The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine (2005), EJ Fleming.

Bring me either an editor to save this disaster, or some kindling to burn it.  I made a brave effort, but finishing this book was not going to happen.

We have descriptive "facts" repeated differently from time to time:

Page 14:  Laemmle also liked Thalberg because, like him, he was barely above five feet tall.
Page 19:  Thalberg was five foot six and weighed 115 lbs.

Listen, I'm not overly fussy.  I would happily date a man who was five foot six -- but probably not one that was just five feet (sorry).

The first two chapters refer constantly, in an unilluminating way, to the fact that Louis B Mayer and Irving Thalberg superficially had little in common:

Page 25:  The barrel-chested Mayer and the painfully skinny Thalberg were an unlikely pair.
Page 28:  Mayer and Thalberg were also opposites.
Page 32:  Thalberg was the antithesis of Mayer in every respect.

OK, we GET it.  Yes, that's up to thirty-two pages and well into the second chapter.  You may at this point wonder at what point Mannix and Strickling will make an appearance.

Fleming's storytelling skills are lacking and he repeatedly loses sight of the subject of his study, the potentially very fascinating tale of two men paid to make MGM's problems "go away".  Fleming leaps about in time from the twenties to the fifties and back (however illogically), as though events during the end of the studio era decade had an impact on things around the time sound was finally synchronized.  Nothing unfolds:  chunks of biography are barfed up here and there but do not connect with the surrounding text.  Gossip is just dropped on the pages without analysis, the sources unquestioned. This left me suspicious and distrustful of all claims and of the author's ability to accurately transmit any facts.  The tone of the writing sways from respectable to embarrassing.  When I read that Louella Parsons was described as "a bitchy fat doctor's wife" I had to put the book down for good.  I am no fan of Louella Parsons, people, but where was that comma.  With such a sloppy approach to research and writing, I had no confidence that the author could credibly speak about his topic.

McFarland Press occupies a warm little corner of my heart, publishing unpretentious and generally well-researched books on Hollywood history, but knowing that this amateurish creation saw the light of day despite mis-sized fonts for endnotes and other typos leaves me puzzled and disappointed.  Consider the topic of "the fixers" to remain fair game for others out there to tackle!