<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A must for Tony fans the world over![.]
Review: Is it any surprise that the brilliant actor who originated th ecreepy role of Norman Bates had a dark side? HELLO! Wake up, people! This is Tony Perkins, not Mickey Rooney! That said, let me add that I am just about THE biggest Tony Perkins lover on this side of the Atlantic - ever since I saw him in Tall Story when I was 11! I've been hooked ever since and this man is my drug![.] Anyway, yes this book is dark, but yes it has more info about His life than you are going to find ANYWHERE - and after you've read, you'll feel closer to Tony than ever![.] In ALL his complexity and love. And I mean ALL. This is Tony, people, not some airhead matinee idol. This is the one and only. This is the great. This is Tony Perkins. To love him is to love him with ALL his faults - and I mean ALL, people - AND his attributes. God bless him and his late wife.
Rating: 
Summary: Grim portrait, perhaps not entirely accurate
Review: This book makes Anthony Perkins appear as a self-centered, mean, drug addict who had little good in him at all. The book goes into paintstaking detail about a lot of really ugly aspects of this man's life. The author appears to have gone out of his way to make Perkins look like an absolute idiot in every way possible. He succeeds. The man is completely unlikable if this book is the only thing you read. The book is written in a very gossipy fashion, which might turn some people off, content aside.While I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the book, it seems extremely one-sided. I cannot imagine Perkins could have been this bad. I cannot figure out whether the author had a vendetta against Perkins, or no good stories were told because those closest to Perkins who knew those good facts declined to participate in the book. There is ample evidence for either proposition. Though he denies this, the author really appears to dislike Perkins and enjoys ridiculing him. The author even has a hard time admitted that Perkins was, in fact, a great actor. It's like the author feels forced to mention after smearing him about some off-stage antic, that Perkins actually was good in a production. Regardless of his personal life, it cannot really be disputed that Perkins was a top actor, not even for a second. But why would one write a biography of someone you don't like? None of Perkins' family or friends participated in this book. Whether this made the author angry and he turned it into a hatchet job (it is a hatchet job) for revenge, or whether Perkins really was this horrible, we will never know. The alternative is, his family could have made it a more balanced book as they may have known an entirely different man, and their non-involvement in this book left it lop-sided. Those who liked Perkins or were friendly with him did not contribute to this book. It shows. Whatever was going on, this is a must-read for any fan. Be warned, however, it is a very negative portrait that I do not think is entirely accurate. What is in the book I do believe to be true, but it is not balanced with anything. Was there anything to balance these recounts? We will never know.
Rating:
Summary: Tough love
Review: Yes, this biography of a sometimes talented actor - limited by his own hand - is often hard to read, even harsh. But in the end, this reader anyway was left feeling strangely wistful, as if the time had come to say goodbye to an old, difficult, contentious friend. In that respect, I feel the book is quite honest and ultimately empathetic. Perkins' life was certainly controversial, and he clearly dropped friends along the way as it suited his changing needs. But the author conveys the goodness and strength of Perkins' final years with his family, despite his illness and his myriad secrets. I knew several people who knew Perkins, and this book comes about as close as their accounts while illuminating more. A very complex puzzle.
<< 1 >>
| 
