Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantly researched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature--the abusive, unstable mother of her adopted daughter Christina Crawfords memoir, "Mommie Dearest"--to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and times. Illuminating and entertaining, "Possessed" is the definitive biography of this remarkable woman and true legend of film.