Moving Pictures

In 1970, when the movie LOVE STORY hit the theaters, Ali MacGraw became an instant superstar, capturing the hearts and imaginations of millions of fans throughout the world. Strikingly beautiful, unabashedly intelligent, and married to Hollywood's Preeminent film executive, Robert Evans, she seemed to lead a storybook life. And when she later embarked on a passionate love affair with legendary actor Steve McQueen, women everywhere wished they were in her shoes. But the reality---and the woman---were not always what they seemed.

Now, in her wry, witty, and refreshingly frank autobiography---written by the actress herself---Ali MacGraw, gorgeous and gusty at fifty, discloses the truth behind the myth, the marriages, the Hollywood hype, and the ups and downs of her career.

With the role of Jenny in LOVE STORY, Ali MacGraw left behind forever her New England upbringing and her days as a New York career girl: assistant to fashion empress Diana Vreeland at HARPER'S BAZAAR, reluctant model for painter Salvador Dali, and savvy stylist for a a fashion photographer. In Hollywood she lived in fairy-tale luxury with husband Robert Evans, then seemed to throw it all away when she fell in love with moody film idol Steve McQueen. McQueen longed to live simply, almost reclusively, and at his insistence Ali gave up acting at the peak of her fame---a decision from which her film career would never recover.

Six tumultuous years later the marriage ended, and both her acting and personal life hit bottom. A lifelong pattern of destructive sexual attractions continued, and a devastating review of her acting was followed by a week of blackout drinking. When a friend persuaded her to go to a recovery clinic, Ali felt she only needed a "tune-up." What she got instead was lifesaving help.

Now Ali MacGraw takes stock of her life revising the dreamy, mythical childhood she once invented for a TIME cover story, describing the heady early years in New York, the transformation---that never quite "took"---by the HOllywood machine, and the realitites she faces today as a woman who hopes her greatest adventures are yet to come. MOVING PICTURES recounts Ali MacGraw's journey to self acceptance. In it, readers will be disarmed to meet the woman who can finally write, "At long last I am beginning to feel comfortable that I am wearing the right costume---my own skin."