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- James Dean is the coolest
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- James Dean : Fifty Years Ago
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James Dean: Fifty Years Ago
Dennis Stock
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0810959038 |
Book Description
Like a restless ghost, James Dean (1921-1955) continues to haunt us. Though he died nearly 50 years ago, the enigmatic star of East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, and Giant still symbolizes the mystery and torment of adolescence-an image that his sudden, violent death fixed forever in the public mind.
Magnum photographer Dennis Stock met Dean in Hollywood in 1954 and began to capture him on camera. Shot over a three-month period just as the young actor's star began to rise, these iconic photographs are the greatest pictures ever taken of Dean. Together with Stock's text and an introduction by Dean biographer Joe Hyams, the images provide an extraordinarily intimate view of the cult legend whose brooding good looks captivated fans by illuminating the troubled depths of his character. Published on the 50th anniversary of his death, this is the definitive photographic portrait of James Dean in both his professional and his private worlds-the real man behind the lingering legend. AUTHOR BIO: Dennis Stock has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1951, and his photographs are in the collections of many major museums. Stock is the author of 16 books, including California Trip, on the surrealistic landscape of that state. He lives in Connecticut. Joe Hyams is the noted author of 28 books, among them James Dean: Little Boy Lost, the definitive Dean biography. Immediately after Dean's death, he was the first authorized by the actor's family to write about him.
Customer Reviews:
James Dean is the coolest.......2007-03-09
i will say that this book show you how he star from the small town to the big city and then california
this is a clasic book that is going to be for generation , specially if you like James Dean
BLACK AND WHITE AND COOL.......2007-02-05
My good friend, Carole, sent me a copy of an official publication from a JAMES DEAN fan club. Inside was a lengthy story she had written recounting the 1988 trip that she and six other "die-hard Dean fans" (including Jimmy's boyhood friend, Bob Pulley) made to California, during which I escorted the group to several of the prominent Dean-related sites in Los Angeles. Happily reliving those days through Carole's recollections, I was inspired to lose myself in my copy of Dennis Stock's JAMES DEAN REVISITED. His JAMES DEAN: FIFTY YEARS AGO is essentially a special, retitled hardcover reissue with the photographs beautifully enlarged, and a few splendid ones previously unpublished now included.
My copy - a gift from my employer in 1993 - is inscribed, "To a fellow alien who straddles two worlds...the art is in the living." My magazine-publishing boss bought me the book, but being a major fan, naturally, this essential book for Dean fans was already in my bookcase. I subsequently gave away my older copy and kept his gift.
As a wannabe actor fresh out of high school in 1977 (Santa Monica High, coincidentally also known as Dawson High in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE), I discovered Dean at a Fox Venice Theater showing of what I consider Dean's greatest film, EAST OF EDEN. This was before movies were available for purchase and home viewing. I was mesmerized then knocked out of my boots; everything struck a chord of harmony within me: the sense of youthful alienation; the brooding intensity; the moodiness; the frustration; the quest for meaning. I was hooked, and James Dean became my idol.
In September of 1980, I took my first extensive solo trip, flying into Indianapolis and then driving to Dean's hometown, Fairmount, for the festival honoring the 25th anniversary of his death. Through happenstance (?), I met Carole and her friend Russ (both would remain my very good friends). I'd heard that Martin Sheen was to attend the festival, and when Russ asked if I wanted to accompany them to the Indianapolis airport to pick up "Martin", I said, "Sure" - assuming that the "first name only" implied that this Martin was famous and a last name was unnecessary. It turned out to be Martin, hard-core fan flying in from England. (I'm still in touch with this non-Sheen "Martin", too.) Well, in the days that followed, my disappointment from the "Martin Mix-up" turned to elation when I discovered how well-connected my new friends were, and I found myself meeting Adeline Nall, Jimmy's high school drama teacher, and then getting a private tour of his boyhood farmhouse conducted by the aunt who raised him, Ortense Dean Winslow. I saw his motorcycle and leather motorcycle jacket, his bongo drum sitting quietly in the corner, and his childhood artwork hanging on his old bedroom walls. Very heady stuff for a young fan! (I've experienced so many strange "coincidences" in my 47 years that I'm not at all convinced this life is "real.")
Well, as the years wore on, I surprisingly lost interest in acting, and a series of spiritual episodes completely changed me and my world-view. I no longer idolize human beings, but I still recognize that James Dean was (and remains) the most imaginative, most innately gifted American actor. The direction hinted at in GIANT gives an indication of where he was pointed as an artist, and ultimately he would have emerged as a "giant" of a film director. He may have started life as a hayseed, ending it with a Turnupseed and with Life's promising highway left unexplored before him, but JAMES DEAN LIVES, both in his three films, and in these beautiful black and white photographs by the fine lensman, Dennis Stock.
Do you wish to see why the name James Dean turns up in the songs of Rock stars? (David Essex, Lou Reed, John Mellencamp, Ian Hunter, and The Eagles, to name but five.) Want to see why all the boys wanted to BE him, and all the girls wanted to BE WITH him? (As a female friend recently wrote regarding his performance in East Of Eden: "I think Dean also aroused a lot of maternal feelings with that performance. You're attracted to him, but you also want to mother him. What's a girl to do?") Well, it's all in these pages:
The Offbeat Humor: Encircled by calves and pigs, Jim sits with his bongo drum on a patch of ground on the family's farm and bangs out a "rhythm to moo and oink to."
The Bizarre Morbidity: Jimmy posing in a coffin at a Fairmount funeral home just 7 months before his corpse would be taken there.
More Bizarre Morbidity: Jim examining the chicken head held by a small, joyful girl loitering on a New York sidewalk, while the girl's older sister holds onto the leash of their disinterested dog.
The Eerily Mysterious: He sits dressed in coat and tie, reading a book in the farm's hayloft while light filtering in reveals him to be surrounded by spider web-sealed old trunks. (A dynamite piece of photography! Absolutely first-rate.)
The Classic Cool: James Dean marches through the city streets, cigarette dangling, and shoulders hunched in his overcoat against a Times Square rain.
The Ultimate Rebellion: An edgy Dean holding a gun point-blank on future president Ronald Reagan on the Hollywood set of the television play, THE DARK, DARK HOUSE.
