Customer Reviews

Merv Griffin: A Life in the Closet

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Anyone looking for a "serious" biography of Merv Griffin had best look elsewhere. Although the basic information about Merv's life is here, probably fifty per cent of this book is either outright fabrication or outrageous embellishment of POSSIBLY true stories, but it is a terrifically fun mixture of bio and over-the-top gay porn fantasy. For instance, Guy Madison of the 1940's is probably the "all-time all-timer" of gay male fantasies, so the idea of Merv sharing many a passionate night with Mr. Guy (while Guy is married to Gail Russell) is most titillating, though improbable. Darwin Porter must've had fun writing about Merv and his buddies, and lots of the dialogue he puts in people's mouths, especially the mouths of Liberace, Mae West, and Talullah Bankhead, is absolutely hilarious.

Many of the sexual couplings described are jaw-droppers - would you believe Dean Martin and Liberace?, Richard Burton and Eddie Fisher? (so Burton could "show him who's boss"), Truman Capote and Humphrey Bogart?, Gene Kelly and Vincent Minelli going at it repeatedly?, Merv "servicing" Frank Sinatra while 'ol blue eyes is fondling Lana Turner?, poor Lana on her knees in a nightclub men's room?, Merv "taking care" of Rock Hudson just moments after Hudson has finished servicing Miss Talullah's "womanly needs?"...well no, I don't believe these fairy tales either...but they're good for laughs and party conversation, although some of the anecdotes are just gross and ugly.

As for how many of the stories are ridiculous whoppers, one might point out that who would've believed that Marilyn and Joan Crawford spent the night together...until it was confirmed a few years ago on the front page of the Los Angeles Times?...so I guess anything is possible.

Get this bizarre book if what I've described appeals to your curiosity, don't take it too seriously, and just go along for the ride.

i'm not really in the business of reading the national enquirer or any other tabloid but a copy on a friend's coffee table the other day led me to a review of this book (why hasn't the ny times reviewed this? uhm... read the book). wow. i mean, wow ! aside from the shocking sexual affairs the man supposedly had with a lot of famous men (including james dean), what really made me enjoy this book is the real story behind this culture icon. from his poor childhood to billions he made, it sounds like merv griffin kind of stayed true to himself. and yet another revelation of the great ingredient to a successful life: when you combine what you love (he loved television above all else) with what you do for a living, you made it. definitely worth every dollar.

When Merv Griffin was a talk show, it was looked down upon as a "poor man's Johnny Carson". Then, Mr. G.'s name became quite visible at the end of game show programs. Yet, somehow, I never could quite picture him as an interesting person. That is, until I read this book.

If you are looking for historical data or a morale lifting tale, put the book down now. However, if you need something light and full of gossip, how can you resist any book that begins with Merv and includes: Eva Gabor, Erroll Flynn, Tyronne Power, Johnny Weismuller, Ceasar Romero and . . . You get the idea? And then you read that further on, he had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. I didn't want to but I just could not put the book down.

It isn't wise (or very nice) to kiss-and-tell but it does make one dandy guilty pleasure of a read. Mr. Griffin was a complicated and driven person. Unfortunately the author merely notes what he did without linking it to any reason. So, perhaps it is a good thing that this is just an addictive candy that you can not stop eating.

This book makes no pretenses about what its intentions are. The author is not psychoanalyzing Merv; just reciting a litany of his life, career and sexual adventures. So, pull down the shades, get your favorite junk food handy and treat yourself.

Poorly written, badly edited, full of innuendos and half truths. Includes a few juicy "details" that are not verifiable at all. All of the made-up conversations at dinner parties, etc. are truly annoying and just plain unprofessional. Don't waste your time. He slept around--we got it.

If you want to know about Merv's supposed sex life, read this...if you can overlook the numerous grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. (Does anyone actually edit manuscripts anymore?) Actually, the various sex acts depicted get kind of boring after a while, as if sex is the only part of Griffin's life that's of interest. And if that is your only interest in Griffin, you'll probably like this.

Merv Griffin's life, in the hands of a competent biographer (such as A. Scott Berg), would probably be very compelling. The typical American "rags-to-riches" tale, plus the many, many *real* stars he knew...it could be a great read. However, we'll have to wait for that...this book definitely isn't it.

