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Kirk Douglas

The Ragman's Son Mass Market Paperback – November 1, 1990

by Kirk Douglas (Author)

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Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, the son of an illiterate immigrant Russian-Jewish ragpicker and junkman, Kirk Douglas makes clear in this powerful, angry, and passionate book the ways in which his difficult childhood dominated his life as an actor, father, and man. 16 pages of photographs.

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Product details

Publisher : Pocket (November 1, 1990)
Language : English
Mass Market Paperback : 464 pages
ISBN-10 : 0671737899
ISBN-13 : 978-0671737894
Item Weight : 9.3 ounces
Dimensions : 6.84 x 0.91 x 4.22 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #585,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,405 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies

Customer Reviews:
212 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		79%
4 star		11%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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An Autobiography That Reads Like A Riveting Novel

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2020

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The Ragman's Son is one of the most interesting autobiographies that I have ever had the pleasure of reading, as a book so enthralling that the closer you get to the end the more you find yourself wishing it would never end simply because it reveals Kirk Douglas as a very real life and normal person just like you and I ... A most memorable and unforgettable reading experience that I would highly recommend to any avid reader ...

5 people found this helpful

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A Fun Read

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2020

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I confess that the purchase of the hardcover version of Ragman’s Son by Kirk Douglas is a most recent purchase that I made with money from university employment via amazon by the February 5 2020 being intuitively and logically aware that I am well outside the target audience for this book. I had seen this book title featured online and the way the book was described in at least one of the articles indirectly influenced me to be intrigued to purchase this book even though the only two films that I had been previously familiar with some of his acting was from the films Seven Days in May and Top Secret Affair. The writing draws a reader in with multiple details included in this book from the way he describes how his early childhood and teenage year indirectly influenced why he became so driven and ambitious in his life, details on his wives and children, some very torrid details on this love life including how the dynamics involving one of this early teachers and another woman who was one of his bosses from his pre-stardom days indirectly influenced him, it was also quite insightful how he handled some of the challenges in this life and transformed them into opportunities. For instance, he candidly shares how he was forced to find new employment sooner than expected from a janitor job that he had and how he went about finding new employment provides interesting insight for many people regardless of career/profession, his adventures involving job projects overseas (parts of Africa, parts of South America, Europe etc.), some of his interactions with Washington D.C. politicians, and much more details.

2 people found this helpful

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Josie Engle

Lots of movie stars mentioned

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2018

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Good history of Kirk Douglas and father. But then goes to his sexual conquests that were common to Hollywood at the time. Got tired of reading about Hollywood and did not finish.

7 people found this helpful

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Lunggislanda.

OK book

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2019

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I was a little disappointed, as I was expecting so much more from this book. Admittedly Mr. Douglas had a tough start in life, but as book progressed it truly felt that he was bragging about himself. Not a bad read.

5 people found this helpful

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S. Boul

Good Stuff

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2020

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My book arrived in a very timely manner and was in excellent condition. The book was a good read. I am now a fan of Kirk Douglas, the man, even if I was always rather indifferent toward Kirk Douglas, the actor. But I do feel compelled to watch some of his movies again because now I understand his passion for acting.

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Paul C. Curley

A life story told with verve

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2017

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Revealing life story told with verve and apparent honesty. Mr. Douglas' account of his early years was especially engaging; the Hollywood years not so much. One comes away with a feeling of admiration and respect for the author.

3 people found this helpful

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joe gnadt

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018

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Excellent

2 people found this helpful

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Carol M. Bellis

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018

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Great book! A wonderful story of success in America.

One person found this helpful

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M. Mullen

A good read, just don't expect to come away from it liking the man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2016

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To be honest I came away from this book having a real distate for the author. But I guess that's a credit to his honesty within the book.

Kirk has lived a life that few of us could dream of but within the mad world he and everyone around him seems to be both unhappy and verging on madness.

The term sex addict is not actually used in the book but that's clearly Kirk's problem for much of the book. If Kirk had done some of the things within the book in more recent times he would likely have seen the inside of a prison cell as his attitude to under age sex seems borderline offensive. At one point he appears to groom an fourteen year old girl who.is the daughter of a host in Israel though he is a bit vague on the details.

