FURIOUS LOVE Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century

This account of the tumultuous lives of the most tragically infamous of Hollywood couples lacks real depth and poignancy, despite special access to both Taylor herself as well as Burton’s letters and diaries. Paul Boehmer’s narration is crisply precise and somewhat flat. It does not convey the excitement of this “furious” love story. Perhaps it’s the dual authorship of a dual biography that creates the sensational, rather than insightful, nature of this less-than-revelatory work. Despite providing significant, if repetitive, detail relative to the actors’ early artistic triumphs, the writing as well as the narration is pedestrian even when recounting the Burtons’ excesses and dark, steamy passion for life. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2011]