BEVERLY: An Autobiography

by Beverly & Lawrence Linderman Sills ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 1987

Honesty, hilarity and chutzpah served up in heaping Jewish-mother portions by diva/director Sills in this, her second foray into autobiography. While her 1979 Bubbles was as lightweight as its title, this time around Sills has more serious matters in mind. The result is a fine, frequently moving, sometimes acerbic depiction of the private and professional life of an American ""original."" Part of the fascination with Sills' story of her rise to superstardom owes to the fact that recognition of her extraordinary talent was relatively late arriving. Years spent appearing on Major Bowes' ""Capitol Family"" radio show, then careening about the country on various ""bus and truck tours,"" a year's stint in a New York ""after-hours club,"" and appearances in slightly shop-worn Shubert operettas finally culminated in a dazzling success in Handel's Julius Caesar at the New York City Opera in 1966. Sills was 37 and an ""overnight sensation."" In telling her story, Sills refuses to be hemmed in by false modesty; if she thinks she was the world's best in a given role, she says so. Sills also can apparently hold grudges about as well as she does high C's. The text is peppered with ""l never spoke to him [her] [them] again."" There is refreshingly little maguillage in Beverly's self portrait. Sills' descriptions of the problems she and her husband faced in raising their two children--one deaf, the other mentally retarded-- while frequently reported, cannot fail to move readers with their courage and common-sensical love. If false modesty is missing in Sills' character, so is self-pity. Her recounting of her experiences when undergoing treatment for and recovering from ovarian cancer should prove an inspiration to women confronting similar problems. If there is one small quibble, it is that many readers may find the detailing of the difficulties Sills faced during her first years as general director of the moribund New York City Opera overly financial. Are all those percentages and attendance figures really necessary? That quibble aside, however, this is (as Sills says about her own interpretation of Mozart's Queen of the Night) ""sure to impress the hell out of everybody.

Pub Date: May 26, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION