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837 reviews for:
The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Mallory O'Meara
4.11 AVERAGE
837 reviews for:
The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Mallory O'Meara
4.11 AVERAGE
Really great story. It still amazes me how many women don't get credit for the amazing things they have done.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
“Women don’t get to explore their rage on a catastrophic scale on the big screen.”
Dual narrative books always surprise me - I usually go in expecting to favour one part of the story and end up connecting more with another. In this case, I expected the Milicent Patrick parts to outshine the author’s POV, and was pleasantly surprised. The Milicent parts were still great, but O’Meara’s research process, and exploration of her own history with monster movies and subsequent career were excellent.
Dual narrative books always surprise me - I usually go in expecting to favour one part of the story and end up connecting more with another. In this case, I expected the Milicent Patrick parts to outshine the author’s POV, and was pleasantly surprised. The Milicent parts were still great, but O’Meara’s research process, and exploration of her own history with monster movies and subsequent career were excellent.
So apparently I didn’t really look into what this book was about before deciding I needed to read it and requested it from the library. It is about Milicent Patrick and her life, but also more of a memoir of the author and how she researched Milicent. I did like hearing about the research process, but sometimes the author’s writing style and commentary were a little much. Overall happy that I read it, though! And now I need to watch The Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Oh man, I wanted to love this book so badly. I am here for pretty much any book that seeks to rescue a compelling woman, especially one that was pretty screwed over by the patriarchy, from the dustbin of history. I am also a recent fan of O'Meara's podcast, Reading Glasses. Combine that with my love of film and Hollywood, and I went into this book thinking I would love every second.
Sadly, there's really not enough here for a full-length book. Or I guess what's frustrating is that there might have been, it's just that O'Meara isn't a strong enough researcher to pull it off. Which, fair, that's not her job or her training! She was essentially doing this as a side project to her real job as a film producer just because she wanted to share Millicent's story. Which I totally admire. I wish this had been a shorter book that really focused on Millicent's story. Instead, because O'Meara's not a strong enough researcher to bring in more data she's forced to pad the book with more accessible stories and personal anecdotes, sort of like a term paper you put off writing til the last minute and then realizing there's not enough to fill the full 20 pages. There's essentially an entire chapter about William Randolph Hurst which is only tangentially related to Millicent Patrick. For reasons that I would very much like explained to me in further detail, despite living full time in Los Angeles and spending several years working on this book, O'Meara only has one afternoon to visit the USC Cinematic Arts Library archive collection to review boxes of material before it closes for the summer. It's like the Mission Impossible version of archival research. Maybe it was a book contract timing issue (the library restricts the collection to those with research interest and not just for fans, so maybe that was part of the problem), but she couldn't have gone back in a few months for a more through reading?
All of the above is especially frustrating because it seems like it could have been avoided. I think pitching and selling this book as a feminist memoir that touches on Millicent Patrick would have been a stronger book. O'Meara writes most passionately about what Millicent meant to her, and about the way she thinks horror films are important social texts for women. I don't disagree, and I think it would have been a stronger, more compelling, cohesive book, especially if it had been shorter. I know O'Meara really wanted to tell Millicent's story and lift her up for future generations, and I wish she would have thought that her own story and experiences would have been enough to do that.
Sadly, there's really not enough here for a full-length book. Or I guess what's frustrating is that there might have been, it's just that O'Meara isn't a strong enough researcher to pull it off. Which, fair, that's not her job or her training! She was essentially doing this as a side project to her real job as a film producer just because she wanted to share Millicent's story. Which I totally admire. I wish this had been a shorter book that really focused on Millicent's story. Instead, because O'Meara's not a strong enough researcher to bring in more data she's forced to pad the book with more accessible stories and personal anecdotes, sort of like a term paper you put off writing til the last minute and then realizing there's not enough to fill the full 20 pages. There's essentially an entire chapter about William Randolph Hurst which is only tangentially related to Millicent Patrick. For reasons that I would very much like explained to me in further detail, despite living full time in Los Angeles and spending several years working on this book, O'Meara only has one afternoon to visit the USC Cinematic Arts Library archive collection to review boxes of material before it closes for the summer. It's like the Mission Impossible version of archival research. Maybe it was a book contract timing issue (the library restricts the collection to those with research interest and not just for fans, so maybe that was part of the problem), but she couldn't have gone back in a few months for a more through reading?
All of the above is especially frustrating because it seems like it could have been avoided. I think pitching and selling this book as a feminist memoir that touches on Millicent Patrick would have been a stronger book. O'Meara writes most passionately about what Millicent meant to her, and about the way she thinks horror films are important social texts for women. I don't disagree, and I think it would have been a stronger, more compelling, cohesive book, especially if it had been shorter. I know O'Meara really wanted to tell Millicent's story and lift her up for future generations, and I wish she would have thought that her own story and experiences would have been enough to do that.
This book was featured on one of Book Riot's podcasts and the author was also on What Should I Read Next? In the end, I'm glad I picked this book. It was really different from the other non-fiction books that I've read since this author isn't a non-fiction writer. Actually, she's not really even an author (though, I guess she is now). Her tone was a lot more casual and I liked her snarky little footnotes. This book was definitely part history and part memoir and I thought the two combined rather well. I did have one issue with it, though. There was a brief section where O'Meara touched on something that is actually pretty personal to me and I don't feel like she did it in a super respectful (or accurate) way. That cast a cloud on the rest of her book and gave me some doubt as a reader as to the accuracy of some of her other claims. Other than that, though, I really did enjoy learning about Milicent Patrick. 4/5
I read this over the course of a few days, took no notes so will have no review because I've read two books since and my brain can't hold on to all of that information. The Lady From The Black Lagoon is a super interesting story once you get past the pages about Patrick's dad (those bits made my eyes glaze a bit). Milicent Patrick was an artist whose name was buried under the thumb of her manly superiors who took credit for her work. Both infuriating and fascinating. Milicent Patrick certainly had an interesting life. This book felt very honest and I appreciated that. Worth a read, for sure.
This is not a "real" review but it is my quick and honest thoughts after having read every word of the book. If you don't like it skip along to the next review or, better yet, go write your own review!
This is not a "real" review but it is my quick and honest thoughts after having read every word of the book. If you don't like it skip along to the next review or, better yet, go write your own review!
DNF at 39%. Early on the author says she received skepticism that she could stretch Millicent’s story into a whole book. She should have listened. Most of the book is padding—the life story of Millicent’s parents, her dads boss, her dads coworker—any tangent that can be taken is taken and it’s annoying. We also get walked through the author’s life in LA after she moves there in a weird attempt to copy Millicent. The writing is amateurish—I know O’Meara is going for a casual, companionable tone but it falls flat. O’Meara’s frequent reminders that she’s a female horror fan with tattoos and colored hair comes off as very “nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs,” which certainly doesn’t endear her to the reader. I think her soap boxing moments are relevant socially but not in this particular work—it’s preachy and distracting and again seems to add to the heavy padding of a relatively short life story.
Do I think Millicent Patrick deserves recognition for her work? Yes. Do I think she warrants the author’s obsession? No.
This subject would’ve been a great article.
Do I think Millicent Patrick deserves recognition for her work? Yes. Do I think she warrants the author’s obsession? No.
This subject would’ve been a great article.
Unintentional pairing with Rivers Solomon's _The Deep_ (also feminist aquatic creatures)
This book is full of justified feminist rage. I wish there were more reproductions of her artwork, but I guess that is part of the frustration.
This book is full of justified feminist rage. I wish there were more reproductions of her artwork, but I guess that is part of the frustration.