High Society

The Life of Grace Kelly

By: Donald Spoto

Narrated by: George K Wilson

In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties. Her astonishing career lasted until her retirement at age 26, when she withdrew from stage and screen to marry a European monarch and became a modern, working princess and mother. Based on never-before-published or quoted interviews with Grace and those conducted over many years with her friends and colleagues---from costars James Stewart and Cary Grant to director Alfred Hitchcock---as well as many documents disclosed by her children for the first time, acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the transformation of a convent schoolgirl to New York model, successful television actress, Oscar-winning movie star, and beloved royal.

As the princess requested, Spoto waited 25 years after her death to write this biography. Now, with honesty and insight, High Society reveals the truth of Grace Kelly's personal life, the men she loved, the men she didn't, and what lay behind the faccilade of her fairy-tale life.

©2009 Donald Spoto (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Cinephiles will love Spoto's insider look at Hollywood in the 1950s, and even those unfamiliar with Kelly's films will be drawn to the author's warm and generous portrayal of a woman who was more than a pretty face." ( Publishers Weekly)

Drawn out

I enjoyed the first hour or so, but after that, it became predictable and repetitive.

Less IS more~

LESS analyzation and critiquing of movie/stage-play scripts, plots and methods of acting would produce a MORE intriguing biography. With the exception of that major flaw, this book is a well written, balanced and informed biography of Grace Kelly.

Loved it!

Absolutely loved it! Got to fall in love with Grace Kelly even more. Will probably listen a second time.

Boring and without insight

This book is like listening to a robot read an appointment calendar.
Definitely regret giving this a chance.

Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I wish author Donald Spoto had comprehensively written about Princess Grace's life in Monaco--it gets short shift in this biography.

What was most disappointing about Donald Spoto’s story?

The biography almost totally skips over Grace Kelly's years in Monaco, it only really deals with her early years and her acting career.

excruciatingly boring

It takes a special kind of talent to take the life of an incredible woman and make it into the most boring book that was ever written

unbelievably bland and boring.

I'm a big fan of biographies, but this one is so bland and artificial that it is impossible to even have a grasp of who Kelly was, her thoughts and feelings.

A novel about what seems to be the most perfect human being on earth

This book is so bland. Any bad thing, even the slightest, ever said about Grace Kelly was a lie. Every second of acting she ever performed was perfection. She was a perfect virgin for her entire life. Everyone she ever met worshipped her and was a life long friend that participated in her future wedding. She was a perfect child who never did any wrong. She had a bad father but it didn’t bother or affect her one ounce. She was a masterful business woman. EVERYone in Hollywood was awestruck with amazement by her amazing-ness. She never drank or smoke or did any drugs. Every day she took time to rescue cats stuck in trees.
I gave up finally because the book is so bland and sickeningly sucking up…but I probably just missed the chapter where it described where she started waking on water and was declared God.

So yeah…do yourself a favor and SKIP this book. It’s worthless.