Another issue I have with him is that he is clearly a working class man through and through but he seems more than happy to forget his roots and almost be embarrassed of them despite then being the basis of who is. I was amazed by one paragraph where they get a child carer to move in and put the kids in a separate building from them. To him this was normal and barely worth mentioning, but this is a different world to me. Who does that to their children? The rich and famous do and then wonder why they're not happy.

There's also another scene where his wife knows he's been cheating on him. He falls to his knees and mockingly begs forgiveness in front of their friends and they all end up laughing and I was just scratching my head thinking these people are dispicable. So he's Kirk Douglas that doesn't give the right to humiliate his wife.

So overall a great read which name checks pretty much everyone in Hollywood and takes on a rags to riches tale. But just don't expect to come out it thinking Kirk is awesome. He maybe a legend but he is a troubled and occasionally a total bar steward.

11 people found this helpful

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera

Very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2020

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Kirk Douglas is one of the most popular faces of Hollywood, and certainly one who has one of the longest careers after, sadly, dying recently at the notorious age of 103 ! He was not, though, as the press quickly wrote "the last star of the Golden Era". Olivia de Havilland also 103 years old - and counting, started in the movies before WWII - she was the unforgettable Melita in Gone with the Wind. He had a very illustrious career with remarkable titles - Lust for Life, Spartacus and one of the best movies made on the movies: The Bad and the Beautiful.
His autobiography is good in anecdotes, vile with the producers, angry with some fellow actors (Robert Mitchum, Yul Brynner, Charles Laughton) and full with sex, lots of it. Between (and very often during) matrimonies Douglas shows a sex drive rarely confessed before by a movie star. And it is very well written.
And throughout the book its author (a Jew) shows over and over again his anger to the obvious racist discrimination in the United States before and after the WWII. The episodes on how he had to change his name to enroll in a Drama Academy or a Tennis Club are very touching. Those sections in which he was blatantly discriminated (or not allowed to date a girl) for the same reasons, are merely appalling. That's the saddest part of the book (and of our times). But all and all, it is a very good document on Hollywood, by one of its most remarkable and talented players.

Suewoo

Hard to put down

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2017

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Loved this book. I didn't know that Kirk Douglas had written an autobiography until I was scammed on FB. I saw - what I know now to be fake news - Kirk had died. Not too surprising given his age so of course was curious. That was it, they, the scammers totally immobilized my pc. Fortunately was able to shut down, but before I did, I googled Kirk, and of course very much alive. So that is how I come to buy his book, written back in 1987 but what a read, so absorbing I found it hard to put down and get some work done. Just finished it, but wished it went on for ever, bit like Kirk!. He has written one or two other books which I am planning to buy.

2 people found this helpful

Mr. D. P. O. Halloran

Not just Spartacus ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2020

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I’m a bit of a Kirk Douglas fan so this book was a no brainier for me. Covers the period from birth to the late 1980’s when a young fan says “oh cool, Michael Douglas’s dad”

His great friend Burt Lancaster said of him”Kirk would be the 1st person to tell you he’s a very difficult man” he paused,” & I would be the 2nd”

Like his son Michael I think Kirk was addicted to sex. His 2nd wife being “European “ was very understanding.

I enjoyed it

C. M. Mcdonald

Fascinating insight in life of a great movie star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2014

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Couldn't put this book down. Honest autobiography that's a great read. What comes through is Issur's sheer determination to succeed in everything that he undertakes. His poverty stricken childhood overshadowed by a dominant father whom he desperately wanted to please set the seed to work hard for acknowledgement all his life. Step by step you are taken vividly through various stages of his life, the people who influenced him, his ups and downs on the path to stardom and stories of movies and "stars" he worked with. His private family life is exposed and his relationship with his sons. Towards the end of the book he gives details of his work as an American ambassador and his philosophy on Hollywood, stardom and life. He has had an extraordinary life and the book is very well written giving the reader an insight in the making of a Hollywood legion.

One person found this helpful

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