These and so many more stellar shots - some posed and some candid - await the James Dean fan on thse pages. The decades have whittled down my once massive Dean collection to just a few portrait reproduction post cards sent to me by the late artist, Kenneth Kendall, who sculpted the actor's bust on display at The Griffith Park Observatory in L.A., and to this book of 1955 photographs by Dennis Stock. This should tell you plenty about the quality of these photos. Come and "see" the original Voice of teen angst, the red-jacketed rebel in glorious black and white.
James Dean : Fifty Years Ago.......2006-03-20
Mr. James Dean who is featured in these pictures speaks for himself and what was lost when he was taken to his final resting place in Fairmount and what might have been.
James Dean lives on.......2006-02-01
Was about time this book came out. These are some of the most beautiful JD photos. It's all I've got to say
The Finest Photo Collection on James Dean.......2005-12-07
I owned Dennis Stock's 1980s collection of photos of Dean from his Life magazine days. This books is more than a re-release; Stock has a lot more written about his brief (friendly) relationship with Dean and the affect of Dean's death. Stock included previously unreleased pictures showing more of the young star's spirit and attitude. That is what this coffee table book is about: pictures. Stock's book, combined with George Perry's biography, make for the best written and pictoral chronicle on James Dean.
Book Description
They were the unlikeliest of pairs—a handsome crooner and a skinny monkey, an Italian from Steubenville, Ohio, and a Jew from Newark, N.J.. Before they teamed up, Dean Martin seemed destined for a mediocre career as a nightclub singer, and Jerry Lewis was dressing up as Carmen Miranda and miming records on stage. But the moment they got together, something clicked—something miraculous—and audiences saw it at once.
Before long, they were as big as Elvis or the Beatles would be after them, creating hysteria wherever they went and grabbing an unprecedented hold over every entertainment outlet of the era: radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution. The millions (and the women) flowed in, seemingly without end—and then, on July 24, 1956, ten years from the day when the two men joined forces, it all ended.
After that traumatic day, the two wouldn’t speak again for twenty years. And while both went on to forge triumphant individual careers—Martin as a movie and television star, recording artist, and nightclub luminary (and charter member of the Rat Pack); Lewis as the groundbreaking writer, producer, director, and star of a series of hugely successful movie comedies—their parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each man’s heart.
In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of a fifty-year friendship, from the springtime, 1945 afternoon when the two vibrant young performers destined to conquer the world together met on Broadway and Fifty-fourth Street, to their tragic final encounter in the 1990s, when Lewis and his wife ran into Dean Martin, a broken and haunted old man.
In Dean & Me, Jerry Lewis makes a convincing case for Dean Martin as one of the great—and most underrated—comic talents of our era. But what comes across most powerfully in this definitive memoir is the depth of love Lewis felt, and still feels, for his partner, and which his partner felt for him: truly a love to last for all time.
Customer Reviews:
Dean and Me: (A Love Story).......2007-10-05
Being a long-time fan of Mr. Lewis, I may be considered biassed in writing this review. Honestly, I read this book with an open mind with no tendency of leaning to Mr. Lewis over Mr. Martin.
Mr. Lewis opens his heart and mind in this bio of being one half of a famous duo. He does not gloss over his short-comings nor those of Mr. Martin's.
The book is humorous, tragic and insightful into the lives of two 'regular' guys that come together and become a world-wide sensation.
Thank you Mr. Lewis for your straight forward approach to your life and Mr. Martin's. Thank you for the many years of happiness you have given your fans. Your gift of humor has sustained many throughout the years.
It was always love.......2007-09-15
I grew up loving the Martin and Lewis movies, so reading Jerry's account of their ten years together brought back a lot of good memories. From their first chance meeting, Jerry was in awe of the charming Dean, and spent years trying to impress him and feel equal to him. After hectic early years playing night clubs, the duo found huge success in Hollywood, but mutual jealousy and the basic differences in their personalities eventually led to a bitter break-up. Years later, distance and maturity made a reconciliation possible for both.
Jerry speaks of his undying admiration for his partner's showbiz talents and unflappable coolness, yet sadly describes Dean as a man incapable of deep, intimate friendship who was ultimately quite sad and lonely. This is an entertaining and touching tribute to the man Jerry always wished was his big brother.
Moving..and very, very sad.......2007-09-08
I don't like to admit it but the last few chapters really got to me. This book is about love and loss of the deepest and truest kind. My admiration for Jerry Lewis has gone through the roof for sharing his deep affection for his partner who, in an emotional sense, was the love of his life. One of the biggest revelations of this book is the scope of Dean Martin's talent. I remember him primarily as a 'crooner' who was Jerry's straight man, but he was much more. He had a complex personality which made it very difficult for people to get close to him. Jerry tried as best he could and to a certain extent succeeded, but some people's psychological knots are tied so tight that they never quite allow themselves to connect to the outside world. I have this sad image of Dean dining alone in his late sixties when Jerry runs into him in an LA restaurant. Jerry tries his best to reconnect with his ex-partner but still is understanding enough to know that Dean is uncomfortable with direct assaults on his cultivated privacy. And yet you sense that Dean too wants to be with his former partner and best friend. What can I say? People are there own worst enemies.
Warm, honest and wonderful!.......2007-08-07
For starters: I've never been much of a Martin & Lewis fan - HOWEVER - I have always had a lot of respect for them. Even when I was a child, I would watch them, and deep inside, I knew there was a reason why I was so taken by them.
This is a joyous book to read, and it is a beautiful testimony to when it's right - it's right. Mr. Lewis is honest in all categories and he really shows what he and Mr. Martin had was really something special. In addition, Jerry (of course) will be Jerry, and there is a little pun he writes in the book. I read it, and thought, "well, okay..." Then, just under an hour later - I GOT IT! - and I was laughing myself to tears!
These guys had something very special, and I am very thankful that Jerry Lewis had the open heart to write about it.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart Jerry! You're the Best!:)
great book.......2007-07-24
I loved this book. It takes us into an era that really is quite fabulous, through the eyes of somebody who lived it.
