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224 reviews for:
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire
James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
3.69 AVERAGE
224 reviews for:
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire
James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
3.69 AVERAGE
dark
funny
informative
Here’s a revised version for clarity and grammar:
This book offers an inside look at the Redstone media dynasty, delving into the politics, backstabbing, and sexual scandals that come with running a media empire. The story centers on Sumner Redstone as the head of CBS/Viacom. The first three-quarters of the book is a gripping drama, but it falters in the final quarter, which becomes repetitive and focuses heavily on Les Moonves and his predatory behavior. While the abuse of power by those in high positions is a tale as old as time, fans of corporate gossip will likely find this an engaging read.
Wild story about a powerful media family and all the seediness and power struggles.
emotional
tense
fast-paced
This book is bananas. I can’t believe people can actually behave this way. Sumner Redstone’s late life was like a season of Dynasty with a pinch of Succession thrown in—I almost didn’t get through the first half of the book because it was so over the top with scheming and manipulating.
The second half of the book, dealing mostly with Les Moonves’s “me too” comeuppance, seemed tame after the trashy soap opera of Sumner Redstone’s saga.
The second half of the book, dealing mostly with Les Moonves’s “me too” comeuppance, seemed tame after the trashy soap opera of Sumner Redstone’s saga.
It’s my fault for choosing to read/listen, but I just didn’t care about this family. As a reader, you also spend a lot of time remembering that men in power can be terrible (and that’s not the place I wanted my brain to be in).
Succession, in real life.
Wow.
Great business read.
Wow.
Great business read.
I've found that I really enjoy books about corporate exposes (the book about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos was one of my favorites), and Unscripted fit that mold perfectly. It felt a little slow at first, but the coverage of the lawsuits and the scandals made this a riveting story. This book felt especially relevant for me personally because I had just finished watching Succession, and it's very clear that the writers from Succession took a lot of inspiration from the Redstone family. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be mad at corporate America. Some of the scandals sound like they should be made up, it's all so unbelievable.
informative
medium-paced
First, let me say that the one star does not reflect on the quality of the book, it is not the author's fault. This is perfectly well done. The rating is for my own reaction, which is one of profound disgust. I have read many a true crime story that left me feeling less filled with revulsion than I felt for every single person here. And the worst thing is they all have millions of dollars, which made me even madder. Just appalling. I've read and watched many things about trashy rich people before, and was at least entertained, but this bunch was just the pits. At least Redstone is dead, but Les Moonves, who is a sexual predator, not only never had any charges filed against him, his wife stuck by him (and even added Moonves to her name as a show of support, ugh) and left with a $120 million parachute. Where IS the guillotine when you need it?