James Dean, Joe Hyams
James Dean, Joe Hyams
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

James Dean
Little Boy Lost

Author: Joe Hyams

Narrator: Christopher Lane

Unabridged: 10 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/31/2014


Synopsis

He made only three movies—East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, and Giant—and became an international icon after his tragic death at the age of twenty-four. He was James Dean, and no one has told the real story of the man, the actor, or the myth as fully, as powerfully, and as intimately as the authors of James Dean: Little Boy Lost. This is the book drawn from extensive interviews with Dean's friends and colleagues, many of whom speak out for the first time. It is the book written by one of Dean's confidants: noted celebrity biographer Joe Hyams.Who was James Byron Dean? To his friends—fellow actors like Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Dennis Hopper, and Julie Harris—he was both generous and mean-spirited, solitary and social, macho and feminine, wise for his years and incorrigibly adolescent. To directors like Elia Kazan, Nicholas Ray, and George Stevens, he could be guilelessly open to suggestion one moment yet arrogant and impossible the next. Most of all, the compelling enigma known as James Dean lived life joyously, painfully, and without restraint, embodying like no one else the conflicts and passions that are part of young people everywhere.This book follows its fascinating subject from the Indiana farm where he spent an active but troubled boyhood to the crucial, early training ground of the New York theater world to his meteoric rise to international stardom in the movies. It shows how postwar Hollywood was still a charmed, leisurely community, yet one ripe for the explosive ascension of a dynamic new presence like James Dean. It reveals details of the making of his three landmark films and candidly explores Dean's many love affairs, discussing with great insight the surprising truth about Dean's much-talked-about bisexuality. It exposes, as only an insider's book can, the true story of Dean and actress Pier Angeli—his one real love—and the shocking outcome of their liaison. James Dean: Little Boy Lost is the definitive story of a stunning young talent who lived too fast and died far too soon but whose memory will live on as long as the youth of the world dare to hope, love, and dream.

About Joe Hyams

Joe Hyams (1923–2008) was a columnist and bestselling author most known for his biographies of such Hollywood stars as Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Lauren Bacall. Hyams became involved in the martial arts during his service in the US Army, where he was frequently attacked for being Jewish. His years of studying with such figures as Bruce Lee and Ed Parker laid the groundwork for his 1979 book Zen in the Martial Arts.

About Christopher Lane

Christopher Lane is an award-winning actor, director, and narrator. He has been awarded the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration several times and has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Colleen on November 25, 2016

The first James Dean biography I ever read. While I'm not a particular fan of the late Joe Hyams, his bio of Dean is very balanced and fair, recollections of the young man he knew and others knew, fond memories of the intense young actor and some others not so fond. In other words, he presents Jimmy......more

Goodreads review by Kaela on January 15, 2018

I have mixed feelings toward this book, I felt that it was average and didn't exceed to visually describe many things part of James deans life. It was somewhat of a drag to keep reading because I felt I wasn't getting the full picture I deserved. This had nothing to do with James dean himself but th......more

Goodreads review by Kenneth on September 21, 2018

Amazing insite of a man who died too young......more

Goodreads review by Erin on July 13, 2023

This was a very thorough, thoughtful and engaging biography that had so many minuscule and intimate details so elegantly and crisply threaded together that it felt like I was reading a novel. I think it helps that it was written in 1991, when many of Jimmy’s acquaintances (including the author himse......more

Goodreads review by Timothy on December 01, 2024

There are three icons from the 20th century whose images still sell, whose influence on popular culture is still felt long after their deaths. Elvis Presley died in 1977 at the age of 42. Marilyn Monroe died in 1962 at the age of 36. James Dean died in 1955 at the age of 24. All of them young and tr......more