Customer Reviews

The Rise and Rise of David Geffen

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2 star:		(1)
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Stephen Singular details the meteoric rise of a music moguls rise from a working class Brooklyn family to a major player in the entertainment industry. Personal secrets are shared with the reader including a lost love with Cher and the pain of admitting his sexuality in public. A great read for someone intrested in how the entertainment industry works or just how to claw your way to the top.

Interesting story about one man's rise from the porch of poverty to the mansions of Beverly Hills. The story is well researched and well reported, but it seems that Geffen is a hero to the author, and there is a positive slant placed on almost all his actions. The actions of his rivals are seen almost always in a negative light.

The choice for references was kind of strange to me, too, including long quotes from "Queer in America."

This shows the work of a hero-worshipping author writing from afar. One who sat down with David Geffen and spent time and effort to interview and understand the man might come up with a much different, and much better, work.

Rags to riches...David to Mr. Geffen, Sir. This book is a true testament to hard work does have it rewards. David Geffen's rise was phenomenonal but with his work ethic and business savvy it was actually expected. It landmarked Geffen's rivalries and inhibitions and showed how he made the big mergers of the conglomerates in the 90's work for him. A fine road map for future moguls. Slow reading in the beginning but it made up for it in the end. A fine piece.

One of the things I liked about this book was that the author occasionally made attempts to understand the man that David Geffen has become by describing the path that took him there starting with his childhood experiences. What I was interested in was how a Brooklyn kid coming from an apparently modest background could rise to the top. I wanted to know what kept him going. This book was a good start. Unlike several other books on entertainment moguls, it provided more than an overview of historical facts, by quoting interviews with people who personally knew Geffen.

I bought the book without knowing that its author, S. Singular, is also responsible for a work on M. Ovitz- which received almost uniformly bad critics. It probably won`t be different with this title. Once again, no personal contact to Geffen was established; Singular simply presents a potpourri of well- known facts, mixed with sentences like "when he (Geffen) wanted Sex, he found it". The interview Geffen gave Playboy magazine in `94 is more informative than this scrappy Singular product. I strongly advise against buying this book.

If you you don't already know who and what David Geffn is, you must read this book. The rise and rise takes you on a trip through Mr. Geffen's life from a small child, to his first record label, to Geffen Reords, to Dream Works in the making. This is an incredible story of rags to riches. Mr. Geffen is a highly respected person who deserves every penny he has made. This book describes how he set out on his own to become Hollywood's first self made BILLIONARE!!