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Synopsis
Despite all the headlines, what do we know about the real Angelina Jolie? Award-winning biographer Andrew Morton, whose books forever changed the world's perception of Princess Diana and Tom Cruise, finally brings us the inside story of the smiling, glamorous woman whom Forbes named the most powerful celebrity in the world. The daughter of actor Jon Voight, Angelina appeared in her first movie at the age of seven. She won an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted, shared a shocking kiss with her brother at the awards ceremony, and wore a vial of her second husband's blood around her neck. Of late, however, the wild child with a heart and mind of her own, and the tattoos to show for it, has transformed herself into a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and world-renowned humanitarian, with the equally glamorous Brad Pitt by her side.
Los Angeles Times
If there is a celebrity today who merits the spadework of an unauthorized Morton biography, it's Jolie, with a potential audience that includes just about anyone who has gone through a supermarket checkout line in the last decade, glanced at tabloid headlines about Angelina, say, open- mouth kissing her brother or swapping vials of blood with Billy Bob Thornton and wondered: "What was she thinking?"
If there's anyone to blame here, according to this book, it's the parents, since the bitter relationship between actor Jon Voight and Marcia Lynne (later Marcheline) Bertrand runs as a subplot throughout. Her father left Bertrand for another woman when Angelina was 2, and her mother/manager is portrayed as vacillating between being a laissez-faire hippie mother and a pushy sort of stage mom who, according to Morton, tried among other things to push her daughter into a relationship with Mick Jagger.
It's at this point [after Jolie and Brad Pitt come together] that the book seems to move into hyperdrive, with endless rounds of globe-trotting, location shooting, child-acquiring and philanthropic efforts. But the faster it seems to move, the harder it is to put down. Maybe that's because, like salt, we have a craving for explanation, for back story, and Morton's book offers a satisfying dose of both. While the healthier approach might be to limit the intake by vowing to pick it up occasionally and flip to the index for a snippet like: "Haven, James relationship with" or "United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," that's not likely to happen.
Chances are you won't be able to put this book down until your mouth is dry and your blood pressure is racing.