Paratrooper: The Life of Gen. James M. Gavin

``Jumpin' Jim'' Gavin (1909-1990) is best remembered as the intrepid commander of the 82nd Airborne Divison during WW II. In postwar years he served as Army deputy chief of staff until his retirement in 1959, then became an executive at the consulting firm, Arthur D. Little, and served as John F. Kennedy's ambassador to France. In this engaging, smoothly written biography of America's most famous paratrooper, the authors trace Gavin's early years in Pennsylvania coal country, where life in a foster home became so intolerable that he ran away, won an appointment to West Point and found his natural home in the United States Army. Much of the narrative concentrates on Gavin's wartime command in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, and his rivalry with General Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division. Booth, a freelance writer, and Spencer, a columnist for the congressional newspaper Roll Call , draw on Gavin's unpublished autobiography for revealing comments about his two marriages and his affairs with journalist Martha Gellhorn and actress Marlene Dietrich. Photos. (Apr.)