“Ilikeanythingthatisevennearshowbusiness.Idon’tfeelwellunlessI’mnearit.“-LittleEdieBealeOneofthestrangestandsubtlestfilmsevermade,theMayslesBrothers’1975documentaryGreyGardenstodayboastsasdevotedafollowingasHaroldandMaude.ShotatGreyGardens,thedilapidatedEastHamptonsmansionof“BigEdie“and“LittleEdie“Beale,auntandcousintoJackieOnassis,thisclassicofcinemav矇rit矇trackstheBeales’eccentricandsequesteredlives--whichconsistmostlyofdoingnothing,butwithamesmerizingzestandvolubility.Thisvolumeoffersamyriadofillustrations,photographs,filmstills,productionnotesandotherarchivalmaterialsalongsidetranscriptsoftheBeales’ownstoriesandconversationseditedfromunreleasedGreyGardenssoundrecordings.StructuredtomirrortheMaysles’approachtotheworldoftheBeales,itresemblestheenchantingclutterofthemansion,aself-containedworldlitteredwithmementosandephemera.ItalsoreproducesunpublishedphotographsbybothAlbertandDavidMaysles.WithanintroductionbyAlbertMaysles,drawingsandillustrationsbyAlbert’sdaughter,RebekahMayslesandanappendixwiththefulltranscriptofGreyGardens,aswellasanaudioCDofsoundrecordingscapturingtheBealesattheirbest,thisbookistheessentialcompaniontothefilmandabeautifultestimonytoitslegacy.The60-minuteCDthatcomeswiththebookcontainsconversationswiththeBealesandtheirfriends,songsandpoetryrecitedbythetwoEdiesandaudiooftheBealesduringandafterwatchingthefilmforthefirsttime.
