AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1986)
 In
1986, Diahann Carroll published her memoirs, simply entitled "Diahann!".
Published as it was during her Dynasty hey-days, it sported a glamorous
cover shot taken by famed celebrity photographer Harry Langdon. But underneath
the glamorous cover was a life story that held both depth and courage.
Ms. Carroll tells open-heartedly about her ups and downs: her early days
as a kid, her life as married (several times over), her long and destructive
relationship with married actor Sidney Poitier, her breakdown during Julia,
her relationship with an abusive man, her comeback in Dynasty...
She writes about her parents and her daughter, about how she sometimes
didn't realize how much her daughter really needed her. There is pain and
there is humor, but ultimately the book is about a winner - a woman who
will always survive, and who by 1986 finally starts to understand
who she really is. It's a very touching and moving story, blessedly free
from self-pity and nostalgia, although it sometimes concentrates a little
bit too much on her various relationships. It is still highly recommended
reading!
Diahann Carroll her self said in a 1999 interview that she's thinking of writing a new book, but this time she needs a "much larger canvas". About her 1986 book, Diahann!, 
she said it was the result of vanity of youth: "At a certain age
it's very seductive to talk about relationships, personal and sexual. But
I think that time is over." She also stated that her next book must avoid
the standard celebrity-memoir chain of "and then I met..."
Diahann! A new autobiography will be published in late September, 2008. More about this soon! |
