{"product_id":"happily-ever-after-isbn-9780345483256","title":"Happily Ever After","description":"Drew Barrymore was a star by the time she was seven years old, a drug addict by twelve, and a has - been before her sixteenth birthday. But with the resounding success of such recent films as Ever After: A Cinderella Story, The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed (produced by Drew's production company, Flower Films) and Charlie's Angels, Drew Barrymore has reclaimed her place as one of Hollywood's hottest young actors. Her inspirational comeback from a highly publicized battle with drug and alcohol addiction has left this former child star wiser, happier, and more triumphant then ever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom her struggle to reenter Hollywood to her many acclaimed movies, from a strained relationship with her mother and a failed marriage to a newfound sense of peace and enduring love, HAPPILY EVER AFTER offers a fascinating look at the troubled Little Girl Lost and the beautiful woman she grew up to be!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn unauthorized biographyLeah and Elina Furman are New York-based writers, and sisters, who have coauthored many books, including In His Eyes: The Julio Iglesias Jr. Story, Rock Your World: Meet the Moffatts, The Heat Is On: 98°, Heart of Soul: The Lauryn Hill Story, Felicity: Meet the Stars, James Van Der Beek, and The Everything After College Book.\u003cb\u003eAmerica 's Angel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur first meeting with Drew Barrymore took place\u003cbr\u003ewhen we were still in grade school. Although that was\u003cbr\u003esome eighteen years ago, we remember that day as\u003cbr\u003eclearly as if it were yesterday. We piled into the backseat\u003cbr\u003eof our parents' navy blue Buick Skylark and headed for\u003cbr\u003ethe movie theater to see \u003ci\u003eE.T.--The Extra-Terrestrial\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eThroughout the ride, all we could think about was the\u003cbr\u003eupcoming movie. We couldn't wait to get in our seats\u003cbr\u003eand see what all the kids in school had been talking\u003cbr\u003eabout. At the time, we'd never heard the name \"Drew\u003cbr\u003eBarrymore\" before. We didn't know who she was, what\u003cbr\u003eshe looked like, or where she came from. All we cared\u003cbr\u003eabout was that lovable alien who'd made such an impression\u003cbr\u003eon us during TV commercials for E.T.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe two magical hours that we spent in the theater\u003cbr\u003ethat Sunday afternoon surpassed our wildest expectations.\u003cbr\u003eAs we stumbled out of our seats, trying to choke\u003cbr\u003eback the lumps in our throats and the tears in our eyes,\u003cbr\u003ewe knew that for as long as we lived, we would never\u003cbr\u003eforget either E.T., or the pudgy little blond girl who almost\u003cbr\u003estole the show.Her name, of course, was Drew Barrymore.\u003cbr\u003eWhile she might not have been the stuff of household\u003cbr\u003econversation just yet, her face was permanently embedded\u003cbr\u003ein the mind of every man, woman, and child who'd\u003cbr\u003eseen Steven Spielberg's highest grossing movie to date,\u003cbr\u003eE.T.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePretty soon, Drew was dubbed America's little darling\u003cbr\u003eand began popping up all over. When she starred in\u003cbr\u003e1984's \u003ci\u003eIrreconcilable Differences\u003c\/i\u003e, we talked about going\u003cbr\u003eto see \"the new Drew Barrymore movie.\" She was\u003cbr\u003ethe first movie star with whom kids of a certain age\u003cbr\u003ecould identify, the Shirley Temple of the 1980s, the\u003cbr\u003ecutest, the most famous, the best-loved kid in the U.S.,\u003cbr\u003eperhaps the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresident Reagan and the First Lady invited her to\u003cbr\u003ethe White House. NBC put her front and center on the\u003cbr\u003estage of Saturday Night Live. The Academy Awards and\u003cbr\u003ethe Golden Globes saw her walking the red carpet year\u003cbr\u003eafter year. Drew was always in the spotlight.\u003cbr\u003eAnd then, just like that, she was gone. Not a snap-shot,\u003cbr\u003enot a movie, not a word. Nothing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn January 1989, she hadn't been out of circulation\u003cbr\u003elong enough for anyone to notice a conspicuous absence.\u003cbr\u003eThat's when the National Enquirer sounded the\u003cbr\u003ealarm: E.T. STAR IN COCAINE AND BOOZE CLINIC--AT 13!\u003cbr\u003eParents were horrified. Kids of all ages were dumb-founded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How could this have happened to our little\u003cbr\u003eDrew?