James Dean: In His Own Words

by James Dean

James Dean's own words revealing his feelings about his life and craft are accompanied by biographical information and photographs

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

James Dean was an American actor. He is remembered for his celebrated films, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956).

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Gerhard · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a fundamental problem with each book or article which has James Dean as its subject, and that is the limited material available. The biographical, career and personal details of Dean's short life are common knowledge to each of his admirers. There is simply not a thing left to add to the legend. It all came to an abrupt halt on that last day of September 1955 on the way to Paso Robles. Anything published on Dean since that day -- whether an indifferently written piece in an obscure fanzine, or an expensive coffee table-type pictorial history -- must of necessity rake over the same maddeningly familiar facts. And so finding a new approach to interpreting the existing body of James Dean facts, becomes the starting point for anybody planning to flood the market with yet another Dean book.

Ostensibly the idea (i.e. the "new approach") that led to this particular compilation, would appear to be a sound one. Focusing on quotes / sayings from Dean himself on all kinds of issues -- from the death of his mother to his uneasy relationship with director George Stevens on the set of "Giant" -- the book seems to justify its existence. And some of the Dean quotes presented here do manage to convey a certain degree of insight into his elusive character. But the indisputable fact remains: there is not all that much that can be categorized as new here. This is especially true for the diehard fans. Any persons coming to this material for the first time, will probably have a much more satisfying experience. But sadly my own enthusiasm started waning at this point.

Why some of Dean's comments are attributed to a specific source or occasion (for example "Letter to New York Girlfriend" or "To Dennis Hopper -- presumably something said in conversation to Hopper), and others not, is not very clear. In a book dedicated to direct quotes from its iconic subject, it seems to defeat the purchase if some of these sayings are not given legs to stand on. There should perhaps have been a section at the back providing more information on the sources from which the quotes were taken. If it was deemed necessary to acknowledge the photo credits and provide background details to the photos involved, then surely Dean's sayings should have been given a similar section of their own. His own words are after all the sole reason for the book's existence in the first place.

Going through the photo credits, I was surprised to see an instantly recognizable scene from "East of Eden" labelled as being from "Rebel Without a Cause". This may not be an earth-shattering error, but it did strike me as indicative of a certain "going-through-the-motions" attitude on behalf of the compilers at work here.

All in all, this was not what I was hoping for when I made my choice to read it.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The compiler of this volume achieved what he set out to do, use preexisting material and stock photos of James Dean to create a book about a celebrity that still draws interest sixty years after his tragic death. There is some original text in the book, but most of the content is full page pictures of Dean with quotations from him taken from various sources.
James Dean was killed in an auto accident in 1955, dying in much the same way he lived. He was a morose, troubled man, never comfortable on or off the screen. This book captures much of his persona, naturally limited because he was only a public figure for a short time.