THis book examines the so-called fued between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It follows the girls lives from childhood, to their acting careers, and to their battles with their grown children. It is extremely thorough Mr. Considine interviews numerous actors, families, and the lovers of both Davis and Crawford. If you are a Joan Crawford or Bette Davis fan, this is the book to get

Well this book is alot of fun to read and very entertaining,and im sure there is some truth to some of it.But i can hardly imagine Bette Davis saying some of those things as well as Miss Crawford.But is is alot of fun and recommend it to any Joan or Bette fan. Take it with a grain of salt!!

I absolutely loved this book!... The amazing thing was, I expected to hate Joan Crawford and love Bette Davis, but my reaction to the book was the exact opposite. Bette comes off so cold and callous as to be downright inhuman. Joan, on the other hand, is fascinating, passionate, and utterly, utterly human. The funny thing is, it is obvious to me that the author shares my initial prejudice; clearly, he intends for us to love Bette and hate Joan, but even so, Joan comes off far more interesting and sympathetic.

The person who comes off the worst is Joan's daughter Christina, author of "Mommie Dearest." She appears as nasty, vicious and a total brat, even as an adult. Again, the author clearly intends for us to side with Christina against Joan, but I empathized with Joan. For example, on page 275, the author tells us Joan employed "mental torture" on Christina. Yet his only three example are, Joan burned a pair of Tina's "tight toreador pants", made her do "messy housework" and, for her birthday, gave Christina a single earring, with the promise that she would receive the other earring at graduation if Christina got good marks. This is mental torture? It sounds like basic parenting to me. I wish more parents would burn their teenaged daughter's [ugly] clothes. It makes me think that all of "Mommie Dearest" is grossly exaggerated, written by a bitter, vengeful Christina who desperately wanted to tarnish her mother's image.

The author tells us that Joan made many attempts to befriend Bette Davis, and was constantly repulsed in the most vulgar manner. Bette, though a far greater actress, seems a total bore in real life, unconcerned about her husband(s), her children, or anything except her own genius. She never passed up a chance to humiliate Joan. I'd much rather spend an evening with Joan.

This book is the best book I've ever read! Bette Davis & Joan Crawford are two of the most fascinating women of all time (and not to mention two of the best actresses ever to hit the movies). If you are a fan of either of these two women, this book is for you! Both Davis & Crawford say some of the most shocking, predictable and honest things I have ever heard of in my life. After you read this book, you learn two things: Bette was the "actress" & Joan was the "movie star." Bette envied Joan's beauty while Joan envied Bette's talent. You really get a good look into both of these women's private lives & after reading this book, you feel as if you were their closest friend. You will not be able to put this book down; it's just that good!