The Demilles: An American Family

This absorbing biography of the legendary DeMille family, perhaps America's most diversified and influential theatrical dynasty, is an impressive achievement in both its ambition and its remarkable execution. While the book focuses on the lives and achievements of the two most well-known DeMilles, pioneer film director Cecil B. and his gifted niece, the groundbreaking dancer and choreographer Agnes, The DeMilles is essentially a family story, and therein lies its strength; the book's panoramic, multi-generational sweep lends a specificity and perspective to the fascinating lives of its many subjects that individual biographies could not approach. Edwards's ( Shirley Temple , etc.) engrossing text is scrupulously researched and well-documented, and designer Dirk Luykx and photographic editor Louise Kerz have surrounded this gleaming prose with a sumptuous setting worthy of Cecil B. himself. A great story, lavishly illustrated in an oversized format, this is the kind of property he'd have optioned for the movies. (Nov.)