Sidney Sheldon

I confess I've never read any of Sidney Sheldon's books. So I couldn't give an honest opinion of his writing style. From what I've been told by friends who have read his work, they've put it in the same catagory as writers like Jackie Collins, Danielle Steele and such. Harmless fluff that might be a bit outdated by today's standards.

Not saying this as a bad thing. We all have our guilty pleasures which I feel we're all entitled to. Nothing wrong with fluff. Given that this is the man who gave us such shows as I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart, I didn't imagine his books being the works of Ivanhoe.

But not everything has to be intellectually driven. If you like Danielle Steele go on liking Danielle Steele. Just because it's not my cup of coffee doesn't mean you have to stop reading it.

Some of the stuff I enjoy you might find silly.

However, I had been interested in perhaps checking out his book Stranger in the Mirror. Mostly because this great biography I read on Grouch Marx by Stefan Kanfer suggested that the novel was a thinly veiled account of Marx's abusive relationship with Erin Fleming.

For those of you unfamiliar with Groucho Marx, he had made a name for himself with his brothers on the screen in the 1930's. Known for his quick wit and barbed insults. Not to mention his black grease-paint mustache and eyebrows as well as his big black cigar. Although he would ditch the grease-paint eyebrows and mustache in later years, he never gave up the cigar.

For someone known for classic comedies like Duck Soup and Night at the Opera, Marx's later years were very depressing. He ended up in what we would term now as a domestic partnership with "actress" Erin Fleming.

Apparently, there were accusations of abuse at the hands of Fleming by the Marx family. By that time Groucho had become very frail and senile and they felt Fleming was taking advantage of Marx's condition.

Sidney Sheldon had been a friend of Groucho and he was horrified with the way Fleming had been treating him. Which prompted him to write the book you see above.

So, being a long-time fan of the Groucho and the Marx Brothers, I have thought about picking up a copy of this book in particular for some time now. Mostly out of curiosity than anything else.