Customer Reviews:
Terrible View of James Dean.......2007-06-20
I am a huge fan of James Dean and while I had time at my local bookstore, I was dying to have a book about him. I saw Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times and Legend of James Dean and immediately, without thinking twice, I purchased it. I was excited about reading it but when I got home, I immediately became disgusted and disappointed about what I was reading, so disgusted that I returned it the next day. To me, it was purely porn, but in a different form. Although I only skimmed through pages and pictures and did not read the whole thing, the bits and pieces I did happen to read made me feel sick. It portrayed Dean as being a masochistic, sex-craving, selfish individual, opposite the descriptions of others he had been associated with (Julie Harris, Pier Angeli, Martin Landau, etc.), those who I believe, would have the advantage of actually knowing him. Of course, other books about James have touched up on his alleged bisexuality/homosexuality but this book by far has proven to be a flop. The picture of the nude man that the author claims to be Dean is truly wrong because extensive research has proven that the man in the photo is not James, but a mentally-disabled young man who had been exploited by his cousin. This book is disgusting filth and is in no way a tribute to the late actor, but a way to tarnish his image and the person he was best remembered to be. Don't waste your time or money on this like I did.
Judge for yourself and don't neccessarily believe all the negative reviews.......2007-03-15
It's quite frustrating to read all the negative reviews here. Paul Alexander has written other critically acclaimed biographies and from this background there is no reason to believe he was just some lousy reporter interested in writing a badly researched, scandalous tabloid biography, although this is just what some reviewers here wrongly claim.
There are two rather detailed (homo)sexual scenes, and that's all. Of course one wonders how Alexander recreated them (he doesn't list his sources in footnotes and just mentions how he tried to recreate dialogue and scenes through in-depth interviews) but they are in no way the common theme of the book.
Alexander's prose is elegantly clear, empathic and evocative. What seems to annoy some reviewers is that he tries to bring to light elements of Dean's life biographies back then (this book was originally published in 1995) - and maybe even today - tried to avoid or probably suppress. From this point of view this is still an informed and reasonably balanced piece of work and in no way the lurid scam it is depicted to be in some reviews here. Some "fans" probably hate their romantic myths about Dean shattered or are too uncomfortable with homosexuality to see it mentioned in a James Dean biography.
What is strange, though, is the fact that the recently published book by Willam Bast, which probably deals more with Dean's (homo)sexuality than Alexander's book, doesn't get as many negative reviews as this book here. Maybe times have changed.
Anyway, I think there is no such thing as "the" James Dean biography. If you want to seriously know more about him you should read several biographies to get to know different points of view. But Paul Alexander's work should not be missed.
Incompetent.......2006-07-03
Yes, this biography is numbingly obsessed with James Dean's sexuality, but it's also terribly written and edited.
It's full of redundancies, horribly constructed sentences, narrative strands that are left hanging, and amateurish reporting. (Although the author tries to overcompensate with an excessively detailed, boring account of the days leading up to Dean's fatal car crash.)
Don't waste your money.
superb style, memorable quotes.......2006-03-25
I am surprised that no one has remarked upon this biography's excellent style. Here are a few memorable passages:
1. In Salt Lake City, [his mother's] coffin, covered with flowers, was removed from the train and placed on the station platform near Jimmy's window [he was a boy of nine] "Oh, my mother! That's my mother!" Jimmy was supposed to have said. "I'm going out there. I'm going to stand right beside her!" And with the train's nurse by his side, that's what he did, until the coffin was moved back on board.
2. For years, the people of Fairmount would gossip about what Jimmy was supposed to have said when [...] on his eighteenth birthday, he reported to the local draft board. Was there a reason why he should'nt be drafted? [...] Yes, there was. [...] "You can't draft me," he said. "I'm homosexual."
3. [Of his father's resistance to the idea of him becoming an actor] A father's pull on a son may be basic, but an art form's pull on an artist is hypnotic.
4. No true artist fits into the world in which he lives. If he did, he would cease to be the observer and become the observed.
It certainly seems plausible that much of Dean's rebellion proceeded from his homosexuality. After all, our inherited culture denies that men can ever really love each other, with the limited and highly qualified exception of father and son. In other cultures Dean would not have been such a rebel, perhaps. But Dean seems also to have had a certain heterosexual component to his nature. So he seems to have resembled pagan Greek men, bisexual, but with the emphasis on the homosexual side. This is what most of the people who knew him most intimately said about him. But he was promoted by an intensely homophobic culture as a heterosexual sex object of a somewhat new kind - rebellious, but safely hetero. Nevertheless there was just enough of the gay element lurking in the shadows (especially in Rebel Without a Cause) to add a certain wicked allurement.
All this must have made him personally very uncomfortable, to say the least. Montgomery Clift (see Leonard's bio) and Errol Flynn (see Bret's bio) were made so uncomfortable by this pretense that they indulged in very self-destructive behavior. It cannot be very rewarding to be idolized by strangers who, if they knew about one's most basic personality trait - who one falls in love with - would find one utterly hateful and contemptible. There certainly was a kind of death wish in driving a car at 100 or 120 mph on a highway.
The homophobes here seem to be most disturbed by the few sex scenes Alexander inserts. They are in fact rather prim, except for a sentence or two. But even these are more clinical than pornographic.
The famous nude photo of Dean as Greek faun is included.
Modern biographies are almost always written in a wooden, journalistic style that makes them more a duty than a pleasure to read. This bio does not entirely avoid the fault, but is nevertheless full of beautiful phrases and memorable lines. I enjoyed reading it.
Disgusting.......2005-08-26
This book focuses not on the life, influence or anything of meaning about James Dean, just his supposed sexual history. In detail. I have no idea where this information was obtained, but I seriously doubt it holds true. This was the worst book I have read on him. Maybe he was bisexual, maybe he wasn't. And while, yes, it is fine to discuss it briefly, this seemed to overtake the entire book. If you are obsessed with untrue and "juicy" information, then this book is for you, but if you want actual truth and information on the beauty of James Dean as a person, the DO NOT READ THIS. A much better book is "James Dean the Mutant King."
Customer Reviews:
entertaining, easy read.......2006-07-27
just finished this book and i must say mr. hyams is a great storyteller. it was very hard to put down, it's definitely an easy and fast read (english is not my mother tongue). it's full of anecdotes and interesting info. also bought the book by spoto and finished the first 50 pages but i know already it won't be half as good as mr. hyams' book. spoto gives facts, mr. tells a story. spoto's is too theoretical, you clearly notice he's an outsider while mr. hyams was not. "little boy lost" is a great read but urgently needs a reprint! the photopages are falling out of the edition i bought through a marketplace seller. are they sleeping at random house publishers? get the reprint out.