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe scion of the Barrymore acting dynasty, Drew was\u003cbr\u003enothing less than a national treasure. For \u003cbr\u003egenerations,the Barrymores had been making headlines on the stage,\u003cbr\u003eon the screen, and on the party circuit. Everyone knew\u003cbr\u003eof the illustrious family's personal woes, checkered\u003cbr\u003ewith alcoholism and drug addiction. But Drew was supposed\u003cbr\u003eto be different. She'd spoken out against drug\u003cbr\u003eabuse. She'd starred in our favorite films. She'd captured\u003cbr\u003eour hearts as we watched her grow up. This\u003cbr\u003ewasn't supposed to happen to her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs details of Drew's addiction began to leak out, the\u003cbr\u003econtroversy wreaked havoc upon her image as a\u003cbr\u003efun-loving but essentially down-to-earth child star.\u003cbr\u003eOvernight, Drew became the poster girl for excess and\u003cbr\u003eteenage rebellion. She went from everyone's role model\u003cbr\u003eto public enemy number one. Indeed, prevailing wisdom\u003cbr\u003esuddenly dictated that Drew Barrymore was nothing\u003cbr\u003emore than a very bad girl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was Drew's darkest hour. When she got out of rehab,\u003cbr\u003eno one wanted to hire her. Many of her old friends\u003cbr\u003edisappeared without a trace. Cast out of the industry,\u003cbr\u003eDrew might have easily reverted to her old habits. But\u003cbr\u003ejust as all signs pointed to what might have been another\u003cbr\u003etragic ending in the Barrymore saga, Drew chose\u003cbr\u003eto do the unpredictable--she fought back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt fourteen years of age, Drew Barrymore authored\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLittle Girl Lost\u003c\/b\u003e, the autobiography that detailed her descent\u003cbr\u003einto and arduous climb out of the depths of despair.\u003cbr\u003eThe book was an instant best-seller, and Drew\u003cbr\u003ewas back on top, a heroine to young adults nationwide.\u003cbr\u003eThat was more than ten years ago. Over the last\u003cbr\u003edecade Drew has worked steadily toward reclaiming the\u003cbr\u003every fame, fortune, and respect that she'd been so quick\u003cbr\u003eto throw away as a child. The 1990s have been good to\u003cbr\u003eDrew, and while this biography will recap some of the\u003cbr\u003eevents narrated in \u003cb\u003eLittle Girl Lost\u003c\/b\u003e, it is the \u003cbr\u003enew and triumphantly self-improved Drew who is the shining focus\u003cbr\u003eof \u003cb\u003eHappily Ever After: The Drew Barrymore Story\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeiress\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDynasty . . . the word alone conjures up a parade of\u003cbr\u003egrandiose images, which is perhaps why so much has\u003cbr\u003ebeen made of Drew Barrymore's legacy. Her genealogy\u003cbr\u003ebears the honorable Barrymore coat of arms; her dominion\u003cbr\u003eis the world of stage and screen; her crown jewels\u003cbr\u003eare gold-plated Oscars and acclaimed films. To earn\u003cbr\u003ethis distinction, she had only to be born. Not unlike\u003cbr\u003ePrince William, Drew is the heir to a royal family\u003cbr\u003ethrone. Indeed the Barrymores are called \"The First\u003cbr\u003eFamily of the Theater.\" Most of us naturally assumed\u003cbr\u003ethat with this throne came a fortune.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHearing of Drew's celebrated lineage, we believed she\u003cbr\u003ewas born with the proverbial silver spoon. \"Hollywood\u003cbr\u003eroyalty,\" they said, and we envisioned her coming of\u003cbr\u003eage on a sprawling Bel Air estate where a staff of servants\u003cbr\u003ewas paid to cater to her every childish whim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Acting dynasty,\" they said, and we were led to understand\u003cbr\u003ethat she was a princess and her life a fairy tale.\u003cbr\u003eHow were we to know the truth: Drew Barrymore\u003cbr\u003ewas born into a single-parent household, a latch-key kid\u003cbr\u003ecompletely disconnected from the deceased ancestors\u003cbr\u003ewho had so glorified her famous last name?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Drew and I started with nothing but the clothes on my back,\"\u003cbr\u003eDrew's mother, Jaid Barrymore, said on \u003ci\u003eThis Evening\u003cbr\u003ewith Judith Regan\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo family. No friends. No money. How had it come\u003cbr\u003eto this? Drew is the proud heiress of thoroughbred thespian\u003cbr\u003ebloodlines as pure as they are long. Reaching back into\u003cbr\u003ethe 1800s, the glamour-personifying predecessors who\u003cbr\u003einformed Drew's talent were more than mere superstars.\u003cbr\u003eFor over a century, the Barrymores have represented\u003cbr\u003eAmerica's cultural aristocracy, that singularly charming,\u003cbr\u003ewitty, and talented coterie that best exemplifies all that\u003cbr\u003eis most noble and most eccentric about true greatness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's mind-boggling to consider how many books,\u003cbr\u003eplays, and movies have been written to either spoof,\u003cbr\u003ehonor, or expose the ostentatious display of genius that\u003cbr\u003eis the Barrymore family. Awards and theaters have been\u003cbr\u003enamed after this hallowed clan. The story behind the\u003cbr\u003efamily tree, however, is as full of corkscrew twists and\u003cbr\u003ehairpin turns as is the history of Drew Barrymore's public\u003cbr\u003epersona.