The Betsy

The Betsy #1

by Harold Robbins

They were two men bound together by their daring, their vision—and their erotic power over women.

Racecar driver Angelo Perino rose from an immigrant family to a life on the razor’s edge, where fast cars and faster women were his for the taking. Loren Hardeman is the titular head of a giant automotive empire—and of a family sliding into decadence, adultery, and destruction. In the face of opposition from Hardeman’s bitter grandson—the current president of the company—the patriarch and the driver conspire to build the world’s most advanced automobile. They call it “The Betsy,” after Hardeman’s great-granddaughter—one of the women who has also caught Perino’s eye.

From Detroit to the lavish estates of Grosse Pointe, Miami, and the Riviera, the pair of men work to create their wonder car. To achieve their dream, they will risk everything they have.

The inspiration for the 1978 film of the same name, The Betsy explores the shocking world of the automobile industry—of savage ambition, searing passion, and breathtaking fortunes won or lost in a desperate struggle for power."

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Drama, Contemporary, Adult, Chick Lit, Sexuality

374 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1971

About the author

Born as Harold Rubin in New York City, he later claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had been raised in a Catholic boys home. In reality he was the son of well-educated Russian and Polish immigrants. He was reared by his pharmacist father and stepmother in Brooklyn.

His first book, Never Love a Stranger (1948), caused controversy with its graphic sexuality. Publisher Pat Knopf reportedly bought Never Love a Stranger because "it was the first time he had ever read a book where on one page you'd have tears and on the next page you'd have a hard-on".

His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.

He would become arguably the world's bestselling author, publishing over 20 books which were translated into 32 languages and sold over 750 million copies. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers, loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, taking the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood.

Reviews

[Michael]

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read in my life. Unintended by the writer. The story is of the rise to power of an auto company and the family of the founder. The real humor begins in the "modern era" sections of the tale. 1971, when this was written...

The mighty American car companies are dying at the hands of small Japanese imports, the VW bug, and etc. The high stakes race to build an american sub-compact is on. Ford has the Pinto, there's the Gremlin, and the Chevy Vega. This car company is making "the Betsy".

Power, greed, power sex and greedy sex. A glamorous and cut-throat game... Over a subcompact car. Discos, drugs, everyone is smoking and drinking Crowne Royal all the time. Lots of adultury and betrayal. Basic soap opera stuff. In Detroit.

A typical exchange (main character's last name is "Hardeman". Of course):

The factory roared far beneath Loren Hardeman's penthouse apartment. He lit a cigarette as his eyes glittered with anger. The engineering staff looked as though they'd rather run for the relative safety of the freezing river.

Hardeman howled as he stood from his desk, growing red with anger, "We can't touch the Gremlin at $1000 dollars. They're beating us before we move an inch on price."

Duncan, the chief engineer paled and said, "We tried sir, and we just can't do it and keep the air-conditioner in the Betsy."

Hardeman seemed to swell, and Angeline, forgotten in the corner for now quietly lit a cigarette. She lifted her drink to hide her expression. Her loins gushed at the sight of Hardeman in his anger, and she hated him so much.

She quickly sat down and thanked the gods again that Naugahyde wouldn't show the wet spot. But her tightening nipples were impossible to hide in the sheer dress. Why did her body always betray her?

Hardeman threw his whiskey glass across the room where it shattered against the oak paneling. "I won't build a car without air-conditioning god-dammit!! You're fired Duncan. I'm tired of hearing how we can't beat the Gremlin. Somebody find me a man who can get things done!!"...