One of the best biographies about James Dean.......2006-04-15
Joe Hyams is a real respectful and informative author who really wanted to write about James Dean what I know James Dean would have written about himself if he were alive today and decided to write about his personal life, which is something James Dean did not like to talk about with the media. Yes, Jimmy did love Pier Angeli whose real name is Anna Maria Pierangeli whom he lovingly called Annarella. This was a name her father called her before he died in 1950. James Dean found a true love in Anna and she in him. There are countless interviews and documentaries that can attest to Jimmy stating that Pier Angeli was the love of his life. Actress Julie Harris, James Dean's co-star in East of Eden mentions in one documentary that Jimmy was always talking about how much in love he was with Pier and how beautiful her soul was. Larry King interviewed co-stars of his who spoke about this very emphatic relationship in James Dean's life. They had many interests and one very important life change in common that is they both lost a parent. Neither one ever forgot about the other and author Joe Hyams wanted to make that known. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. James Dean would be delighted that this part of his life, the joyful part, was written about.
the best one by far.......2004-07-08
There is no way this gives alot of sexual content as i've read from another reviewer. I didn't feel that at all when reading it. For a change, there was no suggestion of him being gay, and more insight into Jimmy himself than his sexual life in New York. It gives a whole chapter on his tragic love affair with Pier Angeli and gives a more accurate account of it. Its a shame how some biographers put this relationship down when the friends who knew him personally would say the contrary. A definite read for any fan, He was searching for something and he found it in Pier, but obviously her mother didn't think so. very sad story of a little boy who tried to find his way and didn't quite get there.
The real issue is what it doesn't say..........2004-05-04
Hyams knew Dean, possibly as well as anyone, but with all the sexual discussion, the one real revelation at the heart of this biography seems to be overlooked for its real importance: that Dean was molested as a young boy by his own minister, the often-fabled Reverend DeWeerd. DeWeerd attempted to paint their relationship in a way that any other pedophilic minister might do so: as a relationship and not as a serial molestation of a young boy by an older authority figure who singled him out for all the usual reasons pedophiles choose their prey.
Dean was certainly bisexual, but the extent to which that was thrust on Dean is something we should be able to discuss in a modern biography, even while we're (hopefully) careful to not become homophobic in the process.
If this book dealt with a female celebrity's childhood sexual use by her minister, there would have been outrage when it was released. Why no righteous outrage for Jimmy?
James Dean Surprisingly Human.......2004-04-02
James Dean little boy lost is an intimate and detailed biography on the life of Jimmy "James" Dean. From beginning to end, February 8th 1931 to September 30th 1955, his life was full of excitement, and ups and downs. Until one day it all came to a tragic end on September 30th, 1955 when he got into a car accident.He died at the age of 24.
Joe Hyams, the author, did a great job of making the reader feel like they knew James Dean personally. I liked how intimate and deep he went with his stories, and interviews of those who knew Dean personally. By the end of the book, I felt that James Dean was one of my personal good friends. When I read about his death, I was sad. Its really cool when you can read a biography and feel like you grasped a part of a person
Also I liked that James Dean did not seem like one of those cocky actors who would forget his past and live for the future. He knew better than that, he would'nt forget his past. He was just a down to earth guy, which made the novel an enjoyable read.
Book Description
"Curott gives us a glimpse into a passionate lover's journey into sexual magic and freedom of spirit. This exciting life story is an inspiring journey into the soul of love.”--Margot Anand, author of The Art of Everyday Ecstasy
In the highly anticipated sequel to her acclaimed memoir, Book of Shadows, Phyllis Curott explores the power of magic to manifest love in a captivating mix of love story, spirituality, Wiccan spell book, and erotica.
This is the story of a love spell that worked. Ivy League lawyer and Wiccan priestess Phyllis Curott has a supercharged career in law and filmmaking, but one thing is missing: love. She casts a sexy spell, and her dream lover soon arrives. But he's not who he appears to be and there are unforeseen consequences. In this hip, compelling tale of spiritual and sexual awakening, she must seek the aid of an otherworldly suitor, a daemon, to discover how modern relationships and their problems are paths to the greatest magic of all—true love. This wise and erotic memoir is rich with spells, potions, and rituals for love. The author shares accessible techniques of sexual magic for the accomplishment of personal goals and growth, revealing how sexual ecstasy can lead to the discovery of our innate divinity and an empowered life. BACKCOVER:
Advance Praise for The Love Spell
"A truly fascinating tale of erotic love."--Bertrice Small, New York Times best- selling author of more than twenty-five historical romances and four erotic novellas
"Arouse and awaken the wild woman within! The Love Spell stirs up a magical cauldron of love and hot, sensuous ecstasy. This book is empowering, captivating, savvy, and very sexy!"--Sirona Knight, author of Empowering Your Life with Natural Magic
“A story that will speak to every woman who has dreamed of her Prince Charming and who has had her heart broken. A powerful, spiritual narrative, this book will give everyone the tools they need to draw their soulmates to them.”--Jennifer Hunter, author, 21st Century Wicca and Rites of Pleasure
“Skillfully intermingling sex and spells, magical techniques and enjoyable prose, Curott returns with a fascinating, highly entertaining read about personal magic as a part of life, love, and empowerment.”--Raymond Buckland, author, The Witch Book, Wicca For One
"The Love Spell casts a spell of its own. An honest, compelling account to which every woman alive can relate! Phyllis Curott's writing feeds the readers' soul."--New York Times bestselling Author Maggie Shayne, author of BLUE TWILIGHT
“Part relationship analysis, part girlfriend talk therapy, and part step-by-step guidebook, Phyllis' story speaks to all of us who look for our true love. --Lou Paget, International Best Selling Author of How to Be a Great Lover, How to Give Her Absolute Pleasure, and 365 Days of Sensational Sex
Customer Reviews:
Incredibly boring.......2007-01-04
I liked Curott's Book of Shadows enough to attempt this book. I don't know if I'll ever finish it. A little more that halfway through I finally had to admit that I was completely bored, I didn't like anyone in the story, and it was totally obvious how things would turn out anyway. The author comes across as a codependent doormat who pushes her way into a marriage because she liked the idea of being married, not because of her actual relationship. Her lover is terminally selfish and immature. The only reason Curott seems to fall for him is due to physical attraction and sex. As in her previous book, Curott's many friends are so superficially drawn it's impossible to keep straight who is who and what their individual characteristics are. The exception is Nona, who takes the roll of the perfectly enlightened teacher who always has to perfect tidbit of wisdom to impart at the perfect time then she silently withdraws to allow the author to make all her own mistakes. The conversations everyone has are incredibly pedantic and unrealistic. Like others have said, there are a few interesting ideas mixed in here and there, but as the book goes on, they become more and more infrequent. Perhaps if about half the book was edited out, it would be easier to get through.