I can't believe that I actually found this piece of junk on the shelf of the PUBLIC LIBRARY! I thought it would be fun to look over since I had always heard about Merv's other life, but just 50 pages into the book i returned it, it is really nothing but nonsense. There's no way that any man would have had time to have a career and still pursue all these lovers. Just ridiculous. Such a lame attempt at cashing in on a dead celebrity....the author even admits that he "makes up" the conversations and anecdotes. I guess this is what they call Junk biography.

Yeah OK Merv Griffin was gay. Big news flash that is.

What is so sickeningly is the dialogue of every conversation he ever had with anyone in the world. If you believe this sorry excuse for an author then there's someone who remembered verbatim every word that ever passed between the old Queen & anyone who's path he crossed as told to them by the person in question or a friend of a friend of a friend.

The greatest authors who keep diaries religously don't write their own autobiographies repeating conversations word for word like this fool of a tabloid level hack does.

And he makes it sound like Griffin was a major long time Hollywood actor employed for a decade or more at the studios. Please Mary. Enough with your wet dreams about every closeted gay man who ever set foot in show business. If you did some research & learned how to write well enough to earn some respect & a decent reputation you might actually get real access to the people who truly knew all these men you write about. You do a disservice to anti-closet gay men everywhere when you do so dreadful a job of bringing the truth to light that you only make those who'd rather keep them in the closet more sure that it's all just crap.

Griffin was as gay as a Maypole but the scenarios you portray read like the first effort of writing by an hysterical, overly dramatic 13 year old girl.

Is he kidding? Darwin Porter presents "Merv Griffin: A Life in the Closet" as a biography, and I've even read of it being called a 'serious biography,' but I just don't see it.

First, the 'facts' of Merv's numerous sexual escapades, as well as the major events in his career, are described mostly without dates, and not even necessarily in chronological order. The reader must rely events mentioned, such as film releases and politicians in power, to discover when something supposedly happened. When dates are used, they are sometimes WRONG. Porter has Ronald Reagan's death in 2004 AND 2005!

Next, some of his 'sources,' including actor Roddy McDowall, are no longer here to affirm what Porter is claiming they told him. What's the phrase, 'a dead man can't sue,' or something like that? It's interesting that when Merv's involvement with Ryan Seacrest is mentioned, it's said to be only a 'rumor'... OF COURSE it is! Ryan's alive and coud sue!

And thirdly, the writing simply isn't very good. For someone who has made his living as a travel writer, Porter doesn't seem to have a very large vocabulary. An example is that he uses the phrase 'more of less' in THREE consecutive sentences! Buy a thesaurus, Mr. Porter!

All in all, I think this book was a complete waste of my money.

About the only two famous people who appear in this salacious bit of semi-literate bric-a-brac still alive (at this writing, at least) and thus capable of raising doubts as to the absolute truthfulness of its contents are Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day, who aren't about to dignify such a book by acknowledging its existence.

Was the late Merv Griffin really the sexual trash can this book purports him to be? Possibly, maybe even plausibly. Was he really as stupid as his dialogue (isn't it funny how everybody in this book talks exactly the same as everybody else?) indicates? He couldn't have been if he was able to parlay a sort of innocuous handsomeness and a mediocre singing talent into a billion-dollar enterprise.

Because we live in a sue-and-get-rich-quick culture, many nonfiction books today have an exhaustive list of notes and source material. Outside of a fairly standard bibliography of other showbiz books whose veracity you may question, and a list of people who presumably gave the author second- or third-hand accounts of Mr. Griffin's goings-on, this one notably does not.

If "Mad Men" is too sophisticated and not gay-sexy enough for you, this book may just be the ticket.

Merv interviewed 25,000 people over his career; anybody famous and interesting, he knew or met. It is a huge leap to say he slept with all the people the author asserts with no facts or motives. This book doesn't explain who Merv was - a nice guy, a bad guy, a sad person, somewhere inbetween? Anyone could take a list of famous eople and say they slept together. I'm surprised a really insightful bio of Merv has yet to be written because he was a fascinating person who deserves one. This is not it.