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going through some Harold Robbins books I got from a library sale. This one was written when Robbins still seemed to give a damn about writing novels, but you can tell he got tired of it before finishing it. The sexy stuff was pretty graphic for its time and its popularity. Think of teenagers with a ton of money and no repercussions (didn't someone once say Hollywood is like that?) and you got an idea what motivates many of the characters. The main plot is about a family that makes cars, and how the patriarch, now in his 90's, is driven to make one last splash in the world of cars with The Betsy, named after his granddaughter. I liked it fine while reading it. It's not going to tax the brain and it's got about as much weight as a show like Revenge. That's not a slam - there is room in the world for commercial entertainment, and if you go into it with any deeper expectations than that you'll be disappointed. I've got two more Robbins novels in the stack to go.

Also, I highly recommend if you have any interest at all in the world of bestselling writers, publishing in the 60s and 70s, and the perils of celebrity.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Back when I was young, before I honed my literacy tastes, I thought this was the best thing since sliced bread.

[Kamakana · Rating 2 out of 5]

030219 from ??? childhood: have i actually read again this since i hit 17 (adult cutoff date)? who knows. does it have like an actual plot? who knows. do i actually remember it (first read ppbk very young)? only sex parts. sex misinformation at its best. but then, i was usually not thinking at those scenes...

[VijayaRaghavan S N · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beware everyone.. this review is given an A Certificate by myself.. So those who are not comfortable with swearing please skip this review and for your own good, the book too..

Harold Robins, you sex deprived, pervert, sick minded, fucking asshole... books are not something for you to show the readers your sexual fantasies.. If you want to display your sick headed fantasies go and make a porno or write a blog where shit like these gets publicised...

Had I lived in your times, I swear on myself that I would have come all the way where you were and castrated you myself.. What in the name of fuck is wrong with you you psycho?? Ladies are not for you to satisfy your animalistic urge you fucking moron.. From this book, what I gather is that, he classifies ladies either as a whore or a slut.. There was not even a single female character in the book who hasn't opened her mouth or legs to take what's in between the guy's legs.. Sick of you..

I started reading this book because I took it for a mystery thriller.. the only mystery was who is the next lady who is gonna get screwed... why didn't I drop the book altogether if I hated it to the core?? because I wanted to see how low he would go.. he stooped so low if you dig any further you will fall right into earth's crust.. you don't believe me?? get this book from a library or from anywhere other than getting it by paying for it.. then open a random chapter.. there's not a chance of snow in hell that there would be no sexual acts happening in that chapter..

Why the single star?? Because between all the sex and sex and more sex, there was some story going behind all the sex, based on automobiles and the fight for power.. I never had any idea on automobile industries and how they functioned.. this book gives a sneak peek into it.. That's another reason why I kept going..

Never going to read this sicko's book again..

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine a world where women say only what men want to hear, where they work to fulfill a man’s every whim, and where they reach their, um…sexual satisfaction with the ease of turning on a light switch–this is the world Harold Robbins created in The Betsy. If the female-marketed Harlequin romances have a counterpart in the male market, that counterpart is Harold Robbins. Let me make it clear from the start: This is not a good novel; in fact, it is one of the worst novels I’ve ever read. It took me forever to read it, because I could stand to read it for only fifteen or twenty minutes a day.

Read full review at: http://keithallenbroyles.com/?p=274

[Ericka Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandmother that passed earlier this year used to read a lot. Harold Robbins was one of the authors she used to read I actually read this book and many others of his when I was a teenager can you actual believe it.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy smokes! bought this one in front of a posh bookstore in Roppongi to nurse my pulp addiction. 200 yen, and worth every one! A pulpster's response to women's lib, set in the world of race cars and Detroit boardrooms, with people who don't like Detroit very much and presage white flight with every breath. Told by a tarnished angel corporate alpha guy, who gave up a career racing (and also lost his face, as we read in the opening scene in a Swiss hospital!) to sublimate his love of cars into a fictional corporation's R&D department. Many many scenes with divorcees, female test car drivers, relatives in law (I lost track) and on and on. The story hinges on a web of generational family rivalries and skeletons--most typical oedipal stuff, royalty social climbing...staples of this kind of potboiler. In this one, the race is on to produce a new sporty car of some kind (there were some good driving scenes, but I lost the specificity of the car itself...) But also an ugly "tracing closet case" story, in which one of the corporate warriors is secretly betraying his wife with the most trollish and unpleasant of the executive cadre, and ultimately commits suicide, in shame. Yikes. He did not get to be part of that revolution...