Who cast the love spell?.......2006-12-08
If one of the author's goals was to punch a hole in the western wall between fact and fiction, she did an amazing job. The genre speaks for itself and is the perfect teaching venue. While reading I asked myself a number of questions: Can a metaphor really be a metamorphous? Is the author Phyllis channeling the authored Phyllis? Can a book about the magic of love also be a magic book? If so, the book is as much a love spell cast on the reader as it is about the main character casting a love spell in order to find the true love of her life.
Insightful and interesting, but not without fault..........2006-11-11
First and foremost, I found Curott's latest book to be a very interesting exploration of relationships. Relationships are hard work, and we all know it. But most books, particularly those with any kind of romantic theme, tend to glamorise sex, marriage and the relationship dynamic. I appreciated Currot's unflinching examination of her failed relationships and enjoyed journeying with her to the place where she realised that to attract the 'man of her dreams' she needed to first heal and accept herself.
Secondly, I found the exploration of the 'daemon' concept (one's own inner God and the masculine personality inside the feminine self) to be unique and having travelled part the way down the same road I recognised a lot of my own doubts in Currot's words.
However, as always, Currot's prose is overblown. As with 'Book of Shadows' she has a nasty habit of writing from the future. This means you get a lot of tiresome hints about characters - for example from almost the first introduction of Derek (Currot's husband and later ex-husband) the hints are dropping like boulders that the relationship isn't going to turn out well. But you have to read through about 100 pages of hints before old Derek finally gets the flick.
I also found Currot's desperation for a relationship and a baby to be annoying - I understand that most people feel this way (me included!) but it was played up so much that I really felt like slapping her and telling her to get a life.
I also agree with other reviewers who comment that Currot seems incapable of presenting herself as a flawed person - although she sees the hurts that need to be healed within herself, one gets the very strong impression that Derek was the reason for the failure of the marriage, and Currot is magically blessed. Character development is also very shallow - I like Nonna, but really, she's just too perfect! It would have been nice to see Currot come to some of the ideas that Nonna presented herself, rather than appearing to have them delivered on a silver platter via Nonna.
Ultimately I recommend this book and have chosen to give it 4 stars (although I would have chosen 3.5 if possible) because it is unique and some of the ideas are well presented and the self analysis is certainly much higher than in 'Book of Shadows'. One thing that did confuse me was the ending - did Roark just disappear or what?
Enjoy the Journey.......2006-03-15
Sometimes you wish for something or someone and they appear and then you find out it is not all it was meant to be. Better sooner that later, we all hope, but whichever way, this book confirms that you are in a middle of a long process. A long one, but not one you should see as boring or bad. That's the point. As any good book should, `The Love Spell' will remind you that you are not alone in your `crazy' life and you can manage it greatly, and at times that is comforting. It is why we read certain books, watch certain films, listen to certain music etc. `The Love Spell' asks you to dream, to fully participate in life, to get to know yourself, what you can do, and it also reminds you not to be so hard on yourself. When you read `The Love Spell', you might smile and nod your head with that `been there' look, but you will also get inspired, not just to search for the one love, but to appreciate your life - its mysterious ways.
Not just "Girl Talk".......2006-03-10
Love Spells is not just another romance novel. It also is not just a Girl Talk. Phyllis Curott shares her deepest self with her readers. How a women feels aout sex, courtship, and love.
While erotic it is not vulgar. It tells of feelings that are normally shred only in a womens diary or with her closest female friends.
It pulls aside the vail that has kept a womens side secret for so many years. While written about women by a women this book is worth reading by men as well.
To often men are ignorant about what a woman feels, needs, want and dreams of. As a 66 year old male I can tell you that we have too much pride and ego to ask let alone listen to those whom we believe we know so much from talking with the other "guys" or reading mens magizines. Quite a bit of the time w get more misinformation then knowledge. The women on the other han has been raised not o volunteer th information This has caused a wide gulf between the two genders. A gulf that Ms Curott has sought to fill by having the courage to address th most intimate sides of the female experiance.
I personally believe that every manshoul read this book and buy an etra copy fothe women in his life it will start conversations made by socioty too long secret
Book Description
A beautifully written memoir, candid and definitive, that tells the story of Bast's five year relationship with the charismatic actor and American legend--James Dean.
Customer Reviews:
Surviving James Dean.......2007-07-20
Even someone with a mediocre interest in Hollywood's rebel will find Bast's account intriguiing. There's something more than a biography hidden in the pages of "Surviving James Dean." It's almost much more like a memoir of William Bast's, and it allows the reader to get a sense of longing that one can easily relate to. "Surviving James Dean," is as much a love story as it is a recount of the icon-formation days of one of Hollywood's most enigmatic figures. The book honestly portrays the lonely, the erratic, and the very honest side of James Dean in a way that neither flatters nor harms a golden reputation shrouded in foggy dust.
One of the best lines in the novel regards a hug shared between the "teammates," (Dean's reference for the friendship) on the New York streets before James flies off to LA to begin filming "East of Eden." Bast references the warmth the hug left on him that day and even now, while writing the book, the warmth is remembered. Reading this book is much like the warmth from a good, meaningful hug. Even now, writing this review, I can feel the warmth left by an honest and intriguing memory of one of America's notable figurines.
