Average customer rating:
- I guess i'm the only reviewer who read his other bios...
- Little Acting Ability, Minimal Personality, Morals Of A Jackrabbit..
- Biography and film history opus as sexy as Beatty
- This Book Is Shallow And Meaningless
- Execrable
|
The Sexiest Man Alive : A Biography of Warren Beatty
Ellis Amburn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
| Humor
| Movies
| Music
| Performing Arts
| Pop Culture
| Puzzles & Games
| Radio
| Sheet Music & Scores
| Television
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Film
| Bargain Books
| Stores
| Books
Arts & Literature
| Biography
| Bargain Books
| Stores
| Books
General
| Biography
| Bargain Books
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Warren Beatty: A Private Man
-
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood (Nova Audio Books)
-
Times We Had
ASIN: B0009W8LB4 |
Book Description
The Sexiest Man Alive is the first in-depth biography of Warren Beatty, a man who blazed a trail of sex and high artistic achievement across the twentieth century as Hollywood matinee idol, founder of the New Hollywood with his groundbreaking Bonnie and Clyde, and international Don Juan.Through interviews with friends and associates, Ellis Amburn reveals new details about Beatty's well-known conquests and tells of many others that have not heretofore been reported, from early affairs with Joan Collins and Natalie Wood to encounters with such unknowns as a Playboy bunny and a young black student to such recent romances with Madonna and Annette Bening, the woman he finally married.The notches on his belt read like a who's who of feminine beauty and power, making him the Casanova of the century. A partial list of his conquests include Jackie Kennedy Onassis, H.R.H. Princess Margaret, Barbara Harris, Lillian Hellman, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Linda Eastman McCartney, Inger Stevens, Dewi Sukarno, Vanessa Redgrave, Jean Seberg, Susannah York, Brooke Hayward, Maria Callas, Julie Christie, Cher, Brigitte Bardot, Candice Bergen, Jessica Savitch, Connie Chung, Diane Sawyer, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, Lana Wood, Leslie Caron, Diane Keaton, Michelle Phillips, Mamie Van Doren, Britt Ekland, Barbara Hershey, Goldie Hawn, Barbara Minty, Margaux Hemingway, Elle MacPherson, Dayle Haddon, Carol Alt, Sippi Levine, Isabelle Adjani, Kate Jackson, Justine Bateman, Robin Menken, Darryl Hannah, and Mary Tyler Moore.Along the way, Amburn tells the exciting story of the young filmmakers who revolutionized Hollywood in the sixties and seventies, the people Warren knew and worked with, played with, sometimes made love with, and fought with -- Diane Keaton, Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie, Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Arthur Penn, Al Pacino, and Robert Evans.Amburn also explores Beatty's fascinating forays into Democratic politics -- his embattled relationship with Hubert Humphrey, how he wooed Barbra Streisand to raise millions for George McGovern, and the misadventure with Gary Hart, whose partying at Warren's bachelor pad -- and subsequent Donna Rice scandal -- some blame for his withdrawal from the 1988 presidential race. The Sexiest Man Alive is one of the most sizzling, revealing books about Hollywood, weaving together the rich material of Warren Beatty's life and art.
Customer Reviews:
I guess i'm the only reviewer who read his other bios..........2007-06-01
...because this one is better than most of them. There is more info on Beatty here than in any other bio (and photos i haven't seen anywhere else). I should complain that there are hundreds of quotes from other books and articles etc.? Um, no. I don't care where the info came from. The fact is, it's here, in this biography, where it belongs. If you have a problem with Beatty as a person, don't read a bio of him.
Little Acting Ability, Minimal Personality, Morals Of A Jackrabbit.........2005-08-28
So characterizes Warren Beatty, if one interprets this excessively detailed exploration of his life. Beatty's sexual exploits ad infinitum, and those of his fellow Hollywood comrades, male and female, should be enough for anyone to rip out their cable, never watch TV or go to a movie again, and retreat into the cultured world of literature. The shallowness of the last 50 years of movie celebrity is appalling, and continues today. I expected a tad more in-depth analysis and less randy ramblings, so although the book was well-detailed with the most minute information, that doesn't mean it was well done or as meaningful as it could have been. It did, however, verify my long-held opinion that Beatty's 'talent' was horribly overrated, and I never could figure out the mystique. I bought the book hoping to find a clue, but was disappointed. Perhaps it's simply the subject that is ultimately disappointing, and no amount of literary talent or research could hide that...
