“ Interesting perspective on Hollywood, September 24, 2007 By Anissa Stringer - ***** This is the book to read if you're interested in a personal account of how Hollywood became what it was what it is today. The memoir is written from the perspective of the author's grandmother --wife of the "father" of Hollywood. I actually found this book more interesting for the look at what life was like just a few generations ago for women than anything else, though it was a privileged life. Of course, don't we all like to read about the lives of the very well off?! ”
“ A journey from the late 19th to early 20th centuries with the Father of Hollywood., September 26, 2007 By Valerie Matteson "Bookaholic" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews The author is the great-granddaughter of HJ Whitley. She uses her great-grandmother's personal journals along with some letters from both of them to narrate the story. Gigi was HJ's second wife. She married him when he was around 40 and she was 18. Her youth and naivete are readily apparent in the prose that it is used. I think the author was smart to leave it as Gigi wrote it as it gives the reader a better idea of the attitudes and standards of women and men to women and society and men and women in the late 19th century. As some reviewers of the paperback version have noted, the prose can be rather tiresome but the information imparted on HJ's wonderful projects of setting up 140 cities from Minnesota to California is fascinating. HJ Whitley was an amazing man and ahead of his time with his foresight in taking care of infrastructure within the cities and towns he created and bringing business and schools to these towns as well. However, as a person, HJ was not a very terrific husband or father as he guarded his emotions and spent more time on his projects than with his family. It is apparent in the book that the pain he felt when his first wife and daughter were killed in a house fire was so severe that he never really recovered. Gigi was very much in love with him and respected him but we also see some real independence from her considering the rules of society at the time. Finally, as the "Father of Hollywood", HJ Whitley had the vision to not only purchase the land but develop it, get water to where it was needed, get electricity to all and so on. His amazing projects and vision really made the town ready for the influx of movies from the first silent films to "talkies". The amazing growth of Hollywood plus such other towns that HJ created like Van Nuys was due to this man's foresight and planning and hard work. An amazing story. Recommended. Review by Valerie Matteson ”
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