Customer Reviews

Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the best book out there on the life of James Byron Dean. It is not only concerned with the things that he did, but whom he affected personally, and the psychological reasoning behind the actions of this tortured genious. This book leaves no loose-ends untied in it's deconstruction of an icon, so that we can better understand Jimmy the man. This wonderfull book makes you feel as though you know James Dean for who he really was, and not for "whatever people wanted him to be". James B. Dean was complicated, tortured, conflicted and was a bottomless well for everyone's love. This James Dean is both more heroic and tragic than the Studios made him out to be, he is a confused, self-conscious boy. This is the real James Dean. Other attempts at recollecting his life are either glorified, or romanticized. Read this book, if you are a real fan of James Dean the person, not James Dean the legend.

Of the 20 books I have read on James Dean, this is one of my favorite. It was one of the most heart-wrenching books I have ever read. Spoto is interested in exploring the psychological reasons for Dean's behavior, both positive and negative. He constantly makes reference to the abandonment issues of Dean's childhood as the answer for his every move as an adult. Spoto creates such a vivid portrait of the man that when I read about his death, I mourned as if I had known him.

Being an Elizabeth Taylor fan, I had seen James Dean in "Giant" - his final film and knew little of his life, save for his interest in fast cars, and his tragic death. I had recently become interested in Dean and his work and picked up the recent Warner box set of his three films on DVD. On a quest to learn more on Dean's life, I picked up Donald Spoto's biography "Rebel". I chose "Rebel" because from what I'd heard, it offered a respectable look into the young actor's short life and career, and tried to dispel many rumours that surround Jimmy's legend. I felt that it indeed did that, and I learned quite a bit of who James Dean was.

Dean's life and his relationships were forever altered because of the death of his mother, the only person he was ever close to (at the time). His father was always distant in Jimmy's life, even when his mother was alive. This was heightened when Jimmy was sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Fairmount, ID - the state where Jimmy had lived early life. This is paramount to understanding Dean, his motives, and his relationship with others. His fears of abandonment plagued all of his relationships, and stopped him from opening up to others. As quickly as he would make friendships with certain people, he would drop them and move on, without another word.

Donald Spoto's "Rebel" was an intriguing look into the life of a mythical Hollywood figure, James Dean, who as I quickly found out was a complex and tormented young man.

I just finished reading this book about two weeks ago. I had never read any other James Dean books and I thought this was a very good book, very informative. I didn't get bored or bogged down once. I enjoyed every part of it - Jimmy's early life, life in New York, and his short, but brilliant Hollywood career. I would get totally absorbed in reading it, sometimes staying up way too late just because I couldn't put it down.

I have read other reviews that consider this book "generic" or more detached, but since I am not a James Dean expert, and have never read a book on him before, I can only give my perspective and opinions. I thought this was a very well-written and researched book. I am now reading "James Dean, little boy lost," by Joe Hyams, which I bought through an Amazon Marketplace buyer.

Supports info on why James Dean did the things he did. And what his emotions were like, and why he was bisexual. I don't want to spoil it though. I'll just say that of the four bio's I read on James Dean (the others being "Boulivard of Broken Dreams," "The Death of James Dean," & "James Dean: a biography by Val Holly") this is the best one so far.

Of the many biographies of Dean that have been written, the range is as broad as one can imagine. There are the memoir bios (Sheridan & Bast); there are the fan-based (the two Dalton bios); plus the sensational and the shorter more factual-oriented ones written to capitalize on the Dean legend.

Spoto's bio is perhaps the most cynical of them all. To use the word deconstructing to describe this book is euphemistic.

He has little if anything good to say about Dean in this book and when he does say something positive, it almost seems he does it begrudgingly.

He skips over numerous facts and episodes in Dean's life and career and focuses primarily on negative aspects of Dean.

This is not to say that Spoto does not have anything to contribute as there are instances where his critical (if not hell-bent to destroy) attitude offers insight into Dean, but there is little, if anything, here that is new, which leads one to wonder as to why this book was written at all.

It seems to this reader, Spoto does not feel Dean deserves the status of a Hollywood star and has written this book to show why he doesn't belong in the pantheon of Hollywood greats.

One gets the feeling Spoto has an axe to grind (for whatever reason) and that is what he does here.

Donald Spoto writes what you would expect from the noted author; a well-researched fact-based bio of culture/pop icon James Dean. The book starts out with a somewhat scathing account of the fans who make the pilgrimage to Dean's home town of Fairmount, Indiana to "celebrate" his death. Once Spoto puts some of these sycophantic fans in their place, he moves on to the meat and potatoes. He does a great job of pointing out that Dean was still finding himself at the time that he died; Spoto avoids putting him in a category as so many other authors have attempted to do. Donald's very dry humor makes it an easy and enjoyable read.

Don't let others dismay you from getting this book. In my opinion, it's a very good read that's full of wonderful information on James Dean. From his days at school (includes report card grades) to his last day (a very descriptive outline of his last day). The book is very well-written and it's even better that Spoto prefers to call Dean "Jimmy" as many friends did. I recommend this book whole-heartedly and you'll be missing something if you don't read it.

Like in all my reviews of James Dean biographies,I try to stress that I have done extensive research into Dean-especially through reading EVERY bio on him I can find. I can't say my opinion is the best-but extremely well informed. That said, Spoto's bio on Dean is very good. I gave it 3 stars not out of any dislike for the book; rather because it was average. The factual information was fairly complete and nothing was noticeably forgotten or incorrect. However, it's more the style and approach taken with this book that makes it normal, but in no way engrossing or fresh. It's hard to put down any Dean bio, because the most a reader can ask for is utter honesty and fluidity of writing. But when a writer takes that extra step to find something you won't find in similar bios or truly has control of his craft as a writer, then it's appreciated. Thus, I have no reason to advise against this book in any way. But it does fall short of other Dean bios such as Joe Hyams' "Little Boy Lost"-which EVERY reviewer gives 4-5 stars. As for "Rebel" by Donal Spoto, however, I would suggest buying used, so as to enjoy what it does offer, with out suffering the high cost of literature for an ordinary book. I'd give it a 'B', with 'A+' being the best.

I first read this book for a school project when it was first published 14 or 15 years ago when I was in elementary school. As a child I enjoyed the book very much because it had huge print, lots and lots and lots of pictures (although they're all black and white) and a short, easy-to-follow story that was very basic and to-the-point. When I recently reread this book I couldn't believe how amateurish and juvenile Donald Spoto's overall writing is. For children wanting to read a celebrity biography "Rebel" is highly recommended as the language and writing is at best at a 6th grade level. However, for anyone else, though, I think there would be many other more engaging books, not to mention dozens and dozens on the life of the legendary actor, Mr. Dean (may he rest in peace).