About this title: In his time, Howard Hughes was perhaps the richest man in the world, his fortune gained from motion pictures, aviation and engineering. He had romantic involvements with Katherine Hepburn, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner and many more. This book describes these relationships, as well as Hughes's little known homosexual life, including affairs with Cary Grant and Tyrone Power. Hughes made the films "The Outlaw", in total defiance of the censors, and "Scarface" in which there was a hint of incest. So obsessed was he with the details of ...
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004-11-10
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004-11-10
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004-11-10
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Good. Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket not necessarily included minimal wear to binding, majority of pages undamaged, minimal to no highlighting/underlining of text, no missing p. read more
Edition: Illustrated.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Illustrated.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Illustrated.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Black remainder dot on top--otherwise, extremely clean NEW softcover! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. 2004-Paperback---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312329976ISBN:0312329970
Description: BRAND NEW. Movie Tie-in. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xv, 368 pp., biblio., index; 24 cm. With a New Prologue by the Author. AS NEW. "His wealth was legendary. His passions were bizarre. Now, the truth about the money, the madness, and the man behind the enigma. Howard Hughes is one of the best known and least understood men of our times--famed for his wealth, his daring, and his descent into madness. Bestselling biographer Charles Higham goes beyond the enigma to reveal the incredible private life ... read more
"I picked this up on remainder, in an edition that had obviously been rushed out to take advantage of the release of the Hughes biopic "The Aviator" (which I have not seen). Higham cites a massive number of sources and original interviews in his closing pages; why, then, do I still feel when reading his work that I am swimming in the shallow, gossipy end of the biography pool? Possibly it is something to do with his narrative tone, which admits of no argument from or doubt of his own interpretation of the facts - there are no alternative possibilities presented to the reader in the manner one is used to in more academic biographies. Possibly, too, it derives from his harsh scorn for his subject, which suggests those interpretations may be less than objective, though admittedly this particular subject is not a particularly sympathetic one. Anyway, I found, as I expect most casual readers would, that I enjoyed the early chapters about the Hollywood producing career and the sexual philanderings with both sexes, was mildly interested in the middle section on aviation, and found the last chapters on Hughes' financial, political and military misdealings both horrifying and tedious in the extreme. One thing I regretted (and it may have to do with that phrase "rushed out") is that there were no photographic illustrations at all."
"Even though I haven't finished it yet, this book is really disappointing. Not that I had too many expectations going in, but I expected something resembling a coherent time line of events and reliable information. The time line is sketchy at best, the author never takes the time to clarify what year or decade certain events take place, so an event you thought happened in 1960 was a flashback to an earlier event that happened in 1950.
It's annoying, but not too difficult to understand. What killed the book for me was his lack of accuracy. When I was reading the chapter about how Hughes dated Katharine Hepburn, I noticed several small inconsistencies. This would have slipped right by me if I hadn't read Katharine Hepburn's memoir days earlier. It made me question how accurate the book is overall, because if a casual observer such as myself can pick up these small inconsistencies, how credible is the book? How many other inconsistencies are there? I'm not impressed Mr.Higham
Oh and the characters!Way too many characters! I get that it's a biography so there's bound to be a lot of people, but do you really have to introduce us to his kindergarten teacher? If she didn't play some substantial role in his life, please don't tell us about her. Save your energy for accurate research.
EDIT: Maybe I was a bit too harsh in my earlier review. There is quite a bit of information, and I think it's safe to say that most of it is fairly accurate.
Towards the end, there's a lot on the Watergate scandal which surprised me. I didn't think that Hughes was involved at all, but he actually did quite a bit. If anyone is interested in that sort of thing, that chapter is very informative.
This still isn't the best biography out there, but there's a lot of information."
"This was a much more interesting biography than most Hollywood types. The author interviewed a huge amount of people over several decades' time, so the gossipy portion of the book was pretty satisfying. The second half got a little draggy...politics aren't as interesting as sex scandals and movie making. Overall, it's not an entertainment book as much as it is an extraordinary amount of detail about a very complicated man. You can't sum someone like that up in a booklet or a movie short."
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