Hutchinson, Tom & Ustinov, Peter: Niven's Hollywood

As a biography of Niven's time in Hollywood, it is slender, and seems to only be that as a starting point for oft-told tales of Hollywood parties and rivalries (John Barrymore being placed, post-mortem, at Errol Flynn's house as a prank, one of the leading gossip columnists receiving a skunk as a Valentines gift, Clark Gable never really getting over Carole Lombard's death). Most of the events discussed had nothing to do with Niven; in some cases he wasn't even in Hollywood when they occurred.

As a photo book it is confusing. There are photos included that have absolutely nothing to do with the text, or with Niven's life in Hollywood. There's one of Buster Keaton that pre-dates Niven's arrival in Southern California by at least five years. There are photos that haven't been published often, which is great, but they bear no relation to anything else in the book, so if I were to have an interest in these folks, I would have no reason to look here in order to see them.