The Death of James Dean

Rating:
Summary: not just a read - an experience
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Bio of Dean in Print
Review: I have recently finished The Death of James Dean and loved it. Beath gets right to the death and explains the rest later in the book. Dean's fame, his life, his acting, his interests (racing, among other things) and the rumors around his "other" life are well researched and presented in a very straight forward manner. The book also contains photos of Dean, his friends, studio shots, photos taken by the author, photos from other deanphile's collections and a good map of The Crash. This is an interesting and riviting book of James Dean and is written superbly. P.S. Beath has also written other books (searchable on Amazon.com) including the fictional Who Killed James Dean. This is a very good book full of speculation and the great stuff of intrigue.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Twist To Dean's Last Ride
Review: 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 It also provides quite a lot of previously unpublished material in regard to the period immediately before and after his death.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.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Dean Books in Print
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: HAUNTING BOOK ON DEAN - ONE OF THE VERY BEST
Review: This book pulled me into a haunting but intriguing place, that exists and will always exist in the rolling hills of a California highway, to a place that has barely changed in 40-odd years, and a rabid passion for a face and human who has made a HUGE impact. Great book!