James Dean Forever.......2007-05-03
This book was very dissapointing to me. As a James Dean fan, I was hoping to know more about James Dean's short and tragic life. I probably should have learned more about "Surviving James Dean" before I bought it. When I got to the center of the book, around page 179, I wondered who this book was supposed to be about. Was it supposed to be about James Dean or William Bast? Very dissapointing, indeed. If you are interested in learning more about James Dean, then avoid reading this one. Also, an interesting point that came out of this was that William Bast was open about his sexuality in "Surviving James Dean", and he mentioned how he kept his sexuality to himself due to the prejudice of that time period, but for some reason, Mr. Bast seems to think that it was ok for him to refer to James Dean as a "hick" from Indiana.
Age passes.......2007-03-09
Some time ago I met a gentleman who said he knew the roommate of James Dean (I was an Ensign USPHS at the time). He told me a number of things which at the time I thought were a little far fetched. But when I read this book I find that the things told to me were in fact "MORE THAN TRUE". This book is well written and has some very true to life facts that make it very memorable. To the point and very truthful as well as believeable. After all these years, reading this book, I realize that I really indirectly met and knew the James Dean and am grateful to read it.
Great book.......2007-02-16
As a worshipper of James Dean this was so informative, like he is still alive
The Bad and The Beautiful.......2007-01-15
Some people kvetch because Baxt, now nearly 80, has already gone to the James Dean well twice before (three times before if we count his famous teleplay about a James Dean-like actor caught in a web of celebrity license, "The Myth Makers".) First he wrote a quickie book in the immediate wake of Dean's horrific death (the first biography of the perished actor) and then years later he was instrumental in a TV version of Dean's life that was aired during our nation's bicentennnial and starred strangely vacant Stephen McHattie as Dean, while a handsome Michael Brandon played Bast himself as the 'best friend.' It was a weird production featuring such quintessentially 70s female stars as Amy Irving, Brooke Adams, Candy Clark, Heather Menzies, and Meg Foster all in one movie.
But here in 2006 all of a sudden it's time for Bast to show us what he could not reveal before, that Dean was gay and that his romance with Pier Angeli was a matter of wishful thinking on his part and on the part of the paparazzi and the movie moguls who were wary of scandal. Bast was there from the beginning, and was Dean's roommate for a year or more, and so he saw him literally with his pants down. And he describes their occasional romantic fumblings with each other, though it strikes me that the James Dean he describes wasn't really all that sexually driven. He had a yen for the dark side, which explains his liaison with Vampira and with Rogers Brackett, but that was just to help him act and to further his career. His strange posture was that of Quasimodo and many of his contemporaries would be startled to find out that in afterlife he has attained this sex god status. In retrospect, Bast's book is more interesting when Dean is off stage and Bast is able to focus on peripheral figures, like the Hollywood comedy genius Joan Davis, whom both Bast and Dean knew well (both were engaged to her daughter, Beverly). Someone should make a movie about Joan Davis and Beverly's relationship--it would be like Norma Desmond plus daughter, sort of like that Charles Busch play DIE MOMMIE DIE. (Now that we have all of Dean's screen work on DVD, surely it's time to pay attention to the magnificence of Joan Davis? Let's roll those babies out soon!) I also enjoyed finding out much more than I have ever known before about Alan Young of Mr. ED fame. I didn't even know he was Canadian, but now it all makes sense.
After Dean's death, Bast tells the story of being at the eye of the hurricane as a cult explodes around him and everywhere he goes, esepcially in England and France, people like Jean Cocteau want to shake his hand, or a body part somewhat lower on the anatomy, as a chance to touch the man who held James Dean in his arms. It was a heady period in European history, and Bast tells the story as it has never been told before.
Book Description
The only fully illustrated chronological biography authorized by the Dean family, James Dean is an amazing retrospective packed with images from his classic movies, family archives, and private collections. This candid portrait of one of the greatest stars of all time tells the story behind the making of an American icon, uncovering new details about the man behind the legend, with in-depth commentary from his closest friends and family, including his cousin and executor of his estate, Marcus Winslow, and his best friend and roommate, William Bast. Loaded with features that chronicle his life and times, this book is a must have for fans of the man, the movie star‹ the legend.
Customer Reviews:
Two stars, for illustrations only.......2007-03-02
The deliberate distortion of history, either to make it more entertaining and therefore profitable, or to conform to some agenda and make it more "acceptable", can be something as blatant as perhaps a work by Frey, or as subtle as George Perry's "James Dean".
It was perhaps his wish to conform to the desires of the James Dean Estate, from whom he apparently had full cooperation, that has led Perry, a smart and respected writer, to present what amounts pretty much to a garbled rehash of an old Warner Brothers publicity handout on the James Dean Myth: saga of the hot-blooded (read here heterosexual but "experimental") American rebel hero who climbed from rags to riches by dint of nothing but his own talent and hard work. Nowhere is there a hint of the devious means used by the talented but undoubtedly wily Dean to achieve this success. This of course is something that may fill the hearts of more undiscriminating Dean fans with joy, but from a historical point of view is misleading if not deceptive.
With little or no evidence to support him, Perry also elevates any female friendship Dean may have had to the level of a sexual relationship, if not love affair, which, had he read the books he lists in his bibliography, he would have known to be demonstrably untrue. Christine White, case in point. On the other hand, Perry is careful to conceal the liaisons that the bisexual Dean had with males, something again documented by the other biographers that he lists.
Perry's scrappy writing leaves the reader with the impression that Dean spent most of his time in New York living with dancer Elizabeth Sheridan. In actual fact, when Dean was not living with his mentor/lover Rogers Brackett, he was mostly living at the Iroqois Hotel either by himself, or with his friend William Bast, or in the apartments of other male friends. His time spent with Sheridan was miniscule by comparison.
I doubt that this kind of historical "gerrymandering" happens by accident. Maybe it does, but unfortunately the botching is only made more egregious by the fact that the misleading text is surrounded by extensive photographic illustration provided by the Dean Estate, which lends it an air of verisimilitude, and will undoubtedly ensure its enshrinement in libraries.
The book's cover bills itself as "the ultimate portrait of the ultimate screen icon" and boasts that it "features photographs from the Dean family's private collection". Those two phrases alone should I suppose alert the prospective reader that what is being presented may not exactly be as close to a true biography as he or she may wish.
