PositiveThe Washington Post... engaging and intelligent ... Gottlieb does not offer new evidence about the star. He relies substantially on — and generously cites — evidence and opinions uncovered or suggested by previous biographers and historians ... Nor does Garbo justify its existence with the kind of revelations that propel so many star biographies. Socially unacceptable realities often hidden or downplayed by Hollywood’s publicity machines — such as child abuse, multiple marriages, drug or alcohol abuse, economic exploitation, mental illness, perverse sexual behaviors and even career comebacks — won’t be found here. These were not a part of Garbo’s life (although a comeback was, for a time, considered). In fact, one suspects that if these realities had been a part of Garbo’s narrative, Gottlieb would not have been interested in writing a book about her ... is invested in the complicated mixture of temperament, talent, nonconformity and outsize public expectations that is responsible for making the famed famous. But Gottlieb does not privilege potential or realized infamy over an artist’s contributions to culture ... Other biographers have given attention to her relationships, but perhaps it is owing to Gottlieb’s editorial talent that we are spared the minutiae of their course ... Gottlieb rightly focuses on the contribution of her acting — a mix of craftsmanship and intuition — to her persona.