Biography and film history opus as sexy as Beatty.......2004-10-26
Warren Beatty's brooding face on the cover of Ellis Amburn's biography/film history opus indicates why he has achieved an iconic status that seems reserved for Hollywood rebels without a cause. Certainly, like Kevin Costner, his output has been eclectic and iconoclastic. Amburn makes the point that Beatty, like a Don Juan Forrest Gump, inserted himself into the tumult of the New Hollywood era, the era of Pacino, Nicholson, and Roman Polanski. The insight into politics and into actors entering politics, seems particularly timely in the wake of Hollywood (brain trust) protests against the Iraq war and Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial run.
Schwarzenegger is one of the many names and figures striking bold poses, vogueing like Beatty conquest Madonna, in Ellis Amburn's prose, which reads like a "Beatty's Complaint" crossed with 1001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, mixed in with Scott Thorson's LIFE WITH LIBERACE, which portrays a hypersexual performer who never quite grew up (though unlike Beatty, Liberace had little to do with politics or social issues).
Never content to name-drop, Amburn skillfully probes, with love, exasperation, a certain detachment, and fascination, the inner life of an aging Lothario whose film career and political carrer haves been as mercurial as his love life. Interestingly, Beatty's lasting achievements, "Reds," "Shampoo," and "Bonnie and Clyde," parallel his most lasting relationships, specifically with Julie Christie and Annette Bening, as well as his male friendships, specifically with Jack Nicholson (his relationships with gay filmmakers make an intriguing twist.) Has Beatty the rebel been tamed by Annette? If so, we'll always have the bad-boy image on the cover.
This Book Is Shallow And Meaningless.......2004-07-24
I agree with other reviewers that the book is shallow, disjointed, rambling, and too dependent on magazine profiles.
I would like to add that it is weird of author Ellis Amburn to assert that Beatty started sleeping with Natalie Wood while she was still married to Robert Wagner and that said adultery is the real reason for the break-up of that marriage.
Amburn refutes the claim by Wood biographer Suzanne Finstad that Wood walked in on Wagner while he was in a compromising position with another man and that this event ended the marriage. Moreover, Amburn knows "for a fact" that Natalie Wood was bisexual and that she and Wagner had an agreement that either one could cheat with a homosexual partner, but not a heterosexual one. Therefore, Warren Beatty wrecked the marriage. Right. I hope Mr. Amburn stays away from Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Oh, and I wish Mr. Amburn had presented more of Warren Beatty's early childhood in Richmond, Virginia. Warren, born in 1937, and sister Shirley MacLaine, born in 1934, are the only movie stars from that small city. Supposedly the place was a totally segregated southern city that remained unusually calm and non-violent during the entire civil rights era. It's no Birmingham.
Nonetheless, maybe white boys in Richmond were forbidden to discuss sex and they were told that black people combined dirty sex with devil worship in their music? It would be interesting to know if Warren Beatty was socialized this way and if it shaped the brief career he had as a honky tonk pianist before he got his big break in Splendor In The Grass. Did it also shape his and Shirleys' ultraliberal politics and Warren's friendship with Ted Kennedy and Gary Hart? Her liaison with Bella Abzug?
(Shirley was politically active as far back as 1968 when she was a delegate to the notoriously violent Democratic convention in Chicago. To what extent did her experiences in Richmond motivate her to do such a thing? Does she feel genuine compassion for disfranchised people or does she prefer to spend her time with the supernatural? How much of those traits are in Warren? Does he enjoy the supernatural?)
This book ignores those issues. All it gives you is shallow name dropping and sex acts. Don't waste your time or money on it. The only good thing that could come out of this book is that it might motivate Warren Beatty to run for president in 2008. As part of his campaign platform he could say that people are so sick of hearing the shallow stories of his sex life and Bill Clinton's that they are ready to talk about the really important stuff for a change.
