera (née Jeffrey) Palmer. Her birthname was Vera Jayne Palmer. A natural brunette, she was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but spent her early childhood in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. When she was three years old, her father, a lawyer who was in practice with future New Jersey governor Robert B. Meyner, died of a heart attack while driving a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1939, when Vera Palmer remarried, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Mansfield's desire to become an actress developed at an early age. In 1950, Vera Jayne Palmer married Paul Mansfield, thus becoming Jayne Mansfield, and the couple moved to Austin, Texas. She studied dramatics at the University of Dallas and the University of Texas at Austin. ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=409842 ... Read more

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Big Features with articles and pictorials regarding Jayne Mansfield and Seka. Also celebrity photo's showing, Farrah Fawcett, Marlo Thomas, Phyllis Davis and Shelly Smith, Janet Langhart in various states of undress. ... Read more