The Most Depressing Biographies: If This Was Happiness, Barbara Leaming and Bombshell: the Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn.

Reading these two bios while being shack-wacky and suffering through PMS was probably not a wise choice.  I thought I'd try the Rita Hayworth one as a way to alleviate the crushing sadness I felt reading the life story of Jean Harlow - dear Lord, big mistake!  Both women's families saw their daughters as cash cows and pushed their daughters into work while the girls were still in their teens:  Harlow had Mother Jean while Rita had her father, Eduardo Cansino.  The antics of Rita's weasel face big band husband # whatever, Dick Haymes, just gave me a headache.  And, what was the attraction with this Aly Khan guy, can anyone enlighten me?  While reading about his playboy tendencies, I imagined a sleek and sexy creature that stepped out of a Mughal painting.  He looks like a balding bureaucrat.  Anyhoo, still looking for mid-winter pick-me-up, seeing as any kind of trip down south is out of the question.