Love, Lucy (Berkley Boulevard Celebrity Autobiography)

Although Lucille Ball died in 1989, this autobiography written prior to 1964 has only recently been discovered among her papers. She describes a childhood deeply affected by her father's death and her mother's withdrawal from her life. Raised by her grandparents, Ball craved attention and developed a tempestuous, vivacious, fiery, and yet insecure personality that would later lead her to comic stardom. It took years of working from the bottom of show business before she became a television hit, with the help of her husband, co-star, and business partner, former Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. Ball abandoned the book for fear of hurting Arnaz, although she gives him credit for the tremendous success she enjoyed with "I Love Lucy."