Book excerpt: In 1930, after the public had seen Jean Harlow in Howard Hughes' WWI air ace epic, Hell's Angels, the nation's beauty parlors were jammed with women demanding to be transformed into "platinum blondes." The phrase was invented by a studio press agent, and the look was the work of Hollywood's newest, most explosive bombshell. This book explores the woman behind the legends and the scandals. The brief life of Jean Harlow is a story of success, of a triumphal struggle with Hollywood and the consequences of rapid fame. This is an important book about one of Hollywood's most extraordinary personalities. -- Publisher description.