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Fun in a Chinese Laundry

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I have been a longtime fan of the work of Orson Welles. His War of the Worlds radio broadcast showed the power of the medium of radio. His entry into Hollywood grabbed a lot of attention right out of the chute with Citizen Kane. His camera angles were bold and the stories he produced in film were thought provoking.

So at one point this all led me to read a biography or two about the man, which led me to discover yet another man who made a mark in Hollywood, the man who most influenced Welles, Josef Von Sternberg.

The common denominator between these two men, the latter from an earlier era, was their determination to follow their own vision, to not cave in to the pressure to conform. The book Welles recommended, either in one of his interviews or one of the books I read, was Josef Von Sternberg's Fun in a Chinese Laundry.

The book is essentially a memoir of a Hollywood director who shares anecdotes and stories about his life. One of his stories is about how he discovered Marlene Dietrich and brought her to America. 

The one thing you won't find in this book is a Chinese laundry. The title is simply an attention getter. I have a copy of the book and it's a fun, insightful read. But it's a long ways from any implications made by the title.

Photo by Gary Firstenberg
Von Sternberg's book came to mind because Nevada Bob Gordon's book is about to be released on Amazon, 50 Years with the Wrong Woman. Like Von Sternberg's, it is a memoir as well. And like Von Sternberg's title, you can search with a fine-toothed comb but won't find a "wrong woman." Bob's Carol was his inspiration, his mainspring and the love of his life.

One of the things readers can count on when reading 50 Years with the Wrong Woman is this: there are no long, boring parts. It's a fast read with entertaining stories on literally every page. When Nevada Bob does book signings, he might ask the audience to pick a number and then read what is on the page. It will be fun or poignant, enlightening and at times even heroic. 

To order your copy CLICK HERE.

Thanks for checking in.

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“I was never afraid of dying. I was more afraid of not living.”

--Nevada Bob Gordon

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