Vanderbilt, Gloria

Black Knight, White Knight

New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. First Edition. Hardcover. “The heart of another is a dark forest.”--Gloria Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924–June 17, 2019). American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite, Gloria Vanderbilt is a character whose life is as tragic as it is complex. “Black Knight, White Knight” is the second volume of her autobiography, preceded by “Once Upon A Time” (1985), and opens directly after the harrowing account of her childhood trauma around a nasty custody battle between her aunt and mother which is the subject of “Once Upon A Time”. Replete with candor and suffused with immediacy, “Black Knight White Knight” follows a seventeen year old Gloria as she finds herself liberated from her aunt's suffocating chaperonage, and in the care of her elusive and often laissez-faire mother. Leaving Hollywood parties with men twice her age, an intense affair with Howard Hughes, a marriage to an abusive agent and possible-mobster Pat DiCicco, to a marriage with conductor Leopold Stokowski, “Black Knight White Knight” traces the arc of these relationships and Vanderbilt’s personal struggles at this time with sharp vividity and refreshing honesty. Vanderbilt utilizes an approachable and easily digestible prose style to communicate the weight of complex and often dark events and emotional trails, while also implementing a certain musicality to her language and a sentence structure that is sharp and concise to offer a pleasant reading experience even as she tells us of her deepest traumas, and gives us passages that are as powerful as they are simplistic. This volume is a wonderful autobiography that gives us deep insights to a character who is at once enigmatic and elusive, as she is prolific and iconic. The perfect volume for anyone interested in the history of Hollywood, the intrigue of the “golden-age” of the silver screen, or those moved by profound personal journeys rife with turmoil and perseverance. [ISBN: 0-394-54412-9]. Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket; first edition with no reference to subsequent editions or printings as stated on copyright page. Book is in fine condition with staining and smudging to front and back plates, moderate wear to fine edges, and wear at the top binding; dust-jacket is in fine condition with smudging and staining to front and back covers, wear and tear at fine edges, and moderate wear at top of back cover. Fine / Fine. [Item #5549]

Price: $30.00 save 10% $27.00