James Dean.......2006-11-04
book was sent as a gift & was recieved as a great book about James Dean
The Best Chronicle on James Dean.......2005-12-07
I have read many James Dean books, and the biographies have ranged from bland to overly philosophical to just obscene. George Perry's book has a lot of basic information given in a clean and clear format. Perry does give some more insight into Dean's life in unknown times. Perry's book should be taken as an official bio. It doesn't look at Dean's life in a sleazy way, but it does tackle questions about Dean's lifestyle in a fair & balanced method. The photos and layout are nice. There are extra informationa nd fact boxes relating to the chapter's material. There isn't enough material to make this book excellent, but it is the best book on James Dean available. If there is one book you must read on Hollywood's classic rebel, let this one be it.
a Deeper Look Into the Making of an Icon.......2005-10-18
As a lifelong James Dean fan and fellow Hoosier who attends the festival held in his memory each year, I like to acquire at least one new book about Jimmie yearly. This year, it was this book. It not only offers new photos, but also tackles the subject of the relationship between Jimmie and his father Winton Dean. There was more detail about the reason that Winton did not have Jimmie move back out to live with him in California after his remarriage. It also gives glimpses of how others who knew him perceived him, his tempermental nature, his playfulness, and the passion with which he pursued his dreams of becoming a successful actor. This book is a must read/own for any true James Dean fan and provides an insightful look into the life of a true American Icon.
Hardly definitive, but nicely packaged "Dean 101".......2005-06-18
This strikes me as a cranked out crowd-pleaser for Dean fans (easy targets!) from the ubiquitous DK press. The fact that it is officially sanctioned by the Dean family estate cannot go unnoticed---it is almost embarrassing in the heaps of praise it bestows on every member of the clan and is sure to point out "important" points like the facts that they were not beneficiaries of Dean's life insurance policy (I'm sure they're making out fine) and that any liability for his fatal car crash could not possibly have been his. It admits to one homosexual affair on Dean's behalf and the friendly likelihood that he may have dabbled in others, but it strongly defends the notion that James Dean was a heterosexual in the first degree. Right or wrong, there are lots of assumptions and speculations which ultimately boil down to mere commentary.
While the text tends to read like a bio written by the President of the James Dean Fan Club, the real star of the show is the artwork. A great photographic collection although there is a large picture of Dean horsing around on the set of GIANT with a young woman. The caption identifies this woman as his good pal Elizabeth Taylor and it is amazing that ANY editor, proofreader or person involved in the process of creating this book didn't notice that it is most definitely NOT Elizabeth Taylor. It is probably her stand-in. It makes the accuracy of other "facts" somewhat dubious.
It's getting a big promotional push, but I think it's overhyped and you're best off purchasing it as a bargain pre-owned price from an Amazon Marketplace merchant, rather than shelling out full price for new.
Book Description
Drawing on the inquest manuscript and other previously unpublished material, Warren Beath cuts through the welter of conflicting reports and rumors to provide a taut reconstruciton of Dean's final hours.
Customer Reviews:
CREEPY PULP NON-FICTION .......2005-05-02
I first read this book almost 15 years ago and lost the original paperback whilst at college.But I can still recall the creepy passages of Beath's descripton of Dean's death and Beath's veiled admission of his own descent into madness and obsession-the young man that Beath describes throughout the book IS the author himself because if you read his bibliography at the front,he lists NOTES ON DYING which is the thesis the character writes in the book.Bits that stick out are the Japanese business-man buying the hulk of the tow-truck that carried away the crumpled porshe after the crash and the author stealing a high-way cornice and storing it in his room,only to find it infested with hornets and flies.Quite superb.
Author invites you to please visit our James Dean Site .......2005-04-29
We invite you to learn more about James Dean and other Warren Beath titles at http://jamesdeanindeath.com/
An Interesting Twist To Dean's Last Ride.......2003-03-14
I read this book when it first was published, so I am obviously not in the best position to critique it at least a couple years later. However, when it comes to James Dean I am an admitted addict and have read almost everything that has been published about him over the past 30 years. What makes this book a standout is that it concentrates on Dean's death as opposed to his life. It provides very detailed information re: his last ride and how his death and the subsequent hoopla surrounding it was handled. It also provides quite a lot of previously unpublished material in regard to the period immediately before and after his death. The author has saved us all a lot of pain and irritation by researching this material in a factual and precise manner.
What makes this book a positive departure from the other Dean book is that there is no psychological stuff about Dean's tortured youth or attempts to affix a death wish to him, just a lot of good hard facts. Joe Friday couldn't do a better job in that area.
The best part of this book? It sticks to the truth and makes for an interesting read.
not just a read - an experience.......2000-10-13
Beath makes the death of James Dean a very personal experience for the reader. This is not a book one reads and forgets - the reader has participated in the author's passionate search for the substance behind the tragedy and the reader is changed. I'm ready for more from this author.
One of the Best Dean Books in Print.......1999-07-06
The most amazing aspect of Beath's book is the original and innovative research. Basically, Beath was the first Hollywood biographer to dig into public records--traffic reports, lawsuit testimony--and uncover facts about Dean's death that had been previously overlooked. If Pulitzer Prizes were not the preserve of Manhattan writers and their pals, Warren Newton Beath of Bakersfield, California would have won one for this book.
Average customer rating:
- The ultimate James Dean book.
- lots of great pics
- Great if you're looking for pictures!
- Good book but lacks
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James Dean: American Icon
David Dalton , and
Ron Cayen
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0312439628 |
Customer Reviews:
The ultimate James Dean book........2003-08-27
Beautiful picturs, 45-year-old articles, and movie logo's are the highlight of this quentissential James Dean book. By far it is one of the best I have ever read, while it's not really a biography, it tells of Deans childhood, the relation and impact made by the characters Dean played and the legacy he left to us. If there was only one book on Jimmy I could have, this would be it. After all this time this book shows that James dean has not lost his appeal. And I'm pretty sure, Jimmy will be even bigger in 2005 when he receaves the honerary academy award, this book will occupy me until then.
lots of great pics.......2003-05-22
This James Dean book is Awesome, it has sooo many great photos to look at I looked at this book for hours! james Dean is the best actor ever!!!!! this book gives all the information and pictures for his whole life's story, its great, you should buy it right away if you want to know and see James Dean!