Execrable.......2002-10-03
Ellis Amburn continues his reign of biographical terror. In the same vein as his hideous Elizabeth Taylor biography, he now has penned the basic outline of the bedroom life of Warren Beatty, a guy whose teenage years extended well into his fifties. (Or until people stopped taking him seriously -- whichever came first)
It traces the career of Barbra Streisand's old schoolmate, an emotionally-needy Don Juan who went to bed with just about any woman he came across, married or single, famous or not. He remained a heartthrob in Hollywood for many years, reappearing with a bang and a flash when critics had declared his career dead. He dated women like Diane Keaton, Madonna, Michelle Phillips, and finally settled on Annette Bening, whom he married.
This book is less about Beatty's life than his bedroom life. We get extensive chronicling of, if not every woman he ever slept with, then quite a few of them. Most of these affairs add nothing either to the book or to our understanding of Beatty. And, as he did in "The Most Beautiful Woman In The World," Amburn is not satisfied merely to present Beatty's sexcapades: he does so for just about everyone else in the book. Madonna, Lara Flynn Boyle, Roman Polanski, and dozens of other people have their randy bedroom lives outlined in this book, usually with plenty of detail. Why? No reason. It makes for more titillating reading, I suppose. (The description of videotaped sex games by Sharon Polanski, who was stabbed to death while pregnant, and the first-person description of seduction of a thirteen-year-old, crossed the line into insensitive, tasteless, even pornographic)
The actual writing style is plodding and repetitive. Like many bad biographers, Amburn feels the need to spread anecdotes about the main personality traits of his subjects throughout the book. He repeats constantly on the predatory attitudes of Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty, or the strained relationship between Beatty and his sister Shirley MacLaine, or Madonna's liking for other women.
Perhaps the most unforgivable aspect of this book is the lack of insight into Beatty's mind. There are a few half-hearted attempts to explain why he tries to bed all these women, to the point of threatening to rape one girl and stalking another, but it's skimming the surface. Near the end of the book, he inexplicably decides to grow up and be responsible -- but by that time, the readers may be so disgusted by him that they will no longer care.
If you're hunting for a compendium of every tabloid article ever written about Warren Beatty, this is the book for you. But for a serious biography, look elsewhere.
Book Description
Since 1998, the award-winning, How To Be Your Own Booking Agent has been among the top selling music and performing arts business books. It is regularly selected each semester by professors teaching music business and the performing arts and continually recommended by musicians and performing artists worldwide. Jeri Goldstein's unique step-by-step guide and resource book is artfully organized into 492 pages of savvy advice, realistic methods and action plans for the performing artist and is now available in its Revised 2nd Edition. This completely updated edition provides current information about immigration regulations for touring artists, new technology advances in digital and electronic press kits and web design basics along with exciting new insights from experienced professionals in the entertainment business. There are 24 chapters enhanced with completely updated resource sections following each chapter packed with recommended books, directories, web sites, businesses and new conferences helping artists achieve their career goals and this revised edition is truly THE Musician's & Performing Artist's Guide To Successful Touring. How To Be Your Own Booking Agent THE Musician's & Performing Artist's Guide To Successful Touring tackles such topics as: The Art of Negotiating; How to Make Cold Calls; Setting Long Term Goals; Effective Telephone Techniques; Creating An Effective Promotional Package; Contracts; The Art of Touring; Managing the Road; Conferences; Trade Shows and Industry Events; Funding Sources; Crossing Borders--U.S./Canada Touring; Marketing Your Act; Accessing the Media: Print, Radio, Television and The Internet; Working with Your Record Company; Working with Managers and Agents; When to Quit Your Day Job; Hiring Help and Ethics and Attitudes.
The information is visually accessible with worksheets and a variety of forms included throughout the book that may be copied for the artist's use and convenience. Jeri has answered most of the burning questions, provided immediately usable methods and tackled many of the foreseeable problems. Most importantly, though, she offers the performing artist a step-by-step guide to create a successful touring career.
Customer Reviews:
oh yeah!.......2006-05-27
this book is excellent book when combined with the works of ty cohen and is music industry type books such as "How To Make A Furtune In The Music Industry By Doing It Yourself: Your Personal Step-By-Step Guide To Having A Successful Career In The Music Business. ... To Sell Music, Book Shows And Get Noticed!"
