Bestselling novelist Sheldon's memoir is reminiscent of hiscolorful novels, a rags-to-riches yarn replete with struggle, anindomitable hero and eventual glamour. It opens with a 17-year-oldSheldon preparing to commit suicide in Chicago in 1934. "[L]onelyand trapped," he wanted to attend college but couldn't afford it.Thankfully, his father intervened, and the young man got a newlease on life. He went from being an RKO theater usher to astruggling songwriter, then a top-flight Hollywood screenwriter ina few short years. For the next 30-odd years, Sheldon wrote anddirected films, meeting studio honchos and stars like Kirk Douglas,Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe. The author's impressiveachievements include a WWII flying stint, a screenwriting Oscar for1947's The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, a Tony for writing the1959 Broadway hit Redhead, the creation of four classic TV series(including I Dream of Jeannie) and several bestsellers (Bloodline;The Sands of Time; etc.). Yet these accomplishments came with boutsof depression and the death of a child. While the book is long onSheldon's Hollywood and television days, it skimps on his domesticand publishing lives. Still, that shouldn't stop Sheldon's legionsof fans from lapping this up.
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