The Art of Giving: Stuart E. Jacobson

Jacobson (Only the Best: A Celebration of Gift Giving in America) pursues the subject of celebrity gift giving. Illustrated with 235 photographs of the objects, the presenters and receivers, the book is also a collection of anecdotes that detail the stories behind the gifts. Sir Cecil Beaton's supposed love affair with Greta Garbo is memorialized in a silver-framed yellow rose, which he claims she presented to him. Letters written to them by their children are perceived as gifts by the acting family of Sir John Mills and his playwright wife; Marisa Berenson cherishes a jacket, the gift of her designer grandmother, Elsa Schiaparelli. Other gifts that celebrities enjoy giving and receiving include children's drawings, needlepoint, sculptured hippopotamuses, and some that are not keepsakes but memorable gestures of largesse like an elegant meal. As displayed here, gift giving is a cultivated talent. (October)