James Dean in His Own Words

by Mick St. Michael

Book by MICHAEL HEATLEY

Genres: Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Isla Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short read consisting of numerous quotes from both James himself (or Jimmy, as he's constantly referred to as) and also other celebrities and people who knew him, giving their observations of him and reflections on his young demise.

It also features lots of old photographs (mainly black and white) which i guess reminds the reader of his classic look and style, things which people idolised after he'd passed (and probably somewhat before as well).

It's not a typical biography - by all accounts he kept to himself and didn't talk too much about his personal life but it does give a bit of a hint of what he was maybe like. A quick, easy read, this is worth a look if the subject interests you, just don't necessarily expect to learn a great amount in terms of specific details about his life.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

A large shortcoming is that the quotes aren't dated. Also my copy was missing several pages (public library bozos); anyway, he seems to have been fairly messed up. Lots of that beatnik glorifying of the clueless. Though his quote about Rebel was interesting ("The thing that interested me in Rebel was doing something that would counteract The Wild One")--of course, maybe that was just his thing against Brando again. Speaking of which, Brando's quote about him was pure Brando--about never calling him back after he left messages; said in that true slinger style. I never knew Dean dated Ursula Andress--when she was a mere pup too (I hardly recognized her in the picture). Another weird quote--about a photo of him: "It makes me look like a kid...like I'm hurt and I'm crying out--not out loud--but just crying for someone to come and help me. I don't want people to see me that way." (But wasn't that basically his acting style?) He also has the occasional flash of sterling wordsmithing--like: "A fish that is in the water has no choice that he is. Genius would have it that we swim in sand. We are fish and we drown." The editor does a good job of selecting a broad base of quotes--everyone from idolatrous fans to irked and appalled directors.