- Paperback: 376 pages
- Publisher: PublishAmerica (July 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1424166748
- ISBN-13: 978-1424166749
- Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 22.9 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
She was the daughter of a poor Russian family who escaped the horrors of communism by coming to America. Her new world desires conflicted with her old world father’s beliefs and the strains were devastating—both attempted suicide. But life prevailed and against all odds she was determined to follow her dream: become a classical ballet dancer. At sixteen, she was offered a dancing job in Las Vegas. Can you imagine her shock when she learned that the job was not for ballet, but for belly dancing?! What would her father say?! At first she rejected, then thought “why not?” This offer opened many doors through which she starred in her own Las Vegas show, many TV shows, and movies! She was wined and dined by Hollywood’s elite including kings and moguls in this touching, revealing and intriguing story. I know how it all happened—because this is my story.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unflinching Look at 1960s Hollywood, Jan 29 2008
By The JuRK - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Have Belly, Will Travel (Paperback)
First of all, do not be thrown by the writing style of this book. Look past the initial overuse of exclamation points, the occasional awkward sentence structure or wrong word (like "flamingo" for "flamenco"), and focus on the voice of the author: she's telling her story--and it's a good one!In fact, I don't think I've ever seen this note at the beginning of a book before: "At the specific preference of the author, PublishAmerica (the publisher) allowed this work to remain exactly as the author intended, verbatim, without editorial input." I don't know if this decision was made to preserve the author's voice or what, but the book's honesty and charm won me over as I read more of her story.
HAVE BELLY, WILL TRAVEL follows a beautiful young girl, born in Iran of Russian heritage, through Hollywood in the 1960s. Her naivete and innocence definitely comes through in her writing as she relives some of the more sordid aspects of trying to make it in tinsel town. She's brutally frank about her experiences with men and with Hollywood's notorious casting couch (there's something so absurd and ridiculously typical about her "reading" with 50's sci-fi director Jack Arnold that I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh).
Ms. Lemani's career throughout the 60's is a Who's Who of that crazy decade: she was the "Little Egypt" belly dancer in Elvis Presley's 1968 Comeback Special, she appeared in one of the better "Star Trek" episodes (in a chapter entitled, "My First Climax," she talks about having her first "big O" with no-less-than Captain Kirk himself), she turned down a joint with the Monkees on the set of their movie. Wooed by actors like Mickey Rooney and Omar Shariff, wined and dined by casino owners and millionaires and even the Shah of Iran, Ms. Lemani names names and revisits her experiences both passionate and painful.
By the last chapter, as someone who grew up watching every show she appeared on ("Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "McHale's Navy," "Get Smart," etc.), I found her story both poignant and fascinating.
Whether you're a Star Trek fan, Elvis fan, an avid reader of Hollywood or Las Vegas lore, this book is definitely worth reading.
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