Rating: 
Summary: Clear-eyed view of a much mythologized man
Review: Very entertaining, well-written and (rare these days) well-edited true story of WR Hearst's life (as opposed to the various stories and personas promulgated by his employees and enemies, not to mention Citizen Kane). I appreciated learning the truth; I held many misconceptions, as it turned out. But in the end, Hearst was four things: Newspaperman, wealthy American, businessman and builder of San Simeon. Nasaw covers the first two topics in depth, but tends to gloss the details of the latter two. I would have preferred more details of how San Simeon was arranged, how large its rooms were, and that sort of thing. And I suspect Hearst's capitalization structure and the details of his finances would have been interesting as well. But Nasaw quotes heavily from Hearst's editorials--he was a very persuasive writer--and describes the man's expensive habits and his courtiers completely. If you enjoy biographies, this is one, well-done.
Rating:
Summary: a fantastic life of matriarchy, castles, movies and money
Review: WRH had interested me as a lesser (and later) addition to the robber baron lists. After reading Nawaw's work I have different picture - that of a man dominated by his mother yet domineering of others, at ease with maintaining a wife on the east coast and mistress on the west, obsessive with his material belongings yet neglectful of his children, never mindful of money yet never short of it, and a defender of personal privacy yet addicted to the spot light. A robber baron? Not so sure about that, but WRH was a baron (in the monarchial sense) no doubt. He lived like a medieval king - constantly pointing out flaws in others and ruling on those where he could, seemingly ignorant of his own contrary ways.The book can be a battle - Mrs H senior was tiresome and WRH did take a long time to reach his stride, but it is never dull and at the end I realised I had finished the most amazing story, all the more so as it is true.
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