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe young star's name is itself no flight of fancy, no\u003cbr\u003elast minute caprice on the part of her parents. In fact,\u003cbr\u003eevery part of Drew Blythe Barrymore's auspicious\u003cbr\u003emoniker stems from a family surname. Drew is actually\u003cbr\u003ethe maiden name of her great-grandmother Georgiana\u003cbr\u003eDrew, a renowned stage actress who was born in 1854\u003cbr\u003eto the equally lauded actors John and Louisa Lane\u003cbr\u003eDrew of Philadelphia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the daughter of a celebrated husband-and-wife\u003cbr\u003eacting team, it is perhaps not surprising that Georgiana\u003cbr\u003e(or Georgie as she was more commonly known) went\u003cbr\u003eon to marry one of the most respected performers of her\u003cbr\u003eday, Maurice Barrymore. Born Herbert Blythe in 1847,\u003cbr\u003eMaurice came to the U.S. by way of Great Britain where\u003cbr\u003ehe studied law at Cambridge. But donning the barrister's\u003cbr\u003ewig evidently failed to satisfy his flair for the dramatic;\u003cbr\u003ehe quit the profession, changed his name, and\u003cbr\u003ejoined the theater. By 1875 he was in New York.\u003cbr\u003eIt was while working as a leading man at Augustin\u003cbr\u003eDaly's theatrical company that Maurice met and fell in\u003cbr\u003elove with Georgie Drew. Within a year of his arrival in\u003cbr\u003ethe U.S., the two were married. Countless rave reviews,\u003cbr\u003esix years, and three children later, the future of the Barrymore\u003cbr\u003elegacy was secured. Lionel, Ethel, and John Barrymore--\u003cbr\u003enever was so much raw acting talent assembled\u003cbr\u003ebeneath one stage name. This is the triumvirate\u003cbr\u003ethat would give the family its prominent place in performing\u003cbr\u003earts history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the trio matured, so did their family's reputation.\u003cbr\u003eThe upper crust of New York society was just as smitten\u003cbr\u003ewith the Barrymores as the theatergoing Philadelphians\u003cbr\u003ehad been with the Drews. Horse-drawn carriages, \u003cbr\u003esparkling jewels, motley brocade gowns,\u003cbr\u003eeverything was beautiful at the playhouse. On the home\u003cbr\u003efront, however, the Barrymore life lost some of its luster.\u003cbr\u003eBeset by Maurice's infidelity and alcoholism, the Barrymore\u003cbr\u003emarriage was not a happy one. By far the biggest blow \u003cbr\u003eto the family, however, came while Lionel, Ethel, and \u003cbr\u003eJohn were still in their teens. At only thirty-seven\u003cbr\u003eyears of age, their mother died of tuberculosis,\u003cbr\u003eleaving her children to the care of their maternal grandmother,\u003cbr\u003eLouisa Lane Drew, who along with her late husband\u003cbr\u003emanaged to endow the children with just as many\u003cbr\u003evices as talents.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike his kindred spirit of a son-in-law, John Drew had\u003cbr\u003ebeen known for his prodigious drinking. So severe was\u003cbr\u003ehis condition that he actually reveled his way into an\u003cbr\u003eearly grave long before either Lionel, Ethel, or John were\u003cbr\u003eeven born. Meanwhile Louisa Lane, the grande dame of\u003cbr\u003ea matriarch whom the grandkids called Mummum and\u003cbr\u003eloved like a mother, rarely lost her icy reserve and\u003cbr\u003epreached the virtues of this stoicism by withholding both\u003cbr\u003eher approval and her affection from the children. These\u003cbr\u003eheirlooms from the Drew branch of the family tree\u003cbr\u003ewould go on to characterize the Barrymores' lives, as\u003cbr\u003etales of their infamous aversion to emotional entanglements\u003cbr\u003eand their fatal penchant for drugs and drink\u003cbr\u003ewould subsequently snowball to monstrous proportions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStrangely enough, these proclivities would endure to\u003cbr\u003eaffect Drew Barrymore's life just as surely as if she herself\u003cbr\u003ehad been born some one hundred years earlier into\u003cbr\u003ethe Philadelphia home of her great-great-grandparents.\u003cbr\u003eThe saga of the three Barrymores is now the stuff of\u003cbr\u003eHollywood legend. The Golden Age of American cinema\u003cbr\u003ewouldn't have been as bright had it not been for\u003cbr\u003ethis troika of actors who rode the wave of filmmaking\u003cbr\u003eall the way from the silent screen to the talkies. Although\u003cbr\u003etoday's generation of Barrymore fans might not\u003cbr\u003eknow it, these were the Barrymores who made the real\u003cbr\u003eheadlines and inspired awestruck mortals to pen so\u003cbr\u003emany documentaries, plays, books, and scripts.","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299748958437,"sku":"NP9780345483256","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345483256.jpg?v=1767728674","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/happily-ever-after-isbn-9780345483256","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}