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I first read this book back in 2001 or 2002 - when it came out in a trade paperback edition. I was then working in a bookstore, and I made a habit of grabbing lunch from the food court and dashing back to the store to read a book in the back of the store. I read Ms. Gray's book across a few of those lunches and thoroughly enjoyed it - but I didn't end up purchasing it as money was very tight in those days. (Booksellers do not make crazy crazy money, believe it or not.)

In the late 90's, having been out of his employ for four or five years, Ms. Gray went to work on a biography of Roger Corman. Catching wind of it, he summoned her to a meeting. In that meeting he advised he would only participate in the book's writing if the end result would cast him in a mostly favorable light. Ms. Gray advised she was going to follow advice he'd once given her and use her own best judgment. And so she did. She proceeded with the book - ending up with a fair and balanced look at Roger Corman - his strengths, his idiosyncracies; his foibles, and even his feet of clay.

Meticulous research and interviews with dozens of people who worked for Corman across his decades in the film business make up the bulk of the book - and it's a pretty fascinating story for anyone remotely interested in independent filmmaking or the production of what are now thought of as "B movies" - an appellation that Roger Corman would be quick to scoff at in most cases - as he still believes pretty much the only true B films are those that played as the second feature to a larger budgeted A picture in movie theaters of the 30's and 40's. I think he's softened on this a bit in more recent years as the meaning of the phrase has shifted through use (or misuse). The resulting biography came out in 2000, and sold very well, landing high on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list in its first week of publication. The paperback edition sold well too.

Now, a dozen years later, Ms. Gray has gone back and reworked the original book into an expanded ebook - with new information and interviews conducted as recently as October 2012 figuring into the expanded edition.

Ms. Gray's writing is terrific - taking us from Corman's birth through his reception of an honorary Oscar in 2009 and the recent Syuh-Fyuh channel movies he's been cranking out the last couple of years. There was obviously a boatload of work that went into the research and interviews - and what's really cool is that nearly every quotation is on the record and attributed - with only a half dozen or dozen quotes (out of hundreds) that are assigned to "a New Concorde staffer" or "a veteran of the New World days." This alone presents a solid picture of the book's balance in its representation of Mr. Corman's life and career. If the book was a hatchet job - there would be far fewer names quoted in the book and much more anonymous attribution.

Unfortunately, Mr. Corman did not agree with this assessment - and after Ms. Gray's refusal to let him edit the manuscript of anything he felt to be negative or derogatory - he apparently spread the word that the book was to be a hatchet job, though it seems to have prevented few of his former employees from sitting down with Ms. Gray. He also wrote off whatever friendship they had at that point - though Ms. Gray still expresses warmth and respect for her former boss - he does not share that warmth. She indicates that their few happenstance meetings since the book's publication have been cordial - but it's also true that two different interviews with Ms. Gray about her former boss - one for a Corman documentary and one for a DVD special feature - have been cut from the finished projects at Mr. Corman's - or his office's - insistence.

If anyone were to ask me what to read to know more about Roger Corman - I would absolutely recommend this book - and I'd offer the suggestion (as does Ms. Gray) to pair it up with Roger Corman's own memoir - How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime - as the two books together do offer the most indepth portrait of an intensely private man that you're ever likely to get. (I would also offer Ms. Gray's advice to enjoy Mr. Corman's book with a grain of salt, as his own recollections of his past actions might be skewed a bit by his ego and memory - which can get a bit fuzzy at times according to others present at the time.)

Currently the book is only offered in Kindle format - if you don't have a Kindle - there are computer and smartphone app versions that would still allow you to purchase and read this terrific biography - so what are you waiting for?

This is a book equally for the layman and the film aficionado. Beverly Gray has done a fabulous job telling the uncensored story of Roger Corman and showing how it is the story of the history of Hollywood. Corman was there at the beginning of the modern era, was the first to hire film school grads for his low budget epics and a long list of Hollywood notables from William Shatner to Robert DeNiro to Francis Ford Coppola worked early in their careers for and learned from Corman. I found it particularly interesting how Corman's background in engineering taught him the efficiencies of film production that he passed on to a legion of directors. Corman too was at the vanguard of hiring women to high level posts through his motivations were not always exemplary. This book is an endless feast, and movable too as Corman jumped from horror to Edgar Allen Poe to biker films to more mainstream as the times changed.

I have followed Roger Corman's career on and off, throughout the years -- but really didn't know much about him. I have always been a fan of "B" movies and have been involved in a few myself (Joe Roth's "Tunnelvision" and "Cracking Up", for example). So I have some idea of what goes on behind the scenes when you are making films on a shoestring budget.

What makes this book so exceptional, in addition to the subject matter, is Beverly Gray's incredible writing skills. While Beverly talks about Roger warts and all, she clearly recognizes his genius. She spent years in his employ and in a capacity to see him in a medium-wide shot and closeup, as well as a birds-eye view. Beverly knows her subject matter as well as anyone could, and treats him fairly, but pulls no punches. I especially enjoyed behind-the-scenes insight into Corman's outrageous publicity stunts.

I recommend it to any Corman fan, any "B" movie fan, anyone getting into the film biz. And will be checking out Beverly Gray's other books. ...Rowby

Usually, these unauthorized bios of entertainment industry figures are either slick, superficial rehashes of newspaper articles cobbled together by pseudo-writers or vicious hack-jobs by bitter ex-employees out for blood. Not this one. Beverly Gray's book is a wonderfully written, methodically researched, indepth look at a movie-making legend, written by an ex-employee who manages to portray her former boss with warmth, wit and surprising objectivity. Gray's background in academia really comes through, not in the dry, textbook writing usually associated with scholars, but in the intelligence and smoothness of her prose. This book is as educational as it is entertaining, marked by exceptional reporting and insightful anecdotes from her first-hand experience as Corman's right-hand woman. You'll learn far more about Roger Corman from her book than the one he wrote about himself. Highly recommended for anyone interested in movie-making...and the business behind the business.

I have to agree with the other five-star reviews. "Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers" is the best book on the subject, the subject being the most unique American studio head in film history.

Beverly Gray really paints a nuanced picture of Corman and never panders to the fans, the haters, or her old boss Corman himself. Though it's impossible to pull back the curtains entirely and see into a man's soul, Gray seems to have at least pulled back one side, giving us as much a glimpse as is possible without telepathy.

Storywise, Corman is, as always, fascinating, and Gray's perfectly detailed retelling of his story is the best yet written.