Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister: My Lively Life in and Out of Hollywood

I read this book back in the 70's when it was first published and couldn't put it down. While Evelyn Keyes was not always likeable, she is very honest and her life was absolutely fascinating. Her writing style is very lively and you feel that you are right there with her, and get a real sense of the people she writes about. This is a very entertaining read that will provide you with a piece of old Hollywood and give you some tidbits you would never read anywhere else. A must for fans of old 40's movies, and for anyone who is curious about the private lives of stars during that time period.

I liked this book which capably describes a bygone era in Hollywood (Evelyn recently passed away at the age of 91 and was one of the last surviving actors of "Gone With The Wind.") Her fame my not have been equal to other leading actresses of her time, but she met and travled in the company of world famous people and relates her encounters here. If you are interested in the older era of Hollywood, then this book will give some understanding and insight to the time, the place and the personalities. There is no doubt she lived a full and exciting life.

Being a "guy" and not into reading books authored by women {I'm a throw back, what can I say} usually, I was interested in Ms. Keyes' book for three reasons; one, she was married to my favorite director John Houston. Two, she was in the Jolson story. And three, she was "there" in the Hollywood heydays, all of which I wanted to read more about. I was surprised that she actually sounded and acted like the women I have known the otherside of the 1970's. Many of whom have these "pistol", one of the guys, take as good as you get qualities that makes their men loved them all the more because of their accessibility. And she was definitely all that and still is because as of this writing she is still with us! She walks the walk and talks the talk, and holds back nothing in the bedroom stories. Or anywhere else for that matter. But one comes away feeling that she never really found herself. This was an interesting read and enlightening too, from the point of view that perhaps none of us really find out who or what we are as human beings ulitmately, and that central to our "dis-ease" in this world is that haunting feeling that we don't know actually where we stand in the scheme of things. An inner dissatisfaction and insecurity that after some psyhco therapy the psychologist points out that the goal of therapy is to find out that everybody else is just as unhappy as we are. If anything the reader will walk away knowing that "whatever glitters is not gold", and that is especially true of Tinsel Town, and the ones that come looking for gold that isn't there!

Ms. Keyes is a surprisingly good writer, and her autobiography is honest and interesting. You get a real sense of her as a person, and you also get to know her husbands (especially John Huston and Artie Shaw). The only disappointment is that she says so little about what it was like to be an actress on the set of great movies like Gone With the Wind -- instead the book focuses on her many romances. Still, it's one of the best Hollywood biographies I've read. And it made me want to see more of her as an actress. Well, done, Ms. Keyes.

evelyn keyes's autobiography about her life is great reading. i couldnt put it down. she told everything about her life with her husbands and lovers. people that havn;t read it should read it.