Those who love all things Hollywood, Kitsch and Nostalgic are going to love Beverly Gray’s biography of Roger Corman. She has a knack for anecdote and has chosen a subject well suited to her talents. It is a fun book. Fascinating. Even sorta educational if you happen to collect trivia. Here are some examples:

Did you know that, in addition to 400 feature films, Corman mentored the likes of Frances Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese? That he tutored Jack Nicholson and Sylvester Stallone? That he used the royal “we” along with a vibrant voice that mesmerized his fans and enemies alike?

Gray’s biography--fun as it is-- is more than a story about a man who is arguably one of Hollywood’s most idiosyncratic moguls. It is a chronicle that parallels that of The Great Depression, World War II, the growth of the film industry and Los Angeles itself. We meet again celebrities we haven’t thought about in years like the memorable Vincent Price and even run across pop culture icons like Frank Gorshin.

Occasionally Roger Corman is burdened with glitz-town detail that only a dedicated film buff might adore but these moments are rare. Like a super hero, Corman--now 75 and still going--is resilient because he is not a cookie-cutter character. The same can be said for screenwriter cum UCLA instructor and journalist Beverly Gray. The two seem admirably paired in that way. Gray uses her multi-experiences and talents to tell the story of a man of many parts.

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Her newly released Harkening, a collection of stories, has won three. Her practical and detailed how-to book on promotion, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOU’RE PUBLISHER WON’T, will be released in August of 2004 by StarPublish.com.)