The House of Barrymore

I'm an old movies fan so a book about the Barrymores should be my dream. It was just too darned long, and the author's opinions dominated too much. Did Ethel favor John? Maybe, but do we have to read about it every few pages? I was disappointed that so little was written about the goings on in the mo......more

I found out things about the Barrymores that I didn't know. Isn't that why one reads ;-) I like Lionel the best.......more

Even though I was not very familiar with the Barrymore family, I wanted to learn a bit more about them. I thought this book quite ambitious to take on all three of them. The author developed the personalities of John, Ethel, and Lionel, even though only John's life seems to have provided a thorough......more

A thorough examination of the Barrymore and Drew acting families. While the general bios of the famous trio, Lionel, Ethel and John, are fairly well-known, there are assumptions I made from their public images (mostly that they were actually close) that prove to be untrue. For me, the early years of......more

When I was in my late teens, I was a little obsessed with John Barrymore. This is easily the best portrait of the great actor as well as his endlessly fascinating family that we're likely to get. I also recommend Damned In Paradise by John Kobler for an even deeper look into John Barrymore's long, s......more