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susannah_n's review against another edition
2.0
Updated 11/26/14: Finished this audiobook yesterday in a marathon session (while housecleaning), and I'm glad to be done with it. This book had tremendous potential, but William Haines as a subject just did not hold up for a 400+ page book. Too many unknowns, too much uncertainty, way too many assumptions.
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I'm giving up on this one for a while. The entire production of this (audio)book is mediocre at best. While I am very interested in early Hollywood, so little is actually known about William Haines that the book's author is forced to make assumptions continually. I don't think I've ever seen (heard) the words/phrases "perhaps," "one can assume," "it would seem that," and all variations used this much in a work of nonfiction. Further, the narrator of the audiobook struggles with name pronunciations (e.g., King Vidor's name is pronounced both "Vee-door" [correct] and "Vee-der"), which I found to be off-putting. I would like to finish listening to it eventually, but I need a break.
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I'm giving up on this one for a while. The entire production of this (audio)book is mediocre at best. While I am very interested in early Hollywood, so little is actually known about William Haines that the book's author is forced to make assumptions continually. I don't think I've ever seen (heard) the words/phrases "perhaps," "one can assume," "it would seem that," and all variations used this much in a work of nonfiction. Further, the narrator of the audiobook struggles with name pronunciations (e.g., King Vidor's name is pronounced both "Vee-door" [correct] and "Vee-der"), which I found to be off-putting. I would like to finish listening to it eventually, but I need a break.
michaelkerr's review
3.0
It's not like history is crowded with positive gay figures, so when I heard about Billy Haines I was keen to read his biography. And while he is a great example, heroic even, in his unwillingness to retreat to the closet (like his contemporary, Clark Gable - juicy bits about other Hollywood figures are a big plus here), I just could not love the book. A lot of repetition and speculation about how Haines must have felt or thought. I'm still an admirer of Haines (and his 47 year relationship with his partner, Jimmie Shields), but the book itself didn't work well for me.
greggsfl's review
5.0
As a fan of both the stories of old Hollywood and the stories of people who live life against the grain, I was attracted to this biography. Mann gives us a detailed account of a man brave enough to risk his career to live life by his own terms. Lots of other Hollywood personalities appear throughout the narrative, but the focus remains on Haines, a man I knew almost nothing about prior to reading the book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Hollywood biographies and/or LGBT history.
emmaliiiiine's review
4.0
A really interesting biography about a man I'd never heard of (but probably should have). Thoughtfully researched, lovingly written, and full of fascinating tidbits about early Hollywood that I can't seem to shut up about.
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