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From Taylorology #26:
 
     MABEL NORMAND: A SOURCE BOOK TO HER LIFE AND FILMS, by
William Thomas Sherman, has just been published.  Compared
to most other books on silent film stars, this is truly a
great book--more than a great book, because it stands as a
prototype of the way such books should be.  If only there
were similar books available for dozens of other silent film
stars!
     Books on film actors can be appealing for any of three
reasons:  (1) an admirable film career is detailed; (2) an
interesting life story is told; (3) a appealing personality
is brought to life.  This book succeeds in all three areas.
     Mabel Normand was one of the leading female comedians
of the silent film era.  Her film career is well chronicled
in this volume, which includes a critical analysis of her
films and comedy style, contemporary reviews of her film and
stage appearances, publicity material, and a detailed
filmography.
     Her life story is fascinating and compelling, of far
greater interest than the typical "rags-to-riches" tale.
She was a pioneer in the silent film industry, working with
industry greats such as Chaplin, Arbuckle, Goldwyn, Sennett.
The success and the scandals are here, including the scandal
that almost destroyed her career--the murder of William
Desmond Taylor.  Also included is the complete lengthly 1927
interview series by Sidney Sutherland, originally published
in Liberty Magazine.
     But of even far greater interest than her film legacy
or her life story is Mabel Normand's personality.  That
personality sparkles before us again; she truly comes to
life through contemporary interviews, character sketches and
anecdotes.  As one interviewer wrote: "She isn't the sort of
person that treats an interviewer as just an interviewer.
She doesn't just take you, mentally, into a cool ante-room
and chat formally for half an hour and then wish you good-
bye.  Rather, so to speak, she opens up the doors of her
heart, invites you into her comfiest living room, stuffs
cushions under you and offers to tell you a good joke she
heard to-day."  After her death, another wrote: "Mabel
Normand was the most extraordinary character I have ever
known.  Certainly, the most interesting and unusual
personality the screen has ever known.  There will never be
another Mabel Normand.  Few such vivid individualities have
appeared in the world in any metier.  Beyond that, the
screen world has become too standardized to offer scope and
right-of-way for another such character.  Generous,
impulsive, self-effacing, impudent, untamed, misunderstood
and not resentful of the cruelty of that misunderstanding.
Daring in spirit, tender, brilliant, and with the eager
curiosity of a child."  This book's many interviews, done so
long ago, will leave modern readers in love with her and
wishing we could travel back in time and know her
personally.
     This mammoth book is not a "biography," although it is
filled with biographical material.  As the title indicates,
it is a "source book to her life and films," and as such is
far more valuable than any mere biography.  Buy it, read it,
treasure it--for the text, not for the pictures.  Anthony
Slide correctly states in the book's foreword: "MABEL
NORMAND: A SOURCE BOOK TO HER LIFE AND FILMS deserves wide
readership.  No reference library should be without it.  It
is a gallant and eminently worthwhile attempt to resurrect
Mabel Normand to her rightful place in film history."
     There was a biography of Mabel Normand by Betty Fussell
published a decade ago, and a comparison is natural.
Of course the two books have some overlapping material.
But overall, Fussell's book has more later information
culled from interviews with Mabel's associates, and from
books published after Mabel's death; Sherman's book is over
twice as large and has much more contemporary information
published during Mabel's life.  Both books should be
treasured.
     MABEL NORMAND: A SOURCE BOOK TO HER LIFE AND FILMS
(ISBN: 0-9643760-4-0) by William Thomas Sherman is available
from Cinema Books, 4753 Roosevelt Way N.E., Seattle,
WA 98105, 206-547-7667.