[Mandi Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at a thrift store for 50 cents. I couldn't pass up the title. It turned out to be an easy read. not too gripping, but not boring. It gave an interesting insight into the complexity of the car manufacturing world which is something I knew nothing about. The brutal business dealings and plots were sort of fun. This was another book where the author felt the need to have their male lead sleep with everything that moves. Which wasn't really related to the plot too much. I just don't find it realistic that this unattractive, cocky middle aged man has women ranging from 17 to 65 chasing after him and that no one seems to mind when he sleeps with their daughters. If you don't like cars, this will bore you to sleep. Not a brilliant piece of literary artwork by any means, but an interesting weekend read.
Lastly: the author switched from first person narrative to a semi third person omnipresent narrator at random. This would be intriguing to analyze in Hemingway, but I have a hunch the author did this by mistake, not for the purpose of symbolism.....although an editor should have caught it.....so I don't know what the hell happened there.

[Erica Char · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as a kid off a good will pile. I wanted to see if it was like I remembered.


Somehow it is worse. I think part of the problem was I read the author profile first where he touted to be (self proclaimed) best writer ever. Then we get to the writing and it’s… eh. I don’t care for the formatting.

Even the sexy bits were just cringe.

[Debarati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the boldness in Harold Robbins novels. Though the leads have grey shades but we still fall in love with them. THis one is about a complicated rich family who manufacture cars..the family is seriously complicated

[Laz the Sailor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a very long time ago, and I recall that it is very hot. There are a few scenes that are still a part of my highlight reel.

[Tittirossa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perchè leggere un libro così sostanzialmente inutile? Per esorcizzare un ricordo (solo mio, quindi potete evitarlo).
Quando avevo 5 anni, mio zio (che abitava abbastanza lontano) iniziò a spedire a mia sorella ed a me circa 1-2 libri al mese (alla settimana nel periodo estivo vacanziero), continuando per i successivi 15 anni.
Ci ha mandato realmente di tutto, a volte in rapporto all'età altre un po' meno (ricordo Arcipelago Gulag letto a 12 anni): dai gialli ai western, da Steinbeck a Austen, da Dickens a Stevenson, da Hemingway a London.
Orbene, una volta ci spedì Betsy (lo aveva letto mia zia, non lui), salvo poi parlarne con la zia alla quale venne un accidente pensando che avevo solo 13 anni! Per cui intercorse telefonata con i miei genitori e subitaneo blocco del postino col pacchetto davanti ai miei occhi esterrefatti: un'esperienza traumatica che ho deciso di esorcizzare solo ora, con la lettura dopo 30 anni!
Commento al libro: Robbins è uno sprecone! Ci sarebbe materiale per una soap di almeno 400 puntate e invece lui liquida figli che sono anche zii dei propri fratelli, relazioni extraconiugali con la nuora, suicidi, mafia, contrabbando, etc. in 250 paginette.
La descrizione di una mezza dozzina di amplessi che a suo tempo ne decretò il successo (e la censura dei miei famigliari) .... impallidisce di fronte a una qualsiasi Melissa che potrebbe anche insegnargli due o tre cosette.
Però ha di buono che non si perde in inutili descrizioni: caratteri tagliati con l'accetta, una storia priva di credibilità che fila come un treno, nessuna introspezione, nessun tentativo di rendere umano il protagonista.
Mi ha incuriosito la descrizione del mondo delle automobili all'inizio degli anni '70 e scoprire che già allora negli Usa erano state introdotte restrizioni ecologiche alla potenza dei motori.