Great if you're looking for pictures!.......2000-07-27
This is perhaps the best Dean book out there for those of us that are interested in the photographs. Some hard to find and exclusive pics are in this one. Keep in mind it's not a biography if that is what you're looking for, but in terms of photos, this one can not be beat!
Good book but lacks.......1999-11-28
This book was good, had alot of pics. But at some parts of the book they had news paper clippings that were not compleat. I.E. One part is an interview with Passenger of the Fatel Crash. Half way into the interview, it cuts off. All and all a pretty good book if you like pics.
Average customer rating:
- bittersweet love story...a story that will warm your heart
- its just love
- I Feel Like I Know James Dean Now!
- Poignant Love Story
- Reliving history
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Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life with James Dean: A Love Story
Liz Sheridan
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0060393831
Release Date: 2000-09-19 |
Book Description
A long time ago, when I was a young dancer in
New York City, I fell in love with Jimmy Dean
and he fell in love with me.
So begins this beguiling memoir of Liz "Dizzy" Sheridan's passionate yet ill-fated romance with the young, magnetic, soon-to-be-supernova James Dean. The year was 1951. Dean had recently arrived in Manhattan in search of Broadway stardom. Sheridan was a tall, graceful aspiring dancer. They met one rainy afternoon in the parlor of the Rehearsal Club, a chaperoned boardinghouse for young actresses -- and before long Dizzy and Jimmy were inseparable. Together they hunted for jobs, haunted all-night bars and diners, and gloried in the innocent rebellion of early-'50s bohemian New York. Dizzy Sheridan and James Dean were lovers; they lived together; as even ardent Dean fans may be surprised to learn, they were engaged to be married. But when Dean began to find success on the Broadway stage and then was lured to Hollywood, the couple parted amid tears and broken dreams -- dreams that would be dashed forever when Dean died in a car crash in 1955, not long after seeing Dizzy for the last time.
Dizzy & Jimmy marks the first time Liz Sheridan has written about this joyous yet ill-starred romance. She brings us closer than we have ever been to the vibrant young actor before he became a Hollywood icon, capturing his unstudied charm, his complicated psyche, the spontaneous delight he took from the world around him, and the passion he invested in his work and life. It is a journey that takes in many locales, from Dean's boyhood home in Fairmount, Indiana, to Sheridan's recuperative travels through the Caribbean after their breakup. But at its heart Dizzy & Jimmy is the story of a love affair with Manhattan -- of nights spent stealing kisses in Times Square, sharing a walkup in the Hargrave Hotel, dancing after hours beneath the stars in Grand Central Station. And in Sheridan's bittersweet, embraceable telling, it becomes a story no reader, Dean fan or otherwise, will soon forget.
Customer Reviews:
bittersweet love story...a story that will warm your heart.......2007-07-07
I bought this book online because I couldn't wait for it to come to the nearest Borders store. I received it earlier than expected and I was very excited. Elizabeth Sheridan describes to us a man who did not always appear to others the way she knew him. Many other books describe James Dean as being an angry, introverted, and selfish young man. All this may have been true about him, but he also had a sweet side to him which was not always seen. From this book, it is clear that it meant you meant something to him if he expressed his feelings, thoughts, and emotions to you. It portrays a young man who had a sense of humor and who was a hopeless romantic. Reading what Elizabeth Sheridan has said about him shows his fans that he was capable of love and that other books about him aren't 100% true, that he wasn't a cold-hearted person. This is a firsthand account of James, before he became a star and it truly captures the essence of who he was, who he was when he let his guard down and trusted others. By the end of the book, I started to tear up when they parted from each other because I myself wouldn't have been able to do that with someone I loved. I then broke down crying when it described how Sheridan found out about his death. Just reading the words about it made me feel so empty inside, as if I had known him personally, as if he had once been a part of my life. It's as if I had been there. This book is truly a heart-felt account of a misunderstood young man, who in the midst of all things, really wanted to love and be loved. I love this book and whoever reads it shouldn't be disappointed.
its just love.......2005-05-18
Its just love, thats all it is. Its not ment to BE a story about the great James Dean. Its truly about a girl named Dizzy and the boy named Jimmy who she fell in love with. Somehow you can drift into this book and become the characters, you can feel the love, you can remember how it feels to be in that kind of love, where nothing else matters and reality is just something other people talk about. I read this book over and over. I bought it because it was about James Dean and i am a fan. I love it because its about the kinda of love that everyone should get to experience at least once.
I Feel Like I Know James Dean Now!.......2005-03-24
This book by Liz Sheridan (known to many as Jerry's mom on "Seinfeld") is by far the best personal account about James that I've found. It was an engaging read with no dry spots. I could perfectly imagine what their life was like in New York in the '50's. After reading this book, I feel like I have a better idea of what James Dean was really like in real life, not how he is depicted by biographers who never knew him personally. This is not a romanticized view of James Dean, though. There are some pretty intense arguments between he and Ms. Sheridan throughout the book! For anyone who loves memoirs and James Dean, buy this book right now!
Poignant Love Story.......2004-08-30
This is the love story of James Dean and Liz Sheridan (she played Jerry Seinfeld's mother on "Seinfeld.") They met in New York when he was barely scraping by and not yet famous and she a dancer. She was quite a looker with a long ponytail and he was of course scruffy and hunched over with the ever-present cigarette hanging from his lips. I enjoyed reading about their short-lived romance as it shows a side of James Dean that I'm sure he did not reveal to too many people - very sweet and tender. If you are a James Dean fan you will enjoy this book.
Reliving history.......2004-08-05
I grew up in Hollywood acting in plays and met my own James Dean lookalike, actalike in 1968. His name was also "Jim". Like Dizzy, I fell in love first, asked questions later or, like Dizzy, ignored those same questions and loved Jim in spite of his bisexuality. I met Jim's older silver fox gay lover too (whose birthday by chance was the same as mine). He needed this guy for the brakes or the security? Know just what she went through. My relationship ended just as suddenly and tragically when he slipped from my grasp and I could not be a part of his world.
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- Long Way Round: The Illustrated Edition: Chasing Shadows Across the World
- Los Caprichos
- Lou's on First: The Tragic Life of Hollywood's Greatest Clown Warmly Recounted by his Youngest Child
- Love in Black and White: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Romance
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