The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsey Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh - The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters

If you've read The Swans of Fifth Avenue, as I have, prepare to be bored. This book does provide information about the Cushing family but it reads at times, like a tabloid article. Mr. Grafton uses over the top cliches liberally throughout the book. Stock phrases like 'bevy of beauties' and 'top drawer' are sprinkled throughout the narrative. I wonder if that last one is still used even by those who think they are actually top drawer, whatever that means. The fifth time I read it I cringed. In the sections on Truman Capote, the writer is reduced to an insulting cliche in repeated derogatory descriptions. I suppose this is meant to be funny but it comes off as dull and mean. Grafton also describes the sisters repeatedly as WASPs. I would have thought a biographer would attempt a neutral tone, this term carries too much baggage in my opinion, to use over and over. We don't need to be hit over the head. I get it, they all were wealthy and shallow. But surely there was more to these women than the art on their walls, or the designer clothers they wore? I'm glad I read The Swans of Fifth Avenue first. Yes, it was fiction but I feel it was more truthful than this book.

Babe Paley really does deserve a well done biography, but this book (which is also about her sisters) is not it. I get annoyed when I read books which have readily notable mistakes, because they make me doubt the rest of what the author writes--and here there are tons of mistakes. The author misnames people and cites the wrong person when it comes to quotes. Additionally, there is almost no reason for exclamation points in a biography, but the author uses them liberally (and at odd times). Finally, this book is just poorly written. It is organized in such a way that we read about one sister for a period of time and then roll back in time to follow another sister for that same period. Because the sisters were close, that means that we'll read about one with a different last name, yet we haven't heard the details of her remarriage yet, and that's distracting. The author is fond of repeating himself and resorting to lists of names in a strange way. On one page, he'll list friends of one of the sisters: "Mr. A, famed dancer, Broadway actress Ms. B, neighbors Mr. and Ms. C..." and then a paragraph later write, "also invited were Mr. A, famed dancer, Broadway actress Ms. B., neighbors Mr. and Ms. C..." I mean, it's weird and looks like he's just trying to fill out more pages. The author has certain catchphrases too, which begin to grate. I thought that if I read "a king's ransom" one more time I would scream. Occasionally, it was a "literal" king's ransom, which is even worse (since it's not true).On the whole, this book was very shallow, and one wishes that more was done with the topic. I think it could be an engaging story, but the book's writing and the mistakes with facts proved to be too distracting.

The sisters--Minnie Fosburgh, Babe Paley, Betsy Whitney--were brought up as many upper-class young women were in their time: to marry well. Amongst them, they married well six times, two per sister. Although it's easy to become irritable with their values, the author is good at presenting their genuine crises as well. It's a pretty good study of three influential women and their social circles.

Fascinating story of glamorous women who were trained by an ambitious mother to marry rich men. They got wanted they wanted. Babe Paley was pathetic married to a man that cheated on her and did not appreciate her charm and beauty until it was too late. Minnie divorced that dreadful boring Vincent Astor. Brooke grabbed Astor for his money and destroy her son for to please Vincent.

Very interesting, detail account of the lives of this family. It was interesting to see how their mother shaped who they were and how it led their being throughout their lives. I would definitely ready this book again and again.

When I first started reading this hideous book, the author pointed out that he knew the family, specifically the "Sisters". Well, of course he isn't going to write anything scandalous or juicy. Nope. Just interminable information about the parents of these girls, superficial anecdotes that needn't have been remembered. I bought this book because I wanted to know more about Babe Paley (and now I can't even remember why), and this was the only (purported) 'biographical' expose around. I picked up the book again this morning, and started flipping pages I hadn't read yet just to get to something that resembled biographical information. So disappointing.(Note to self: If you're looking for exciting information, never read 'biographic' books that have been written by someone who is friendly with the family and who wouldn't in a million years write anything tasty about them.) Look what happened to poor Truman Capote when he wrote his revealing novel about the queens of New York society before they died. It was a delicious little book, but evidently the women who saw themselves in his novel, albeit with a nom de plume, didn't think so; Truman was unduly banished from his beloved high society's company, and especially from Babe Paley, who had been a close confidant of his. Not surprisingly, he died shortly thereafter.Gosh, I didn't mean to write a tome here, but since I just came to the computer after trying to (again) read this book, I'm a little on fire. DO NOT read this book unless your sleeping pill isn't working; I guarantee almost instant sleep.

This is an outstanding- cannot put down read! What an amazing trio they made. I knew some of the background but this book filled in the blanks. Just a spell binder for those interested in family intrique!

Read it in two days. Couldn't put it down.

An enthralling story of three American sisters and their multiple marriages to some of the richest men of the 1930' s and 40's - I was gripped by their story from start to finish. If you are interested in Babe Paley, the Whitneys, the Astors etc, you will like this book.