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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
When I saw this book on the 'new' bookshelf, it immediately caught my eye. A book about a woman who up until the modern-day was not recognized for her contributions to modern pop culture? Nice! After reading it, here are what I believe to be the book's pros and cons.
Pros: As a biography, it's very entertaining and holds your attention easily. I enjoyed all the little side biographies about Julia Morgan, Hearst Castle, and the Westmore Beauty Dynasty, all people and things I had not heard of until now. O'Meara's commentary on the history in her footnotes was also amusing, and her love for Milicent Patrick and the history she's telling oozes off the page. I liked how O'Meara connected her own story to Milicent's, I liked the parallel structure of the book and it reinforced O'Meara's love for the subject of her research, and that love definitely seeps to the reader.
Feminism! Feminism everywhere!
Cons: The book does get kind of repetitive with its messages. It reminds you that Milicent was as privileged as a woman could be in the 1950s, that she didn't get her spot at Universal or Disney because she was pretty, but because she was a great artist, etc. etc. Personally, the repetition didn't bother me too much, but there was definitely a point towards the end of the book where I was like, ok I get it, Milicent was a bad-ass lady and a trailblazer but she was also privileged even by today's standards, you don't have to keep reminding me. It might not bother some people, and I might just be overreacting, but it's something to keep in mind.
Recommended Readers: Feminists, people who like to learn about the history of Horror, the Golden Age of Hollywood, or incredible women. People who like the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (that's obvious) People who like books with pictures. People who want to get angry at Hollywood's bullshit.
Pros: As a biography, it's very entertaining and holds your attention easily. I enjoyed all the little side biographies about Julia Morgan, Hearst Castle, and the Westmore Beauty Dynasty, all people and things I had not heard of until now. O'Meara's commentary on the history in her footnotes was also amusing, and her love for Milicent Patrick and the history she's telling oozes off the page. I liked how O'Meara connected her own story to Milicent's, I liked the parallel structure of the book and it reinforced O'Meara's love for the subject of her research, and that love definitely seeps to the reader.
Feminism! Feminism everywhere!
Cons: The book does get kind of repetitive with its messages. It reminds you that Milicent was as privileged as a woman could be in the 1950s, that she didn't get her spot at Universal or Disney because she was pretty, but because she was a great artist, etc. etc. Personally, the repetition didn't bother me too much, but there was definitely a point towards the end of the book where I was like, ok I get it, Milicent was a bad-ass lady and a trailblazer but she was also privileged even by today's standards, you don't have to keep reminding me. It might not bother some people, and I might just be overreacting, but it's something to keep in mind.
Recommended Readers: Feminists, people who like to learn about the history of Horror, the Golden Age of Hollywood, or incredible women. People who like the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (that's obvious) People who like books with pictures. People who want to get angry at Hollywood's bullshit.
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism
IT WAS SO GOOD. I adore Mallory O'Meara because of her work in Reading Glasses, my all-time fav podcast, so I'm biased. But because of that, I was even more impressed because I felt like this was a really well-written, excellently curated narrative that informed me about both Milicent Patrick's life and work, but also O'Meara's experience in an industry pretty foreign to me.
I think O'Meara has a knack for telling the stories of women lost to Hollywood and I'd love to see more from her. You could clearly tell in the audiobook that she is incredibly passionate about this subject. There were times her voice upped the intensity and added emotion that I think I would've lost had I read the physical book alone. That being said, if you do read the audiobook, at some point I'd recommend you try to get your hands on a physical copy to review her hilarious footnotes and see the pictures included that O'Meara describes in the audio. Pictures are not in color BTW, so an ebook copy would work fine too!
TLDR: I loved this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read nonfiction that isn't boring and is told in a narrative fashion. I also highly recommend everyone listen to Reading Glasses, the podcast she co-hosts with Brea Grant, because it's amazing.
I think O'Meara has a knack for telling the stories of women lost to Hollywood and I'd love to see more from her. You could clearly tell in the audiobook that she is incredibly passionate about this subject. There were times her voice upped the intensity and added emotion that I think I would've lost had I read the physical book alone. That being said, if you do read the audiobook, at some point I'd recommend you try to get your hands on a physical copy to review her hilarious footnotes and see the pictures included that O'Meara describes in the audio. Pictures are not in color BTW, so an ebook copy would work fine too!
TLDR: I loved this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read nonfiction that isn't boring and is told in a narrative fashion. I also highly recommend everyone listen to Reading Glasses, the podcast she co-hosts with Brea Grant, because it's amazing.
I have recently found that I really enjoy the biographies of creatives and 'The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick" by Mallory O'Meara perfectly scratched that itch. It's a fast paced and engrossing look into the life of Milicent Patrick, the designer of the Creature from 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon' paired with an exploration of how women are treated in the film industry. O'Meara expertly uses the fact that Patrick's story had an unknown ending to create suspense throughout the entire biography that keeps the reader hooked. For the longest time, it was known that Patrick was bullied out of Universal Studios because of a jealous and sexist head of the makeup department but little was known about what happened to her afterwards. O'Meara has done the deep dive to answer these mysteries and flesh out Patrick's story so that more people can learn about this incredible woman and her accomplishments. I won't say more about Patrick's life because I think the book works on knowing less about her and being able to discover her story through the pages but I left the book wanting a movie about Patrick's life. She's glamorous and hardworking and she paved the way in an area where women weren't always thought to fit. I know that I have come away from this book with not only a new appreciation for her and her work but for the creation of monsters in film as a whole. If you enjoy reading biographies of fascinating artists, I'm sure you'll enjoy 'The Lady from the Black Lagoon.'
I read half the book but it didn’t grip me enough to finish it.
This is a really engaging story. O'Meara has a very clear voice that shines through in the book that I really enjoyed. Plus, the story was fascinating and I learned a lot about the movie industry and what goes on behind the scenes when a movie is produced.
Absolutely loved this book. Not just a hunt for a talent that was lost to time but lost to the misogyny of the film industry. Mallory's telling of present day experiences with that same misogyny lets us know that we still have a quite a way to go before we can consider the patriarchy properly smashed. I can only imagine what further brilliant monsters she would have created for young women to experience and aspire to if only there weren't so many fragile egos in the way.
Not sure how I want to rate this. I really enjoyed the audiobook and what I learned about Milicent Patrick, but I also thought there was too much about the author's research experience when all I wanted was a biography
inspiring
fast-paced
This book is more about the author's search for the story of Milicent Patrick's life than an actual biography. A lot of what O'Meara writers about what Patrick must have been feeling seems to be more conjecture more than actual fact. Still, Patrick led an incredible life and the fact that more isn't known about her is a tragedy. More than anything this book made me feel inspired by the glass ceilings that have been broken and the extensive work that is still to be done.