EDITORIAL REVIEWS
Books On Tape
"Mesmerizing and filled with powerful lessons."
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Vicki Morgan, mistress to department store heir and Ronald Reagan confidante, Alfred Bloomingdale, lived beyond her years and died before her time--the victim of a brutal murder. Seething with power, intrigue, sex and obsession, it's a ringside seat into the darker habits of the world's rich and powerful.
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
***** A Pretty Girl Gone Wrong, April 2, 2002
Reviewer: fdietrich4 from Houston, TX
This is absolutely one of the wildest biographies I have ever read. If it wasn't true it would make great fiction, right up there with the sexy potboilers and confessionals I so love to read. This is the story of Vicki Morgan, longtime mistress to Alfred Bloomingdale, and the loved they shared, a strange and crazy kind of love that would lead to their mutual destruction. Here he was, scion of Bloomingdales Department Store, industrial magnate and member of Ronald Reagan's kitchen cabinet; and here she was a naive but gorgeous small town girl come to the big city.
This book has an epic sweep as Vicki Morgan, in a vain attempt to escape the married Bloomingdale, encounters a series of adventures with some of the world's most wealthy and powerful men. And women. It is not a tale for the faint hearted, but there are strong moral lessons--mainly there is a steep price for the glamour and the money men give for sexual favors.
The story is told from the author's point of view. He spent nine months with Vicki Morgan and was one of the last people to see her alive. The author, Gordon Basichis, gives us intimate insight into the making of a wordly rich girl who knows how to manipulate men for money, only to be trapped in the game she has profited by for so many years. Through the seventies and into the eighties she was getting at least a quarter millon dollars from these different lovers.
It's rare that I find a book so compelling. I love how the story describes the high life of power and money while showing, also, how this glitzy path leads to destruction and, in this case, murder. This was truly one of a kind.
*****POWER, SEX AND MONEY, March 18, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Southern California
Power, Sex and Money
I was totally caught up in this true tale of a naive and beautiful young woman, trapped in a world where power, sex and money reign. As the mistress to Alfred Bloomingdale, the department store heir and member of the kitchen cabinet, Vicki Morgan lived a life that few can imagine...a wild and ultimately tragic journey that ended in her brutal murder. What I loved about this book was its unwillingness to rely on predictable cliche. The author's insight sheds new light on a very old subject -- sex and power. The writing is personal, intimate, at times humorous and always engaging. If this book were published today, it would be a bestseller
***** TRUE STORY, December 4, 2001
Reviewer: from Memphis, Tn USA
This book was very moving. the story of a mistress, who never can seem to find her way, but found love in a married man. the author got to knew vicki before her murder and this gives us great insight into her thoughts and feelings. i highly recommend this book, a great read from beginning to end.
****Money and Power Prevail, August 16, 2001
Reviewer: katydid127 from New York, NY, USA
Alred Bloomingdale was a rich, powerful man. He was part of Ronald Reagan's "kitchen cabinet." Vicki Morgan was a poor, confused teenager and unwed mother. At 17, impressed with Bloomingdale's money and power, Vicki became Alfred's mistress. Their relationship lasted 13 years and was more than sex. It was Alfred's wish that Vicki be "taken care of" and he signed papers guaranteeing her a sum of money for a specified period of time. After his death, his wife Betsy, cut off the payments. This set in motion events which would lead to Vicki's brutal murder.
This book tells of their relationship from Vicki's point of view. It details the sado-masochistic parties, orgies and prostitutes that Alfred's money bought.
I enjoyed this book. I always believed that money enabled people to get away with many things that us normal, middle class people would be prosecuted for; this book confirms that. Whether you believe that Vicki was a tramp who took advantage of Alfred, or a confused girl who was taken advantage of by a rich, old man with bizarre sexual proclivities, Vicki certainly did not deserve to be beaten to death with a baseball bat.
