Customer Reviews

James Dean: The Mutant King: A Biography

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Dalton's biography of James Dean is a very good book about the cinemic legend. He seems to have interviewed many people who were close to Dean, and he focuses as much on the real man as on the icon. Dalton also writes quite well.

The only problem I have with this book is I wonder how carefully it was fact-checked. There was at least one blatant gaffe in the book, which alleged that James Dean was a big fan of Elvis Presley. Now every Elvis fan knows Presley was a huge fan of James Dean, even to the point where he is said to have memorized all of Dean's lines in the classic "Rebel Without a Cause." The question I have is, was Dean really a fan of Elvis?

On page 195 of the paperback 1983 edition, a friend of Dean's is quoted as saying how much James Dean loved the Elvis hit "Hound Dog," and how Dean loved to wake people up in the middle of the night by calling them on the phone and playing the record when they said "Hello." It's a compelling tale.

Unfortunately, this story cannot be true. By the end of 1955, Elvis had signed on to RCA and had obtained Col. Tom Parker as manager. Elvis was still a regional performer in 1955, and his Sun recordings (today big collectors' items) sold only modestly in the South. Elvis did make appearances on "The Louisiana Hayride," and he made some other appearances on local and regional television programs, but it wasn't until January 1956, when he made his first national television appearance on the Dorsey Brothers program "Stage Show," that he became a sensation. Furthermore, Elvis did NOT record "Hound Dog" until July of 1956, almost a year after Dean's death. Now it is possible Dean might have heard "The Louisiana Hayride" or bought any of Elvis' five Sun singles, but more likely he, like most of America in 1955, had never heard of Elvis. This blatant error, while only taking up one paragraph in the book, calls into question how accurate the rest of the book is. Dalton doesn't call this tall tale into question, so the gullible reader is led to believe Dean was a big fan of Elvis. Since I haven't seen a newer edition of this book, it's possible the error was corrected, but I doubt it.

Because people's memories can fade or they can simply exaggerate, most biographies have to be read with caution. Even though I enjoyed the book and refer to it often, it is certainly no exception.

In the slew of Dean Biographies I've read, this came to me third. And I was in general, very privelaged to read it. It is concise, thorough, factual, and eloquent. Favorite parts in all Dean bios are his chilhood years, his 3 years before success, and experiences while making his 3 films- and this book does wonderful justice to those times. You'll learn about his sex, loves, and hot&cold personality. There were a few(only a few) moments where some details lagged and dragged slightly. Those thoughts, however, disapeared instantly with the next sentence I would come upon in the book. It's in my top three Dean bios list-probably #3. Please let yourself discover Jimmy. Buy this and several other of his bios and take them on a vacation(or some time and place where you can commit yourself to them)and devoure them."James Dean-Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and "Live Fast Die Young", are two other necessaries. This is a must read. Happy Readings!

Maybe his friend remembered the artist wrong. "Hound Dog" was originally recorded in 1952 by Big Mamma Thornton (released in 1953 on Peacock Records.) Elvis covered it in 1956.

Several country versions exist as well, recorded 1953-1956.

My point being, eyewitness testimony or memories are unreliable. Most times due to our human brains being so psychologically prone to confabulation. However, it is all we have in the case of remembering people and events. It is hard to have someone so famous like Dean and not have people "invent" who they think he should've been - instead of who he was. I think we never truly know another human being anyways. We are all of us "touching from a distance" and only scratching the hazy surface of who we ourselves are. Most can only hope to achieve some measure of immortality in their lifetimes. How wonderful on film, how brightly did Dean shine. He shines for the ages.

For the reviewer who gave a lengthy discussion on Elvis...enough already! So there may be a few factual errors...show me a bio that doesn't have a few and I'd be very surprised. This bio nails James Dean perfectly, and paints a picture that makes it easy to understand why he remains an icon over 50 years after his death. Well written it paints an indepth portrait of the person who represents so many different things to different people. Ignore the negative reviews on here.

This is a great James Dean biography. It seemed to stick to the facts and was very interesting. You should definitlely read this one!

James Dean is in own words is a walking contradiction. This book offers rich insights into his condition. They will surprize you, and also you will begin to understand why the legend is alive and thriving today. James Dean was a very modern persona. Though the book contains all the facts you would want to know about his life, it goes further, showing how James Dean carefully made himself into what he means to us. Don't skip this one.

the story is sooo sad but very interseding. the writing is kinda wired but it has a lot of interseding fakes about the town Dean lived in, and about Dean. its a good book.