New tomes prove book usually better than the movie

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Robert Wagner’s long-awaited autobiography “Pieces of My Heart,” written with Scott Eyman, is officially in bookstores Tuesday. It’s a terrific read: classy like Wagner and full of interesting showbiz stories and insights.

During the course of his long-distance movie career, Wagner has worked with a staggering number of iconic headliners — such names as Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, John Ford, Sophia Loren, James Cagney, Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, Blake Edwards, Steve McQueen and Elizabeth Taylor only scratch the surface. And those he didn’t work with often were good pals, making his look back on the 58 colorful years he has spent in the movie business a star-studded and fascinating tale. (Wagner’s first film, at age 19, was an unbilled turn in a 1950 MGMer called “The Happy Years.”)

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