In the beginning I was reading and following the thread and continued to peek in as it expanded. Sooo many books being recommended! It was a bit overwhelming - I never ever read those kind of books as they didn't appeal to me and were generally considered cheesy/poor taste. That Fabio was the male model for so many covers didn't exactly up their cred either - pretty much considered a joke especially on late night talk shows:
Go to 1:11:
Mostly because I was extremely annoyed with my local library's Covid policies (regular operation completely shut down with ridiculous "safe" procedures implemented - returned books are "quarantined" 4 - 6 days before they can be borrowed again, still!) along with all the other fascist local/county/state health mandates being imposed, I just refrained from getting any book at all. Plus the whole crazy show that commenced last year that has clearly shown itself to be the actual "zombie apocalypse" drew all my attention away as I observed the unbelievable ongoing levels of madness over a nothing-burger virus! Add in all the other madness - George Floyd, BLM, antifa, rioting/burning/killing, Deep State shenanigans, Qanon, prez election campaigning/primaries, Operation Warp Speed, Fauci, stolen election, voting fraud, Jan. 6 Capitol "insurrection" - romance novels were just an idea so to speak. But now, I'm
totally over the whole zombie show and more than ready to jump in and read!!! Going to hit the library tomorrow (inside browsing now allowed but with the usual masks/6 ft social distancing) and check out a Mary Balogh book. I'll also dig into the thread and read the reactions and insights. Happy to do so as I'm pretty fed up with newspaper and television - between ludicrous propaganda and despicable programming, not much of value at all.
I recently caught a Clark Gable film on TCM - Test Pilot. I started thinking about him and decided to
wiki his bio. Turns out, he was considered the epitome of a "manly man"!
- He received good reviews in Machinal (1928), with one critic describing him as "young, vigorous, and brutally masculine".
- In a photo essay of Hollywood film stars, Life magazine called Gable, "All man ... and then some".
- Doris Day summed up Gable's unique personality: "He was as masculine as any man I've ever known, and as much a little boy as a grown man could be – it was this combination that had such a devastating effect on women."
- An eight-time co-star, long-time friend and on-again, off-again romance, Joan Crawford, concurred, stating on David Frost's TV show in January 1970 that, "He was a king wherever he went. He earned the title. He walked like one, he behaved like one, and he was the most masculine man that I have ever met in my life. Gable had balls."
And so, a very huge thanks to Team Chateau and especially Laura who has suffered sooo much for all of us! Such a tremendous sacrifice that is greatly and sincerely appreciated!