Hitchcock Blonde

May 1, 2020
Screen buffs consider the Hitchcock Blonde as the touchstone of the suspense director's immensely influential oeuvre. Both femme fatale and malleable na�f, by turns serene and sophisticated, duplicitous and daring, she's a heroine whose intricate relationships lead to psychological, if not physical, harm. Award-winning poet Dolin uses Hitchcock's filmography as the framework for kindred memories of her chaotic childhood in Brooklyn as the daughter of a schizophrenic mother and absentee father, her tumultuous teenage years, and adulthood. Through such classics as Psycho, Spellbound, and Vertigo, Hitchcock, that master of horror, turns out to be the perfect auteur to curate Dolin's life. Nuanced, deceptive, and manipulative, his films reflect the emotional scars left by Dolin's family and lovers. Writing one's memoir is a tricky business, and Dolin grapples with the ethics of her truth as opposed to the truth, which may not be one and the same. In this acutely analytical and searingly personal reckoning, Dolin's use of Hitchcock to exorcise past demons is an inspired m�lange of cinematic critique and private confession.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)