Jack: The Great Seducer [Hardcover]

Edward Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2004

Jack Nicholson is one of the longest-lasting and most recognized sex symbols of our time. This sizzling biography goes deep in-depth, relating exclusive interviews with past flames and flings, to shed light on the unique charisma and magnetism of one of America's most respected and desired movie stars. Among the startling revelations: a longtime girlfriend who describes Jack's reaction when he at last discovered the long-buried, dark secret of his childhood; Jack's notorious penny-pinching, such as the time he came home from a movie set with a doggie bag of catered Mexican food; and Diane Keaton's reaction to Jack passing gas during filming of a love scene for Something's Gotta Give.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nicholson has already been the subject of nearly a dozen books, most of which are mined thoroughly for information in this latest tell-all. Douglas does little more than update the record established in Patrick McGilligan's standard-setting Jack's Life with a decade's worth of new films and gossip about a stormy relationship with actor Lara Flynn Boyle. Douglas, who claims several previous biographies to his credit but has chosen to publish pseudonymously, did manage to land interviews with B-movie mogul Roger Corman and other members of Nicholson's earliest Hollywood circles that shed light on the actor's start in Hollywood, but he's much more interested in the rambling, self-serving tales he accumulates from recent ex-lovers. Douglas's prose contains all the worst excesses of the celebrity biography genre, yet at least the overabundance of salacious irrelevancies distracts from Douglas's weak efforts at psychoanalysis. Douglas celebrates Nicholson for being "ahead of his time" in front of the camera while condemning his off-screen shortcomings, and the judgmental tone frequently lapses into pure snideness, especially when individual films come under discussion. This is a brazen appeal to the lust for sordid celebrity stories with just enough moralizing so that readers won't feel too cheap and dirty afterward. 8-page b&w photo insert not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

If the pseudonymous author of this tell-all is even half-credible, readers can only further marvel at Jack Nicholson's brilliant career, given the distractions described here. Some were self-induced: copious quantities of recreational drugs, serious partying, musical beds with probably hundreds (thousands?) of women, the several children he sired, and labyrinthine friendships with both men and women. Others were handed to him: he learned, well into adulthood, that his "mother" was his maternal grandmother, and his "sister" was his mother (echoes of Chinatown). This book is tabloid stuff, but the author delivers a coherent, behind-the-scenes narrative of Nicholson's life and career and some fresh insights into the actor's work. "I like to play people that haven't existed yet," Nicholson is quoted as saying, "a future something, a cusp character. . . . Once it becomes part of the conventional wisdom, it doesn't seem particularly adventurous or weird or wild." Alan Moores
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (November 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060520477
• ISBN-13: 978-0060520472
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,296,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent chronological and referenced account., January 30, 2005

By 

Rob Hunt (Houston, TX, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack: The Great Seducer (Hardcover)

"Jack: The Great Seducer" offers an excellent chronological and referenced account of his interworkings with the women in his life and career.

The book itself offers one new revelation I was unaware of in the likes of Cynthia Basinet. Depicted as one of Jack's gals and downplayed as an "aspiring singer", I found her compassion, courage, insight, and humor within what seems to have been a geninue love affair to be inspiring. Cynthia is a single mom who took to assisting W. Sahara refugees after separating from the actor. Upon further research, I discovered Miss Basinet single-handedly transformed her career as a successful model/actress into a recording artist with a philanthropic platform with no apparent assistance from JN. Her rendition of "Santa Baby" was originally recorded for Jack as a Christmas gift, and has gone on to become a Holiday favorite. It's the version often thought to be Marilyn Monroe, which appears in the 2003 film "Party Monster".

On the surface, the book resonates as a rah-rah "harem" lifestyle most men only fantasize about, however as I gave it more thought I couldn't help but wonder: where is the love?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of his life and loves, October 26, 2005

By 

BuzS "buzs" (ny, ny) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jack: The Great Seducer (Hardcover)

as a casual movie goer who is no specialist on Jack's romantic and professional history, I found this to be a very comprehensive, continuously enlightening tour through all that he's accomplished in his amazing private and public life... although I couldn't help but be familiar with his reputation as the consumate rogue, I had no idea of the staggering quantity (and quality) of his conquests and of the 8 kids he's fathered and what's become of so many figures in his life... a very enjoyable read...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars JACK NICHOLSON BIOGRAPHY, February 8, 2008

By 

S. Malone (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jack: The Great Seducer (Hardcover)

This was nothing near being a biography. It was just a book full of episodes in Jack N's life that were taken from various magazine/newspaper/media articles - things everyone already knew about him - nothing new or personal things about him - usually what a biography exposes. I found it very ho-hum.