"DORIS DAY: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door" is hotly tipped as the "definitive" Day biography...

I almost feel like a stuck record at the moment having announced one book after another on dear Doris. There is however one project that has been in the offing prior to all these recent releases and is soon to be printed... DORIS DAY: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door is an all-new, extensive biography by the American author David A. Kaufman. This long-awaited biography is scheduled to be published by Virgin Books USA in hardback on 10 June 2008 and is said to tell Day’s "incredible, previously untold story..".

American Author David Kaufman

For those who are not familiar with the New York based writer and veteran theatre critic he is renown in literary circles as being quite a thorough chap with an insatiable desire to leave no stone unturned. In fact, his last biography Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam (2002) was a ten year project in-the-making that came about after interviews with over 150 people. The end result was an "award-winning" acclaimed read that gave a very intimate and revealing account about the playwright/actor/director who died from AIDS in 1987.

Ludlam vs. Day: "They both have cult followings. But the biggest similarity is that they both were for the most part underestimated by the culture at large." - David Kaufman

In was in 2002, after publishing his book on Ludlam, that Kaufman began to toy with the idea of doing a Day biography. His ambition was to set the record straight about the "wrongly ridiculed" star.

Well it has been a long time coming but finally we are getting a feel for what to expect from Kaufman's latest offering. Firstly, top marks are awarded for a beautiful 1960s cover shot (premiered below). As for the interior the previously mentioned 900-page draft manuscript has been sized down to a more manageable 496-pages. Also contained in total are 16 pages of black-and-white photo inserts.

As to the content of the book it is too early to say as I am yet to receive a review copy. Kaufman's publisher does however reveal in a recent press release that the writer managed to track down countless colleagues and intimates, promising: "Scintillating tales of fame, beauty, money, tragedy, sexual ambiguity, and sexual conquests...".

Time will tell if Kaufman's book will prove to be as controversial as the one written last year by Doris's former personal secretary. It certainly seems though that this epic project is not going to be just another safe and cosy recycling of Ms. Day's official biography by A. E. Hotchner.

*** Expect a national TV campaign to promote this book. A New York and Los Angeles tour by the author is also in the pipeline. Vanity Fair in the UK and USA includes an extensive preview article on the book during Doris's birthday week of the 3 April. ***

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