Customer Reviews

The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have never heard of Porfirio Rubirosa, that's no surprise. He died in 1965, and wasn't good at much of anything beyond having a good time, but at that he was extraordinarily good. His was a life of inconsequence, and perhaps inconsequential also is the biography _The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa_ (4th Estate) by Shawn Levy. Inconsequential, but also glittering and amusing. The character Rubirosa made for himself was, Levy says, "nightclubber, cuckolder, kept man, gigolo, scene maker, skirt chaser, dandy." He was hardly a careful examiner of his own life, but when he explained why he did poorly as a student, he was exactly right: "The only things that interested me were sports, girls, adventures, celebrities - in short, life." His limited interpretation of what life was all about was similar to his limited principles. "It has always been one of my chief principles: I will risk anything to avoid being bored." He succeeded wonderfully, and this account of his life, written in a perfect breezy and joking style, is an entertainment that few will find boring.

"Rubi", as everyone knew him, was born in 1909 in the Dominican Republic, and served intermittently as a roving official for that country. He married five times before his death in 1965, to actresses and heiresses. How did Rubi manage to ingratiate himself to so many women, and get so much support from them? There are lots of answers. He was darkly handsome when such looks were thought fashionable and seductive (even leading to the famous backlash "Latins are Lousy Lovers" by Helen Lawrenson in _Esquire_ in 1936). He kept himself in good shape; he was a keen polo player. He was intelligent, capable with five languages, fluent in three. He genuinely liked women. "They want to be happy," he explained. "I try to make them happy." He was successful in these attempts countless times, at least in the short run. He liked women ideally to be beautiful and rich, but was able to spread his happiness with others who lacked such traits. Many simply found him irresistible when they could resist many others. "He wraps his charm around your shoulders like a Russian sable coat," said Hedda Hopper. He was extremely sociable, and made himself comfortable with such lights as the Kennedys and Oleg Cassini. A photographer noted, "He can meet you for a minute and a month later remember you very well." His partying consisted of heavy drinking that didn't seem to have deleterious aftereffects. When pal Sammy Davis saw him the next day after they had been carousing heavily the night before, he asked in astonishment how Rubi could still look and feel good. "Your profession is being an entertainer," came the reply. "Mine is being a playboy." It was his job, but he never found it work. A naive journalist once asked when he found time for work. "Work?" came the reply. "It's impossible for me to work. I just don't have the time." Those who sought to explain his charm in the most fundamental way found an old standby, crediting his success to his having a sexual organ of supremely massive size. It was talked about enough that its dimensions were even specified in Truman Capote's unfinished novel _Answered Prayers_, and waiters would call the largest peppermill in the house "The Rubirosa."

He was enormously famous during his heyday; Groucho Marx particularly liked making jokes that included his name, and few had to ask "Who's that?" The tabloids had a fine time, with headlines like "Cash Box Casanova" or, knowingly, "Who Donged the Ding-Dong Daddy?" He left no children, no good works, no legacy, no example to follow. He was, from many angles, a contemptible cad, but he was terrifically good at living his life as he saw fit. Many found him irresistible, and it may be a guilty pleasure, but this biography is irresistible fun.

'The Last Playboy' gives an in depth look at the exciting party life of Porfirio Rubirosa. In his day he was perhaps the world's premiere ladies' man --- a Cassanova of modern times. Married to two of the richest women in the world along with 3 other women during his life this didn't stop him from dating such Hollywood starlets as Zsa Zsa Gabor & Ava Gardner among hundreds of other women. His polo playing, jet setting, drinking, womanizing and car racing were offset only by his work for Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo as a diplomat whose daughter he also married. Mega bucks from many of these women fueled his non-stop party lifestyle until he wrapped his Ferrari around a tree near his home in France at the age of 56. This book also details his friendships with the Kennedy's, Frank Sinatra and other luminaries of that era. This is a high-flying page turner of a biography that really delivers the goods.

Imagine? He fills your room with flowers. He changes his hotel room to be next to yours to "feel you through the walls." Maybe he sends a limo and escort to take you shopping for something special to wear for dinner. He's a great dancer. He's dashing on a horse or in a race car. The impeccable manners match his perfectly tailored clothes.

Why would you think that he represents a Saddam Hussein style manager of a Caribbean nation and its torture chambers? Why would you think he's an accessory to murder? a murderer? a jewel thief? a profiteer from passports sold to Jews desperate to escape Hitler? Now what is it he does with the fleet of fishing boats his 3rd wife gave him? He doesn't think about any of this, so why should you?

Levy does a great job of tracking Rubi down. It was an intercontinental life in 5 languages, but that would be the easy part, since facts (the ones that Rubi doesn't want anyone to know) are like the proverbial jello nailed to a wall.

In his last chapter Levy tries to opine on the meaning of it all and finds very little. What if Rubi had joined the Dominican resistance? (would never cross his mind.) The closest thing he finds to meaning is a Langston Hughes obituary noting Rubi's (possible) race, which no one had noticed before.

Rubi was a man of his time, but not all time. Why?

