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Review
'True Myths skilfully combines biographical detail with cogent commentary. Andrews gives Arnie a long hard look. It makes scary reading' New Statesman 'Superbly researched this is a man who began his career hanging out at body-building contests in the East End with Jimmy Savile and topped it by being asked by George Bush to take a job. Even Clint Eastwood can't match that' Vox 'Entertaining and well-researched a truly memorable story' Financial Times 'A witty, far-ranging survey of the man and his braggadocio the reader learns much about where willpower can get your in Hollywood and why' Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
He arrived in California with $20 in his pocket; now he's governor of the state. But who is Arnold Schwarzenegger? A superachiever, rising from a steroid-enhanced bodybuilder into a global star and the highest-paid actor in Hollywood? Or a Teutonic terminator, sent from Austria to America to kick Democratic butt? Nigel Andrews unearths Arnold's riveting story from his strict Germanic upbringing through the worlds of bodybuilding and movies to his metamorphosis from muscle-bound star to political powerhouse. Andrews illuminates the myth-making power of Arnold's own ambitions and follows his strange career all the way up through the stage-managed but scandal-assailed campaign and dramatic recall election to his eventual triumph.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read:
Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Portrait
Pumping Iron
Arnold - The Education Of A body Builder
Arnold Schwarzeneggers Encyclopedic Guide To Modern Body Building
and
Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Biography....
I thought True Myths would make a good addition to my collection and be a interesting read. Having now read it, I cant help but feel a bit cold to it. If your a big Arnie fan it wont really give you anything you dont already know. Instead of going on cold hard facts, the author seems to just give his own view on things and what he thinks might be the reasons behind something, mostly conjecture to my mind.
The style of writting is over complicated and rather waffly, its as if he sat with a thesaurus when he wrote this and always tried to find the most obscure word he could to make himself sound more intelligent. On more than one occassion I had no idea what he was saying, and niether did my girl friend... whos qualified to teach English!
It does have some redeeming points when it comes to his movie career and how he got his roles etc.
One thing that did annoy me was how the author made ridiculous comments on how the characters he played in his movies linked to Arnold in real life. They were so thin it was silly and it screamed of grasping at straws and trying to sound cleverer than you really are.
Maybe I'm being to harsh on it, its not a bad book, I'm glad to have read it. But if someone asked me why they should buy it and what was good about it, I'd be a bit stuck to give an answer if I'm honest.
Buy this is if you have read the above titles already, if not, read them first, you will enjoy them more.
Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Portrait
Pumping Iron
Arnold - The Education Of A body Builder
Arnold Schwarzeneggers Encyclopedic Guide To Modern Body Building
and
Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Biography....
I thought True Myths would make a good addition to my collection and be a interesting read. Having now read it, I cant help but feel a bit cold to it. If your a big Arnie fan it wont really give you anything you dont already know. Instead of going on cold hard facts, the author seems to just give his own view on things and what he thinks might be the reasons behind something, mostly conjecture to my mind.
The style of writting is over complicated and rather waffly, its as if he sat with a thesaurus when he wrote this and always tried to find the most obscure word he could to make himself sound more intelligent. On more than one occassion I had no idea what he was saying, and niether did my girl friend... whos qualified to teach English!
It does have some redeeming points when it comes to his movie career and how he got his roles etc.
One thing that did annoy me was how the author made ridiculous comments on how the characters he played in his movies linked to Arnold in real life. They were so thin it was silly and it screamed of grasping at straws and trying to sound cleverer than you really are.
Maybe I'm being to harsh on it, its not a bad book, I'm glad to have read it. But if someone asked me why they should buy it and what was good about it, I'd be a bit stuck to give an answer if I'm honest.
Buy this is if you have read the above titles already, if not, read them first, you will enjoy them more.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Arnold's UNauthorized biography
13 Sep 2004
Format:Paperback
This my may not be the best book you will ever read, but if you're interested in information about Arnold, this is not a bad choice. The author mentions all the obstacles he had in writing this book and does not try to make it seem like it is an authorized biography in any way. He does give you a look at Arnold without the childish self-promoting efforts that Arnold's autobiography seems to try. This is a fun book, with a slight edge to it like you're reading something that might have been printed in a tabloid were it not printed in a book. You can almost feel like you are sneeking around with the author trying to find out information about Arnold that is not some sort of publicity stunt. It might not be the most fair look at Arnold, but then again neither is Arnold's autobiography. I think the real story might be found somewhere in between the two books.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
One version of the truth
24 Feb 2002
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is crippled by a couple of factors, including the author's fetish for mocking Arnold's accent about twice a page. More seriously, no one close to Arnold cooperated in its writing (a fact that the author acknowledges and laments.)
That understood, however, the books does offer a compelling version of Arnold's rise to prominence first as a bodybuilder and then as an actor. Written from a reasonably neutral standpoint -- the author comes across as more gadfly than antagonist, while certainly not a sycophant -- it seems fair in its criticisms and appropriate in its praise.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Not very easy to read but has alot of information.
4 Aug 2004
Format:Paperback
Although the book is not that flattering for Arnold its not that bad either. I stopped following his career in the early 90's and it has alot of information about him since then. Most of the information about his career early on and into the 80's I already knew but had more detail than in previous material I had read.
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