Huxley in Hollywood

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

British author Aldous Huxley wrote, lectured, experimented with drugs and befriended Hollywood greats during his 26 years in the U.S. Calling this a ``well-researched, clumsily written, gossipy socio-cultural-literary compendium,'' PW surmised that ``it is probably the gossip, rather than the more serious discussion of Huxley's books and ideas, that will attract a readership.'' Photos. (Feb.)

Library Journal

Like many of his contemporaries, English novelist Aldous Huxley sought the gold to be mined in the Hollywood studios; however, only four of his film scripts made it to the screen. A richer mine came from his association with people such as Hearst, Thomas Mann, Chaplin, and Garbo; the ``Hollywood'' novels After Many a Summer Dies the Swan and Ape and Essence were the result. Dunaway alternates discussions of Huxley's life and beliefs with large doses of tittle-tattle; he seems especially fascinated with Hollywood's lesbian underground. Few new insights are offered here. Huxley's film work is amply covered in Virginia Clark's Aldous Huxley and Film (Scarecrow, 1987), and his life is the subject of several biographies. Entertainingly written but for inclusive collections only.-- Roy Liebman, California State Univ . Lib., Los Angeles