Affection Deficit Disorder

Authorities differ about her number of marriages. The Columbia Encyclopedia (Fifth edition; 1993) states she was married nine times. The later Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia (Second edition;1998) says she was married only eight times. Both agree she was married twice to Richard Burton. That kind of careless error might reflect the contempt many in the academy feel for Elizabeth Taylor. Perhaps, as John Turturro's mother once said, Taylor's the type who'd only ever sleep with her husband, which is why she needed so many. She's had more husbands than Henry VIII had wives. Is it attention--or affection--deficit disorder?