Helpful but..........2006-02-27
This book was not what I was expecting. Very helpful if you have never booked a show and are just starting out. Some of the information is a little basic.
Essential!.......2005-11-30
No one in the music industry, be they a musician, club owner, festival manager, booking agent, band manager, merch salesman, etc. has any good excuse NOT to read this book.
It's essential for those who are just starting out, and useful for those who have been in the game for many years. Goldstein's writing is clear and concise, and the book is organized well and peppered with real-life examples and "hot tips", which keep it interesting.
There are dozens of fabulous books on the music industry, from how-to guides to high-level marketing strategy books, but no one should bother reading any of them until they've read this book. It's absolutely essential.
Simply great.......2005-04-28
This book is great. It's well written and it covers all you need to know about booking and more. If you're serious about your music, this book is a must. Recomended!
Gold standard for Music Business books.......2004-11-19
Review written by
Kerry Dexter
Dirty Linen Magazine
Dec.2004/January 2005 Issue
Jeri Goldstein fairly well created the gold standard for music business books that are both practical and wise when the first edition was released in 1998, offering succinct ideas on setting goals, planning for a long-range future as a musician, when to quit your day job, and when to rethink your music career. Along with those came big-picture straight forward advice on negotiating with venues, planning tour routing, how to set up an office, what to include in a letter of intent, and what to look for in a contract, among other things.The latest edition includes all that, organized into bite-sized chapters packed with information and seasoned with sidebar quotes and tips from music industry professionals...There are updates to the resources sections included with each chapter, added information about immigration issues for artists and about creating and using electronic press kits, and materials on web design. New edition or old, it's a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who wants to know more about the many-faceted business of performing arts, touring and presenting, and integrating that part of a musician's life into a successful career.
Book Description
In need of advice? Just want to sounds off? Opening this volume is like grabbing lunch with a fellow designer to commiserate or celebrate. In its pages, noteworthy designers, both past and present, working in fields ranging from graphic design, fashion, architecture, typography, and industrial design sound off on every topic, ranging from deadlines, inspiration, competition, rules, respect, education, and handling criticism-all with a certain amount of irreverence. Their thoughts are boiled down into succinct, quotable quotes and one-liners that exemplify their character and demonstrate their philosophy on the world around them.
Enjoy reading thought bites from everyone from Art Chantry, Margo Chase, Ed Fella, John C. Jay, Hideki Nakajima, Stefan Sagmeister, and Rudy VanderLans.
Customer Reviews:
Through the Magical Path of the Labyrinth.......2003-10-29
This last book by Jeff Saward, the well-known photographer and labyrinth historian, is a well illustrated and documented work based on his research on the field since the 1980s.
Through an extensive historical analysis of such an archetypal symbol - from the pre-historic Spanish petroglyph labyrinths to the modern revival - the author shows and describes almost all the labyrinths known up to the moment.
Although with some lacks (especially on literary labyrinths) this book, with its catalogue of the worldwide known labyrinths - the most comprehensive list ever since - is a useful (and an indispensable) tool to the beginner and the expert alike.
Book Description
Whether you are beginning a new career in automotive sales, have been in the business since birth or are a customer seeking insight into what is behind the smoke and mirrors, Cars and People; How to Put the Two Together, is for you.
There is more to sales than basics; journey through the behavioral side of the deal. Learn how to control your customer. Understand what a real commitment is. Be prepared to get dirty. You'll be digging up old stereotypes, planting seeds and building rapport.
There is no reason for the sale to be so difficult. It's only cars and people. Congratulations! Now you are armed with the tools to put the two together.
Download Description
Whether you are beginning a new career in automotive sales, have been in the business since birth or are a customer seeking insight into what is behind the smoke and mirrors, Cars and People; How to Put the Two Together, is for you.
There is more to sales than basics; journey through the behavioral side of the deal. Learn how to control your customer. Understand what a real commitment is. Be prepared to get dirty. You'll be digging up old stereotypes, planting seeds and building rapport.
