Customer Reviews

Chasing Rubi: The Truth About Porfirio Rubirosa, the Last Playboy, Library Edition

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once I started reading "Chasing Rubi," I couldn't put it down. The authors have done an extraordinary amount of research and produced a captivating portrait of a man who led a truly unbelievable life. It's a crazy, pedal-to-the-metal journey with glamorous highs, heartbreaking lows, intriguing plot twists and more close calls than you can imagine! Just when you think Rubirosa's story can't get any more amazing, it does. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

I love how this book details one of the most amazing people in our history, yet many may not have heard of him, which only adds to his mystique. His accomplishments and exploits outweigh those of 10 men combined. The authors did a great job of showcasing Rubi. If you want to find out what life could be like if you were to mix James Bond and Hugh Hefner along with the adventures of Richard Branson all in one person -- you have Rubirosa. Entertaining and historical. A great read.

Porfirio Rubirosa really was "The Last Playboy," and his story has everything you could ask for in a Hollywood movie - intrigue, wealth, spies, and a bevy of beauties worthy of Howard Hughes or John Kennedy. Indeed, he shared beds with many of the same women as the rich and powerful of his day. Marty and Isabella Wall have captured this fascinating tale of Rubirosa's relationships with kings, princes, presidents, dictators, mobsters, and movie stars (including the Rat Pack), over fifty years and spanning the globe. Especially interesting is the amount of money women were willing to part with just to be with Rubirosa, including a $1 million fee allegedly paid by Doris Duke to Rubirosa's wife to divorce him, to Barbara Hutton's $66,000 a day marriage to him for 53 days. This book is certain to become a motion picture! Fun reading, perfect for a fall weekend.

I was blown away with this book. I didn't expect such a fun read.I really thought when I picked it up it would be mostly historical. Boy was I wrong! Somebody should quickly call Oprah. I felt a little guilty reading all the juicy stuff when I told my husband I was just reading a little history. I would recommend it to all my desperate housewife friends.

Rubirosa was a one-of-a-kind personality, and this book gives us his story in gripping detail. I couldn't put it down. It put me right back into an era of spies, intrigue and sexual conquest of the not-so-long-ago past. In fact, the story of Rubi has great historical and social significance. And, to say the least, it's damned entertaining. If you've ever been fascinated by high-flying, jet-set society, or enjoyed a James Bond movie, you'll love this book.

Truly a wild ride. Although it's a true story, it's like a wild romance novel and spy thriller rolled into one. Porfirio Rubirosa lived an unbelievable life, but yet this book has the pictures, FBI files and first-hand accounts to back it up. This is an unforgettable story about an incredible character. It's the kind of thing you'll tell your friends about and they'll stare in disbelief. This is a great summer read -- a total fantasy get-away.

This book was just what I was looking for to read during my vacation in the South of France this summmer. It was a super read - and so cool that it was real - James Bond look out!

It was great that the authors found Rubi's actual memoirs and included them in the book - you could hear the smooth, seductive voice of this real-life playboy/spy!

The FBI files the authors found on Rubi sure supports the mystery surrounding this amazing man's life... A great read - highly recommended.

Marty Wall managed to describe a life of seduction and mystery in great detail. I was fascinated from start to finish.

Rubirosa was an amazing character that men admired and women adored. What really makes this book special is artful storytelling blended with exclusive excerpts from Rubirosa's personal memoirs. To read his first-hand accounts of espionage and romance is reason enough to buy this book.

I really don't understand all of the five star ratings for this book - it isn't that well written. The strength of the book is the subject matter, the life of pleasure and hedonism of Rubi.

Specially, the book fails to bring Rubi to life. Like a B-grade high-schooler's report, the story is mechanical, overly relies upon big quotes from Rubi's memoirs and FBI documents, and is pedantic. The story lacks any magic; instead, it's just a rote string of descriptions of one biographical event onto the next. The story doesn't get the reader into the head or personality of Rubi; it just tells what he did from one happening to the next. The story fails to deliver any rich anecdotes of his high-life that would inject zest into the story line.

The gnawing question the book only makes a meager attempt to answer is, "How?" Surely with Rubi's fascinating life, of cavorting with Hollywood's leading ladies, pursuing the world's richest eligible bachelorettes, and his associations to the mob, the rat pack, and to President Kennedy, how did the man come about to make this happen? The book provides a few pithy but poor quotes from some celebs who knew him, but they fail to capture the essence, instead only presenting simple quips. Unfortunately, the book doesn't provide its own analysis, of who Rubi was and what made him special.

Rubi is a whirlwind of a story. Too bad this book doesn't bring it out.