True Myths: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger [Hardcover]

Nigel Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1996

Explores the life of a champion bodybuilder who, despite such handicaps as his name, heavy accent, and limited acting ability, became one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood, in an extensively researched and witty biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Somewhere between the simple truth and the possible souping-up... lies the wonderful zone of the True Myth," writes British film critic Andrews in his unauthorized biography of iconic superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a hardbody, actor, businessperson, restaurateur, Republican and Kennedy-by-marriage, "Arnold," as Andrews calls him throughout, seems a perfect subject to deconstruct in this vein. Andrews, an admitted Arnold fan, attempts to explore notions of fame and ambition by tracing the life of the man who rose from rural Austria to become a hulking, prizewinning bodybuilder, then a powerful figure in American entertainment and politics. Focusing on discrepancies in versions of well-known Arnold anecdotes, Andrews suggests that the actor is the malevolent maker of his own myth. It's hardly a shocking idea in the world of Hollywood PR machinery, and the author's lack of firsthand access to the star rarely makes these accusations ring true, or even interesting. Elsewhere, Andrews relies on previous bios to psychoanalyze Arnold's bodybuilding fixations and his relationship to his stern father. As he chronicles Arnold's weightlifting competitions, film work and marriage, Andrews rarely gets under the surface of his subject. Goofy chapter titles such as "Conan the Workaholic" and "Arnold Cybernegger" do little to crack the surface of his monolithic subject, either. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Every Republican's favorite action movie star comes alive in this revealing biography by a British movie critic who well balances a fan's interest and cynicism about Hollywood press agentry on "Ah-noldt." Strange to think now, but at one time Schwarzenegger's accent was thought a bar to stardom. Through ingenious role selection, however, the accent became part of his shtick, much as Jerry Lewis' early adenoidal whine was part of his. A lot of trial and error preceded stardom, but the role of Conan the Barbarian made a star out of the bulging oddity Schwarzenegger was in the documentary Pumping Iron. In preparation for Conan, a voice coach labored to make Schwarzenegger intelligible, and even then, the student still confused some German and English sounds, such as those for the letter b: he repeatedly ordered "crap cocktail" for lunch. Eventually the studio cut most of his dialogue, thereby giving birth to the silent, impassive acting persona he then developed. Definitely a cut above the usual Hollywood bio, this one entertains as it informs. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr; First Edition edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559723645
• ISBN-13: 978-1559723640
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Arnold's UNauthorized biography, September 13, 2004

By 

JOE-JOE BOOKS "JOE BOOKS" (CALIFORNIA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Myths of Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Pumping Iron to Governor of California (Paperback)

This my may not be the best book you will ever read, but if you're interested in information about Arnold, this is not a bad choice. The author mentions all the obstacles he had in writing this book and does not try to make it seem like it is an authorized biography in any way. He does give you a look at Arnold without the childish self-promoting efforts that Arnold's autobiography seems to try. This is a fun book, with a slight edge to it like you're reading something that might have been printed in a tabloid were it not printed in a book. You can almost feel like you are sneeking around with the author trying to find out information about Arnold that is not some sort of publicity stunt. It might not be the most fair look at Arnold, but then again neither is Arnold's autobiography. I think the real story might be found somewhere in between the two books.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One version of the truth, February 24, 2002

By 

MichaelH (East Coast US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: True Myths: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Hardcover)

This book is crippled by a couple of factors, including the author's fetish for mocking Arnold's accent about twice a page. More seriously, no one close to Arnold cooperated in its writing (a fact that the author acknowledges and laments.)

That understood, however, the books does offer a compelling version of Arnold's rise to prominence first as a bodybuilder and then as an actor. Written from a reasonably neutral standpoint -- the author comes across as more gadfly than antagonist, while certainly not a sycophant -- it seems fair in its criticisms and appropriate in its praise.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not very easy to read but has alot of information., August 4, 2004

By 

chuckconners - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Myths of Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Pumping Iron to Governor of California (Paperback)

Although the book is not that flattering for Arnold its not that bad either. I stopped following his career in the early 90's and it has alot of information about him since then. Most of the information about his career early on and into the 80's I already knew but had more detail than in previous material I had read.