# A "Book" I Suspect Does Not Exist . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347 "2003-12-01T21:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/1 "2003-12-01T21:27:58Z")
I’m a big fan of movie comedienne [Charlotte Greenwood](http://imdb.com/name/nm0339307/), best-known for her acrobatic dancing. A film historian (I won’t name him here . . .) listed her “autobiography” in one of his books: “Never Too Tall,” 1947. Well, I have been looking and looking for that book, and it simply does not exist. The only google references are second-hand (referring to that author’s bibliography), often with a note like, “does anyone know where I can find this?” Am I missing any search tips? Why would someone—a well-respected writer, by the way—invent a book for a bibliography? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/2 "2003-12-01T21:56:46Z")
Eve, Not an expert in book searches for that type of book, but I suppose there is always a chance that the book did exist, but is so scarce that there is little or no direct access to it. Options for further research might include: - the Library of Congress - isn’t every book printed in the U.S. registered there? I don’t know if there is an online index or at the very least a phone service you can use, but suspect that one or the other might exist… - write the film historian who mentioned it and ask for details and/or to see their copy? - If the historian listed the publisher’s name, contact the publisher for more information… Hope these ideas help. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/3 "2003-12-01T22:05:20Z")
Is it possible that she had it printed by a vanity publisher, and just gave a few copies to friends? That’s all I can think of, if bs’ing by the writer is ruled out. In that case, I can’t think of much besides actually doing detective work among her acquaintances. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/4 "2003-12-01T22:58:38Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://www.anb.org/articles/18/18-01688-article.html](http://www.anb.org/articles/18/18-01688-article.html) [sub][sup](bolding mine)[/sup][/sub] > > Greenwood is credited in several biographical sources with an autobiography, _Just for Kicks_ (also listed in some sources as _Never Too Tall_ [1947]), but it is hard to verify a published copy of this book. **It is most likely an unpublished memoir with only limited circulation**. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/5 "2003-12-01T23:59:31Z")
Wow, thanks, **Shayna** , terrific link! I hadn’t thought of the “vanity/privately distributed” angle before, and could not for the life of me figure out why someone would pad their bibliography with a fake book. Gotta see if I can get that “book” found and republished through a small speciality press like McFarland or Scarecrow! Unless, of course, she was a _much_ better actress than writer . . . ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/6 "2003-12-02T01:26:13Z")
You might try entering a Book Search on [abebooks.com](http://abebooks.com). That will go out to several thousand dealers, and they have an awful lot that’s not yet up on the net. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/7 "2003-12-02T01:55:54Z")
I’ve checked WorldCat for it and didn’t turn up anything, so that probably means it’s not in any US library. I also checked the National Union List of Manuscript Collections, and nothing about her turns up there, though I don’t know how comprehensive NUCMC really is. Find out if she left anything to a university or library or museum, the manuscript would probably be included with that collection. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/8 "2003-12-02T02:18:44Z")
…ya want ta borrow my copy? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/9 "2003-12-02T02:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*…ya want ta borrow my copy? \*\* . . . Yeah, and I’ll loan you my 42 outtake reels from _Greed_. The version in which Charlotte Greenwood does an hilarious dance. Don’t know why von Stroheim cut it . . . Sadly, that author who listed it in his bibliography hates my insides, so I cant ask him if he actuially has a copy . . . ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/10 "2003-12-02T14:28:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WordMan \* > **the Library of Congress - isn’t every book printed in the U.S. registered there? I don’t know if there is an online index or at the very least a phone service you can use, but suspect that one or the other might exist.** Indeed: [Library of Congress Online Catalog](http://catalog.loc.gov/) A title search came up empty, and an author search on Charlotte Greenwood turned up other items (sound recordings, etc.) but no such book. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/11 "2003-12-02T14:42:01Z")
Hmmmm . . . She was still pretty famous in 1947; wonder if she was such a bad writer that she couldn’t find a publisher? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/12 "2003-12-02T14:45:26Z")
I saw a copy of it in Judge Crater’s hands as he was going into the subway system… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/13 "2003-12-02T15:30:31Z")
Yeah, he was loaning it to Amelia Earhart, on his way to babysit Little Charley Ross . . . ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/14 "2003-12-02T16:59:59Z")
I’ll take you up on that _Greed_ offer, Eve; my copy is mostly still shots. Can I get in line for _Cleopatra_ too? I have the Helen Gardner and the Claudette Colbert; think I’m on the waiting list at Netflix for the Bara. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/15 "2003-12-02T19:05:35Z")
Contrary to popular belief, the Library of Congress catalog does not have every book ever published or registered for copyright in the United States. This is especially true for books published only in paperback or self-published. May I recommend checking the U.S. Copyright Catalog. Not the on-line version, which contains records from 1978 forward, but the hard copy, published as a serial, and found at many large research or law libraries. Check the 1947 issues under both Charlotte Greenwood’s name and the title of the book. Maybe check 1946 and 1948 issues, too. Another possibility: Her autobiography may not have been published as a book, but serialized in a popular magazine, be it a movie magazine or a general interest magazine. For movie magazines, check _Motion Picture Performers: A Bibliography of Magazine and Periodical Articles, 1900-1969_ (1971), compiled by Mel Schuster. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/16 "2003-12-02T19:23:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Sadly, that author who listed it in his bibliography hates my insides, so I cant ask him if he actuially has a copy . . . \*\* See what happens when you don’t play nice with the other kids. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/17 "2003-12-02T19:38:01Z")
Well, if I _ever_ hear from my publisher on my next book proposal, I’ll be spending a lot of time at Lincoln Center—I’ll look in Charlotte Greenwood’s clippings folder and if she wrote a book, it’ll be mentioned there. ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/18 "2003-12-02T19:45:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* Sadly, that author who listed it in his bibliography hates my insides, so I cant ask him if he actuially has a copy . . . \*\* Hell, I’ll ask him for you. It’s likely that he would be indifferent to my insides. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/19 "2003-12-02T19:45:38Z")
I just noticed that the IMDb has the incorrect date of birth and date of death for Charlotte Greenwood. She was born in 1892 (per Social Security records), and died in 1977 (per California death index). ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/20 "2003-12-03T12:57:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Yeah, he was loaning it to Amelia Earhart, on his way to babysit Little Charley Ross . . . \*\* Can’t be the case. I was just at high tea with Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa the other day, and she claimed that that book didn’t exist. BTW, **lis** , I can get you the Bara Cleopatra, but only if I get London After Midnight and Convention City in return. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347.md?page=2)