Laura Hernandez 2008-08-28

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

I am almost finished reading the book, "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story," and I must say, this book (Howard's life) is certainly a page turner. It is clear that Howard Hughes was a lot of things: Manipulative, Egocentric, Playboy and Eccentric! He was also, after reading most of the book about his life, NEVER BORING. Not for one second. Every moment in his life is so meaty and juicy you would think it was a written Soap Opera, meant to stimulate the viewer at every moment and increase ratings, but it's not. It's just Howard being Howard.

Howard Hughes spent most of his life in close proximity to his mother. The woman, who many believe, smothered and later caused his bizarre behavior in regards to germs and illnesses. She bathed him from head to toe and regularly inspected his body for any signs of infection or sickness. Howard Sr, realizing the dangerous bond between his son and wife, tried to seperate the son and mother pair by sending Howard away to school and camps. Howard didn't put up much of a fight. In fact, even though he was a recluse, he tried his best to fit in at the camp and the school he attended. He told his mom on many occassions, that he looked forward to the new skills he was learning at the camp. His mom, however, eventually pulled him out of the camp after writing many letters and warning Howard of the dangerous germs floating around in the camp. She had believed that scaring Howard in these letters would result in his return home, however, Howard very much wanted to stay. It was his mother who pulled him out eventually.

From Howard Sr., Hughes learned many things which would cause him to be the talk of the town in Hollywood. Howard Sr. made it abundantly clear to his son that everything is for sale. In one case, Howard Sr. paid to enroll his son in a school that only accepted 60 students per year. 60 was the cut off and under no circumstances would the Directors of the school allow that to change. Senior cared less, he payed off all the right people and his son would join the only class to allow 61 students to attend. Howard Sr. didn't just teach Hughes to buy his way through life, Hughes also became a womanizer just like his father. Hughes was very well aware of the fact that his father cheated on his mother regularly and the his mother knew about it. He also knew the heartbreak it caused his mother after reading a letter from his mom to his father, asking that he stop. Hughes never stopped and his wife died in her 30's. Howard Sr. death soon followed.

Howard was devastated. This devastation didn't stop him from fighting for the wealth that belonged to him. He fought family members, headed to court and convinced everyone around him that he was ready to inherit the family company even though he was just a kid. With his new wealth, Howard headed to Hollywood and aimed to become a Top Producer and Avaitor.

Howard spent most of his life in the air, chasing beautiful starlets, creating movies and taking aviation to the next level. He was a daredevil in every aspect of his life.

Too many, Howard seemed to have the world in the palm of his hands. However, Howard struggled with a terrible secret. He had what many didn't understand at the time and something that just wasn't discussed: OCD. His symptoms worsened with age and with the many car and plane crashes he had in his life. Also, one can not discount the amount of stress that poor Howard struggled with on a daily basis. It is clear to me that this stress pushed Howard's symptoms to uncontrollable levels! Also, the book makes clear, that the discovery that the FBI had been following his every move for the past 5 years increased his distrust of others.

I haven't finished the book yet but I can't wait to finish reading about Howard's amazing life. Like I said before, this man is clearly far from boring. I would definetely enjoy living life in his shoes even if I had to deal with OCD. This man did it all and was clearly a genius. God rest his soul and thank you Howard for your many contributions to aviation!

Arlette Stuip 2007-08-10

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

After finally watching the Aviator, I wanted to know more about Howard Hughes' life but wasn't sure which book to get since there were so many out there to choose from. The Untold Story turned out to be one of the most moving books I've read. I previously only knew him according to the reputation he had in his final years: bizarre recluse, deranged, weirdo, bilionnaire.

Howard Hughes was an ace pilot. The 200 ton Spruce Goose was his personal triumph. This books brings to light his outlandish reality and his extraordinary and adventurous personal life: the many movies he produced, and his amazing influence on Hollywood censorship, purchasing the most Las Vegas resorts owned by one person, the McCarthy era, even Watergate and the fall of Nixon. It covers the many famous actresses he discovered, his womanizing and dating nearly every leading glamor queen. Jean Harlow, Ava Gardner, Giner Rogers, and Katharine Hepburn all dated this handsome playboy. It explains his passion of aviation, perilous record breaking flights as well as his three plane crashes, and his development of commercial flights (TWA). Howard Hughes was a genius inventor and head of a giant corporation which produced oil drill tools (which he inherited from his father). The book reveals his emotionally incestuous ties to his mother. his addictions, breakdowns and recoveries, disappearing acts such as when he locked himself in a studio room, didn't bathe for months, and watched the same movies 30 times in a row, eating only Hershey bars. His now-famous but then unknown obsessive-compulsive disorder produced full blown food fetishes such as counting chocolate chips in each germ-free cookie and eating his peas with a small rake. Who knows what might have happened, and how history might have changed, if doctors knew about Prozac in those days?

The circumstances of his death remain mysterious and puzzling - to this day, no one is sure about how he died. Like his life, it was covered in a wall of secrecy. A compelling, sympathetic, and well-researched story (nearly 400,000 pages of court documents, 2,000 pages of FBI reports, and 600 interviews were used) about one of the most controversial, intriguing and extraordinary people.

Genevieve 2007-04-02

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

After a while I got really tired of all of these starlets stories. I couldn't stop thinking " what a jerk" and how stupid all of these girls, and worse yet, their parents were.

J. B Wilt 2007-02-08

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

I had read an earlier book on Hughes, Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes, and remembered it as a fascinating book. I purchased recently this newer book on Hughes, Howard Hughes: The Untold Story.

It, too, was fascinating in its own National Inquirer kind of way! This particular book dealt more with Hughes' womanizing more than with his business empire. We are treated with endless stories of Hughes' conquest of Hollywood actress beginning in the early 20's up until his final pursuit of women in the late 1950s.

The stories are truly fascinating to read and Brown's and Broeske's writing style certaining kept me engaged. One just has to wonder how one would have acted in Howard's place as he pursued women on a daily basis while in Hollywood. Simply amazing!

The one drawback about this book that I was not anticipating was what made it so interesting: its dedication to his lothario lifestyle. In other words, by the time the story of Jean Peters (his last wife) rolls around, along with his last attempted affair with the starlet Yvonne Shubert, one starts to tire of reading exclusively about his sexual conquests.

I found myself wondering how all of this tied in with his businesses. The authors did throw in just enough about his businesses for it all to make sense, but I don't think there was enough. In other words, this book dealt almost entirely with his sex life than anything else. There were enough tidbits about his paranoia, his germophobia, his Hollywood movie making, and his aviation exploits to keep the book moving.

I recommend this book to read about the personable side of Howard and the book, Empire, to read about the business side of Howard. Both are excellent.

B. Guddendorf 2006-09-07

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

I watched Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" and was immediately interested in learning about the "real" Howard Hughes. This book more than satisfied my curiosity. I wasn't aware of the non-aviation contributions made by Hughes; satellites, seek and destroy missles. All very important to our national security. I had never heard of Hughes' connection to the Watergate scandal until I read this book.

This publication was a page turner about a man that we'll most likely never learn the full truth about. A great read!