Tom Santopietro
From Publishers Weekly
Following his witty overview of Streisand's career in The Importance of Being Barbra (2005), Santopietro turns to Doris Day and delivers a sharp-eyed, carefully researched career evaluation that also convincingly rebukes many modern misconceptions about her pristine screen persona and status as a singer. With the exception of That Touch of Mink ("a film nearly devoid of wit or humor"), most of Day's onscreen characters were far from eternal virgins; they were proto-feminist icons ranging from successful career women with healthy libidos to smart can-do housewives. Santopietro's sassy assessment of Day's 39 films illuminate her best (Love Me or Leave Me, Pajama Game, Thrill of It All), analyzes her worst (Tunnel of Love, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?) and offers some surprises (he defends the KKK melodrama Storm Warning, but is more reserved about Pillow Talk). Delving into her prodigious recording career (from 1948 to 1967, she released more than 600 songs), Santopietro appraises her songs almost track-by-track with such full-blooded enthusiasm that most readers will be racing to iTunes to download her catalogue. While not intended as a full biography, there is enough biographical detail as it concerns her career choices to create a vibrant portrait of the artist and the woman. B&w photos. (Apr.)
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From Booklist
Radio, recording, and TV star Doris Day is the all-time Hollywood box-office champion, female division, yet she gets little respect for her accomplishments. Santopietro, however, fully acknowledges her extraordinary singing voice, innate acting ability, and self-reliant persona. She was from the beginning a reluctant star, whose early career resembles a Hollywood screenplay. Her mother pushed her into show business, and after she won a dance contest, her parents agreed to move to Hollywood. A car accident ended her dancing, but singing along with her favorite radio vocalists while she recovered birthed a new career. Santopietro follows Day's tumultuous personal life, especially her abusive early marriages, and discusses her unprecedented career at length. More than the ultimate girl next door, Day is "the perfect embodiment of post-World War II America," he contends. If baby boomers later found that image "plastic," the times (the sixties) were to blame, and her later activism for animal rights redeemed her in the eyes of many youthful scorners. Santopietro reveals a complex human being behind the pitch-perfect persona. June Sawyers
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