Live Fast-Die Young: Remembering the Short Life of James Dean [Hardcover]

John Gilmore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997

Drawing on letters, diaries, and tape-recorded conversations, the author recounts his friendship with Dean, including their sexual relationship, and reveals Dean's feelings about his success, his parents, and death. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. IP. "

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

In a coarse memoir, a longtime friend of the 1950s movie idol recalls his rise to fame, obsession with death, and--in exasperatingly great detail--his bisexual exploits. Gilmore succeeds at conveying the sources of Dean's vulnerability and his preoccupation with death, elements that fueled both Dean's screen persona and his personal life. He adored his devoted mother, who died when Dean was nine; his father disowned him as a weakling. Also effective are Gilmore's recollections of the mass voyeurism that Dean's violent death engendered. He reconstructs dialogue entertainingly (``Some people just think square, man,'' Dean once told him), and Dean's ongoing use of drink and drugs has a ``Gee, Officer Krupke'' innocence to it, limited largely to reefer, bennies, beer, and a flirtation with brandy in an attempt to steal some of Brando's thunder as ``Hollywood's Number One Bad Boy.'' But these vivid glimpses of Dean are not enough to counter some bad writing. There are uncomfortable metaphors (``The future looked bright and wide open as a prairie''), tangled syntax (``As a boy during the Second World War I wrote on and off for close to half a century''), and much puffery (``No truer maverick have I ever known''). Add to that too many graphic (and highly Anglo-Saxon) descriptions of Dean's and friends' many varieties of bisexual sex--two-plus-one, with lotion, in black leather to Edith Piaf- -and the book becomes more of an assault than a requiem. Had any of these passages contained the wit of Gilmore's description of Dean's sexual proclivities--''Not particularly gay''--they would have been more palatable. Though Gilmore offers insights into the star's troubled life, this book is mainly for Dean fans and devotees of celebrity sex. (b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Pr; 1st edition (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560251468
• ISBN-13: 978-1560251460
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,297,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "the quintessential L.A. noir writer," John Gilmore has been acclaimed internationally for his hard-boiled true crime books, his Hollywood memoirs and his biting, literary fiction. He is considered one of today's most controversial American authors, with a following that spans the globe from Tokyo, Paris and London, to his native Hollywood where he was friends with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. He traveled the road to fame in many guises before turning to writing: kid magician, painter, poet, actor in films, TV, and the New York stage, then screen-writer, B-movie director into a "bang 'em out alive," nine-day novelist. "Few like to look back at how they kept the pot boiling," Gilmore says. "For me it was an education--a turning point from frantic to be a movie star, to just letting the dog out of the cage."
After heading the writing program at Antioch's west coast university, Gilmore traveled and lectured extensively while creating an indelible mark in crime literature with Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia, described by Colin Wilson as "The best book on the Black Dahlia--in fact, the only readable book." After years of "being on the road," as he puts it, three times married, three times divorced and now single, he resides in the Hollywood Hills, expanding his body of work with a "lengthy, peculiar" novel, plus another unusual exploration into true-crime.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Real life as it's lived--unpredictably and blindly.", January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Live Fast-Die Young: Remembering the Short Life of James Dean (Hardcover)

The above quote is on the banner of the trade paper edition of LIVE FAST-DIE YOUNG, which I have just finished reading. This book swept me up and put me right back in the 1950's; I now understand what the whole amazing charisma of James Dean means, and why he is as important today, if not more so, than he was in his pitifully short life and career. John Gilmore, who ran with James Dean (even slept with him!), shared girls with him and a scary love of speed and wildness, gives us a picture of a time and place that rings absolutely true. I came to this book because I was so taken with Gilmore's earlier book, LAID BARE, which includes a few of the themes dealing with James Dean (he deals with many other movie stars in that earlier book), and his relationship with the late actor is explored here in the most daring and significant portrayal of James Dean that I have encountered. Can't we give this book Six stars?

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was an enjoyable read-very informative-spoiler included, December 15, 2000

By 

Alicia J. Hinesley (Conway, Arkansas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Fast--Die Young: Remembering the Short Life of James Dean (Paperback)

I thought James Gilmore did an excellent job. I had already read a couple of bios on James Dean, and Gilmore was noted in both, so it seemed logical to read his point of view. He was obviously a good friend, and offered personal insight from actual contact with Dean. Dean was mesmerizing, talented, and a person in obvious pain. I think anyone who reads extensively about Dean must reach the conclusion that he was not homosexual, but bisexual and very experimental. He also seemed to enjoy it when people wondered about him, and was a very private person. It is a tragedy that he did not live to his potential, professionally or personally. I did wonder about the implication that Gilmore made about Dean fathering a child who by anyone's count could certainly be alive today. Interesting. Get it, read it, and learn about one of the most complex personalities Hollywood ever had the priviledge of promoting.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BRILLIANT BOOK FOR OUR TIME, April 18, 2005

By 

Orville (Glendale, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Fast-Die Young: Remembering the Short Life of James Dean (Hardcover)

John Gilmore is one of the "hot" authors of our time; a penetrating, unbiased literary figure who has lived an extraordinary life, having been a close friend of James Dean is certainly not the least of it. This Thunder's Mouth edition is out of print but I understand a new edition is going to press soon which will include many more photos of James Dean. Any reader who wants to know the inner workings of a rich yet complex personality such as Dean's will find this book a must. Not everyone will appreciate Gilmore's candidness, for we live in a media culture that has invested decades in a program of hiding the truth and selling the lies. To wit: the reviewer who calls this minor masterpiece "garbage" (the reviewer bashes a memoir on Dean by Dizzy Sheridan as well, who also knew Dean. Seems those fortunate enough to have known Dean have a different take on him than the hack writers). A writer as controversial as Gilmore will necessarily invite applause from the intelligentsia as well as curses from the misguided, self-appointed critics of those few who are bold enough to cut through the slop and give us a glimpse of human truth. LIVE FAST-DIE YOUNG is the book favored by die-hards and not the movie mag and fluff readers. Again: an absolute must for an understanding of the genius of James Dean. Also check out LAID BARE by Gilmore.