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Them: A Memoir of Parents | 
 enlarge | Author: Francine Du Plessix Gray
Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $9.75
You Save: $20.20 (67%)
New (4) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $6.54
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 548469
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5
ASIN: B000H5ULR0
Publication Date: May 5, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
At the height of their fame, Alexander Liberman and Tatiana du Plessix Gray were the grandest power couple in the New York City fashion world, gifted Russian emigres who consorted with Dali and Dietrich and told American women how to look, where to travel, and what to read. As told by their daughter, the distinguished writer Francine du Plessix Gray, their saga combines romance, glamour, and pathos. Their adulation for success was as obsessive as their fierce, neurotic love for each other, and they treated everyone elseincluding Francinewith ruthless opportunism. Them is a work of Tolstoyan emotional power as well as a brilliant social history of its subjects age.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Oddly fascinating June 6, 2008
I reluctantly read this as part of an adult ed. class on memoirs. I didn't think I would enjoy it. After all, I told myself, what do I care for the world of sophisticated New York fashion and art? Not much. But I found myself reading it compulsively because it depicted a world so different from my own. Ms. Gray skillfully records the complex history of a family made up of a wide variety of gifted people. She is not least among them. I found the sections on pre-WW2 Russia and Paris engrossing. Many inhabitants of that world, including Ms. Gray's mother and stepfather, came to America and enriched our culture. There are lots of familiar names in the last section of the book, making this an almost guilty pleasure to read.
 A mother's aspirations for a child are not easily thwarted. June 2, 2008
One aspect of the book demonstrated how powerful a mother's aspirations for a child are. It appears Tatiana's grandmother and mother instilled a belief you had to be successful or renowned in whatever way you can. It is curious that Tatiana did not try to correspond with her mother in Russia after she moved to USA. Tatiana's daughter Francine got the same message and used her resources and great literary talent to be successful. Francine choose to succeed in literature an arena her mother "Tatiana" could not possibly compete in or understand due to her illiteracy in the English language.
Alexander Liberman fulfilled his mother desires to be renowned and an artist. He seems to have the same proclivities of the Duke of Windsor but clearly was not a weak man.
 And Racist too August 19, 2007
Her parents were indeed revolting.. and it is perhaps instructive to be assured again that all families were not invented by Norman Rockwell. But did she need to do her own revolting racist screed against gypsies to excuse her grandmother's behavior? Not the parents opinion, but her. Quite nasty.
charming memoir June 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was enchanted by Ms. Gray's beautifully written memoir. She has lived through some dramatic world events with vivid front-line experiences and yet was able to share them in such a personal and loving way. History, accurately recalled, yet presented so naturally, makes for very compelling reading. I loved this book!
A touchstone for thinking of my parents and my life... April 14, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Thank you, Mme. du Plessix Gray for this evocative, brilliant memoir. This was the last book my Mother read before she died in August 2006. She was 10 years older than you, and had the same history, a Russian girl who came to New York, and even dated the same man as you did. She knew all the names in the book and lived the young Russian emigree's life in New York City. Your beautiful writing made me think about the role of my life in that of my parents' lives -- it was just such a great book for me to read in this mourning year. I know this is a highly personal reaction but I am hoping you will read this review. Your book unleashed a dreamlike state for me to probe into the colorful lives of my mother, father, grandparents, aunts, uncles -- from whom I am descended. The dead have informed our lives and are always with us. It is a gift.
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