There is no reason for the sale to be so difficult. It's only cars and people. Congratulations! Now you are armed with the tools to put the two together.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing New, But a Good Refresher.......2007-03-08
Ziegler certainly gives an inside look into the business, but for me, having been to two Joe Verde seminars, it came as nothing new. For someone new to the business, I'd certainly recommened it. For someone with several years in the business, it'd still be a very good refresher course. It's all too easy to get into a "rut", and this book can help you see where your mistakes are possibly being made, so that you can correct them. It would also be a good read for a car buyer, as it would give them a lot of insight into how SOME dealerships conduct business.
A MUST READ FOR WOULD-BE CARS SALESPEOPLE.......2007-01-13
This is the blood and guts of the business!!! It gives would-be salespeople a great idea of how they would have to "mutate" so as to be an effective car sales professional.
AND it also gives would-be car buyers a great peep-hole into the business so as to differentiate between having the wool over their eyes and/or having a B-52 dive bomb them with a load of sheep!!!
Very nicely done. The one book I'd encourage for newbees........2006-06-15
In the business of selling cars there were no choices prior to this book. If you wanted to have something to read that would give any introspection for what the car sales professional would go through or could expect you had very few choices.
This book does a fantastic job of describing the steps to the sale. It is easy to read and follow. The examples are real world. I will definitely have all my staff read this one as well as every person I consider hiring in the future.
I am a bit jaded perhaps. I had purchased this book prior to having eLead Training in my dealership. When he came in as the trainer it was strange once I put two and two together and realized he was the author. He does a fantastic job of painting the picture and getting salespeople to follow.
If you are considering entering the automotive sales profession do yourself a favor and start here. You will not be disappointed.
Real life info.......2006-03-01
I have read a few of the popular books on automotive sales and this has to be the best. This book is full of great how-to information, in addition it is presented in a comical easy to read format with lots of interesting stories about dealership life. I really connected being a ex-service employee of a dealer myself. I miss those days and want to get back in on the sales end. I can say this book will make not only getting a automotive sales job that much easier, it will help me from day one with all the how to advice..
This is a very well written book on a very hard subject........2006-02-04
I believe that most car guys are alot like me; detail oriented control freaks. Though this books fault is the fact that it reads simply it is also its greatest strength. It is written as if the author is chatting to me over a beer. He is thorough and deliberate. His passion for what he beleves in is obvious. At times I found the book almost too simple. However, I am pleased to have read it as it reminded me of the things that I should be doing. I don't know about the other reviewers, their reasons for slamming this book or others, or their motivations. I do know what I enjoy and I enjoyed this book very much. The reason I cannot give it 5 stars is for the fact that it can be improved. There is always room to improve.
I will say that I liked the glossary as well as the fact that the author gives help on how the reader can get ahold of him if there are any further questions. I tried to reach the author and was pleasantly surprised at how fast he responded. We spoke for nearly an hour on the phone.
If you are now in, or are thinking of joining the rest of us in the car business, I strongly encourage that you read anything you can find on the subject. This book should be at the top of your list.
Books:
- Thomas Hardy on Screen
- Understanding Curriculum As Racial Text: Representations of Identity and Difference in Education (Suny Series, Feminist Theory in Education)
- V Is for Vampire: The A-Z Guide to Everything Undead
- Vixens, Floozies and Molls: 28 Actresses of Late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood
- Vulgar Modernism: Writing on Movies and Other Media (Culture and the Moving Image Series)
- Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
- We Were Soldiers: The Screenplay (The Wheelhouse screenplay series)
- "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet": The American Talking Film History and Memory 1927-1949
- A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Universal Filmscripts Series Classic Comedies, Vol 1) (Universal Filmscripts Series Classic Comedies, Vol 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve A Competitive Edge by Creating A Culture of Accountability
- Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
- The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Recording Great Audio Tracks in a Small Studio
- The Education of a Christian Woman: A Sixteenth-Century Manual
- Untapped Riches: Never Pay Off Your Mortgage--and Other Surprising Secrets for Building Wealth
- Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury
- Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration
- West Federal Taxation 2002: Comprehensive Volume
- The New Nonprofit Almanac and Desk Reference: The Essential Facts and Figures for Managers, Research
- Trujillo: The Chief
