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- Marlene Dietrich, Signed by Her Daughter, Maria Riva
Marlene Dietrich, Signed by Her Daughter, Maria Riva
[Signed] Riva, Maria. Marlene Dietrich. First Edition, First Printing. 1993. Book is in very good condition; dust jacket is in very good minus condition—jacket shows some rubbing. The book is signed “Maria Riva” on the first blank page following the flyleaf.
This gripping and lengthy biography by Marlene Dietrich’s only child is in a way Mommie Dearest, but also very much not. It has infinitely more depth. Riva acted as her mother’s confessor/best friend/girl Friday from early childhood to Dietrich's tragic final years, and as such, she infiltrates her mother’s psyche to a degree most writers of biography are rarely able; they lack the access. This subjective knowledge, however, doesn’t warp Riva’s objectivity, which is what makes this book so good. Dietrich, for whom Hollywood deification meant everything, would have disapproved of the vivisection of the image she so diligently maintained. Yet, how fortunate we are that it does. There’s a lesson here. If someone as intelligent and well-read as Marlene Dietrich couldn’t handle fame, then what hope is there for the shallow, questionably literate reality stars of today?
“One of the tragedies of loving is the moment when ‘Kiss it and make it better’ no longer works.”
--Maria Riva