Effie Huntriss is a film star.
Effie Huntriss is a sex symbol.
Effie Huntriss is pregnant.
Effie Huntriss is forced to lie in her bed the entire pregnancy.
Effie Huntriss has just been left by her husband.
Effie Huntriss is bored.
Effie Huntriss therefore chooses to write a book explaining Hollywood and her place in it to her little mouse.
This is another “get everything published in 1951” books for #1951club. It’s written by Anita Loos, who is most known for writing the book Gentlemen prefers blonds. I haven’t read the book, but I have seen the film with Marilyn Monroe and if the writing is similar, and I have read that it is, it all connects. Because this book, as with Gentlemen prefers blonds and Legally Blond is in the vain of having blond (okay I don’t know if Effie is said to have been blond, I have just assumed she is, aren’t they always?), ditsy prota
gonist say very cleaver things to people who underestimate them. Not clever as she is a genius, but rather that there is more to her. Like when she is accused of being spoiled starlet, Effie counters with how life isn’t easy when being a sex symbol means you both attract only the wrong type of men, and have a timer on your career.
I think this was a good book, mostly because I did feel empathy for Effie Huntriss, even if she did drive me a bit insane. Or maybe it wasn’t a good book because was I really felt for Effie was what most men felt for her, a need to take care of her. Like a lost, confused puppy. Or maybe it was a good book because I know that Effie’s problem isn’t that she needs someone to take care of her, even if she at times thinks that.
I think you can easily enjoy it if you’re a fan of Marilyn Monroe (or that era of Hollywood) or just need a quick reality check (I know I needed it) that just because you’re a blond, ditsy, sex symbol doesn’t mean you’re stupid.
Lesser-known gems 
I’ve read one Loos book (the famous one!) which I though was a hoot, but I didn’t know there was this one from 1951 – good find! 🙂
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A hoot is a perfect way to describe this book as well. 😀 I have heared the books are quite similar, so I am thinking of reading the famous one. Especially since I did enjoy the film so much.
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I’ve only read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and the style didn’t quite take for me – but I would like to read more. And what a cover!
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Isn’t it? And one thing I didn’t mention was that the book has illustrations, “pictures” of her from her films. Which made me really curious as she at one point played the writer George Sand, whom I would not have thought of as a sex symbol. This made me want to see what kind of film she would have been in with sex symbol George Sand.
I have read that the style of the books are quite similar, but I haven’t read GPB. But what I did feel is that it’s like reading a Marilyn film. The book is written in first person and has mistakes, but they are there for a reason. It was a quick read, so even if you find it not quite your taking you won’t have lost that much in trying it out.
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