Where are the Rubis of the world today? Have divorce lawyers and pre-nups driven them out of business? Have the women lost their sense of romance? Rubi with Madonna? Paris Hilton? Oprah? Martha Stewart? They just don't seem so emotionally vulnerable. Maybe the playboys are still here, sub rosa (pun) in blue jeans, the veritable playboy next door. Or maybe our consciousness has been raised and no acting career can be built when you're seen with the rep. of a 3rd world strong man. Maybe men have become better attuned to women, such that Rubi's sweet nothings are not the tonic they once could be. Maybe drugs have sapped the energy needed to drink all night and play polo the next day.

I became aware of Rubi through my interest in Doris Duke. Levy cites the Mansfield book as the best bio of her. While Mansfield has put together the story, it needs a lot more sifting through. Levy's 3 chapters on Doris flesh out her story. I'd like for Levy go back to his notes, maybe team up with Mansfield, and pack in more research. Doris has (or maybe Doris is) a story aching to be told. The survivors, just like those of Rubi, won't be here forever. Levy, with this difficult work, shows that he's up to it.

A page turner; couldn't put it down. Someone needs to seriously make this a movie !

I am a former foreign student in the Dominican Republic where I got to learn the name "Rubirosa", linked to large peppermils in chique restaurants on the Malecon and the pubs of the then (80's) newly renovated Colonial Center. I also heard his name in equestrian circles with acclaim for his introduction of the sport of Polo to the now largest Polo playing country in the Caribbean.

Curiously the new generation in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere know little of him but when an older generation is asked about him, a smile is the first thing to apear on their lips before an anecdote or a recall of one of his memorable deeds (or scandal) is to be told. Most of the time these stories are connected to fast times,headlines and the high life, despite lacking a fortune, commercial enterprise of significance or a scientific mind.
Nevertheless making headlines by his own merits and decisions (marriages) and of those around him.

This book is an improvement over previous biographies made in the 70's and 80's, among others Palbo Clase Hijo's book, that I bought 20 years ago as a present for an uncle who was a contemporary and admirer of Rubi.

This book is great fun to read and brings very well into perspective the details of Dominican political life under Trujillo's dictatorship and the international impact that it brought upon the region and Rubi's pivotal role in the softening of the ugly face of the regime. Reason for his love-hate relationship with the Trujillo family and the political 'intelligentsia' around them, such as Joaquin Balaguer (6-time president).

In this aspect Rubi had historical impact and records do not offer much reliable evidence to give credit to it, but in high stakes of international politics, personal relations, phone calls and small favors to key persons (intermediaries) can change history.

I recommend this book to anyone who admires celebrities and light subjects for entertaining reading. They can make comparisons on the life of celebrities between today and yeasteryear (not much has changed!).

Many a bachelor would like to have, at least for a some time, the kind of life experience that Rubi got out of his relatively short stay on this earth and a hell of a time it was!

The book does justice, historically, to a man that lived life intensively and with great love and loyalty to his friends, a great party companion, which made him an important and long-time confidant, intimate friend and acquaintance of many of those with economic and political power on both sides of the Atlantic and also the Magreb.

These characteristics are not highlighted too much in the book but can be interpreted to through the lines and is part of the things to be learned from the book and the life of Rubirosa.

This is what makes the great difference between Rbirosa and many other born-rich playboys that bought most of their goodies and many a 'friend' with the funds of their pockets.

On the contrary, most socialites and even wives had Rubi's company at their expense!

I definitely recommend reading and keeping or as a gift.


Randall Croes

Shawn Levy could write about a sack of potatos and make it interesting. I knew very little of Rubi but after reading this book I feel like went through a week by week breifing of the events of his life. Some of the details in the book are of astounding accuracy; I wonder how he did it. Bravo Bravo.

I just finished The Last Playboy on my winter vacation, I found it to be a fabulous read. The writing is clear and pretty even, although Levy does sometimes dip into gossip-like quips from time to time that aren't useful. The material appears to be well researched and presented clearly, with facts labeled as such, speculation and insights also clearly labeled. I do not know if there are any errors, but I don't think this should be taken as an authoritative bio by any means.

Few people live such thrilling lives, and Levy takes you along for the ride. You can almost sense the author's face as Rubirosa himself changes as he grows older and more depraved at times. There's a sensitivity that is found in some of the best biographies, and insights that are to be expected.

If you're looking for a good, fast read about the fabulous lifestyle of a playboy, this is one you should be reading. Someone should definitely look at making a movie about this guy and his times.

Well researched account of the life of "Ruby." Juicy narrative of the man married to Barbara Duke and Barbara Hutton among others, (at the time considered the wealthiest women in the world), amid the ultra high society lifestyle he pursued while maintaining a "job" for the Dominican Republic as a diplomat. Scandalous, sexy, fast paced...you won't want to put this one down.

This book has lots and lots of information. Do they have it in Spanish? My friends want to read it.
This is a chronological format which I adore because it took me to all important events of Europe and Latin America from the years 1800's - 1970. It makes me thinks of the differences in race issues in USA oppose to continental Europe and Latin America.

Loved reading the history of this man - someone who has always been in the biographies of others from the 20th century, but I never knew his story. The book is well researched, but only reason I didn't give the book a 5 star review is that that the writing is rather "small-town", with lots of editorializing that really isn't necessary. Let the reader make their own inferences from the information in front of them. Asides, and exclamation points, have no place in a serious biography.