| Title | Full Service |
| Place | USA |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Pages | 286 |
| Price | £8.99 |
| Author | Scotty Bowers & Lionel Friedberg |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
| Edition | PB |
| Special features (maps, etc.) | Photographs of the stars |
| ISBN | 978 1 61185 5807 |
Full Service as a phrase has many interpretations, but in the world of sex, the understanding is clear and unambiguous, which means that ‘Full Service’ as a title for Scotty Bowers (with Lionel Friedberg) book would seem very relevant.
When reading Full Service it is like taking a ladder of dates and placing a small cameo of a story where you can and then filing the blanks with joining stories (some relevant and some not) from Scotty’s past.
The subtitle to the book (‘Secret Sex Lives of The Stars’), is open to your belief or disbelief of each story and character. The ladder holds stories about stars in the entertainment business and begin from the mid-40s and includes people up to the present day in one form or another.
Most of those items which some may think interesting are not new in terms of some of the stars supposed sexuality, the reference to the Duke of Windsor and Churchill are open to whether you seem them relevant to this book.
The books is an easy read, it does not have a bibliography or reference notes, so at best it one person’s memories and observations, at worse it is a light weight novel.
Apart from the personal family photographs of the children, most of the photos are in the public domain and do not bring anything extra to the table. There is also no chapter listing at the start of the novel, which would make it easier to dip into and out of the book, or even to look something up in the future
So in summing up, Full Service is a lightweight reminiscence into the past without validation, and without a lot of peoples opportunity to challenge these reminiscences. Certainly it will prove to be of interest to some, but not in my belief to any in-depth researcher.
The Guardian – Hollywood’s secret history: Scotty Bowers on sex and stars in the Golden Era
Wikipedia – Full Service