[Rhythima · Rating 1 out of 5]

[Review of the book I read years back]
A book I picked up on railway station just for surviving a trip and because it was cheap. I give this a passable 1 star because I can understand why this book was actually a great success in its time - what were women then? Objects. Right. Yes, this is about money, cars, women-for-sex, glamor and "alpha men". It was difficult to continue this but at the same time, it was surprising at many levels while getting in the head of people in that time, and even many today.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably one of the worst novels I had ever read. I had read only two of Harold Robbins books. I already feel that if you have read one of his books, then you have read them all.

Robbins had imagined several graphic sex scenes and just wanted to bundle them up as a novel. So he created a really shitty plot and filled up a few pages here and there around the utterly sick and gross sex scenes.

Unbelievable!! And there you have it: The Betsy.
Its sick. I really dont know how his books became so popular.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the book at thirteen. Saw the movie in my thirties. Heard all the stories of fact imitating fiction vis-a-vis Dumaguete family scandals in between.

I had books for the taking, plus half a lifetime's supply of Reader's Digests at my mother's basement library, and my idea of fun was being holed up in that dank basement on weekends and warm summer days!

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

liked the movie better, or maybe it was Kathleen Beller...

[Beckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harold Robbins had by this time become one of my favorite fiction authors.

[Rupesh Goenka · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about ambition, power, passion & destruction..

[Darnell · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading this book, I didn't read any non-speculative fiction for several years.

[Dawn Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-read. I originally read this years ago and found the look at the auto industry fascinating. Now, reading it after all the bail outs it's not so interesting.

[Miss Rini]

Too old to read now, read as a teenager.

[Julian Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy romance, with a splash of sex. Loved it as a late teen.

[Genevieve]

Apparently this is the day I trawl Goodreads for all the books I illicitly read when I was way too young for them! This is not a book I should have read at the age of 12, but it definitely happened.

[Phani · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite novel. Read it for 3 times.

[Borntoread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sexy adventurous and way ahead of its time.

[Ian Mapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Added to my "to read" shelf, as I had read about what a big write Harold Robbins was in the 1970s.

I thought I'd see what the fuss was about.

Quite surprising really. Its about the late sixties, early 70s car manufacturing world. Who would have thought you could use that as a family saga, peppered with raunch?

It moves between eras - telling the modern day and past of a racing driver and his connections to a car manufacturing family that want to produce the best car in the world - fighting off competition from the Japanese, the germans, the government and the environmentalists.

Its all rather odd - forensic detail on the state of the American manufacturing industry and why they are losing out, with sporadic forays into OTT and unlikely sex escapades that even the author loses interest in.

Not as bad as my review, or the cover page of the book, would suggest. But I think my research into 1970s literature has concluded.

[Debi Cates]

I have no idea how, but in 1972 at the awkward age of 12 going on 30, I got a hold of this book, with its campy 70s titillating cover and proceeded to take it with me on my first commercial airplane trip (which also happened to be a solo one). I don't remember the contents of the book, in spite of what had to have been such a personal coup into the secret adult world, but I do distinctly remember the alarmed expressions of a couple of grownups on the plane.

Recalling this made me laugh today. I was a rascal.

[Dwayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Robbins novels are not for the faint of heart...they always contain frank discussions of sex and drugs, and often cross over into descriptions of same. Frequently--as in this novel--the sex is fetishistic in nature (one of the first scenes of this book involves a woman who drinks her lovers' urine, while he voids his bladder). Still, it was entertaining, and the storytelling is very compelling. Read it...if you dare.

[M.L. Bushman · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you'd like a look inside the auto industry as it was at the time Harold Robbins wrote The Betsy, this is the book for you. Corporate politics, sex, violence, and intrigue surround the creation of a new car, the main character, Angelo Perino, calls The Betsy.

Several twists in plot, seemingly out of the blue, catch you at the end of this entertaining story. All the loose ends are neatly wrapped up. All-in-all, for dedicated Harold Robbins' fans, this is a must-read.