Product Description

This is the book that restarted the James Dean cult by celebrating him as the cool, defiant visionary of pop culture who made adolescence seem heroic instead of awkward and who defined the style of rock 'n' roll's politics of delinquency. The only book to fully show how deliberately and carefully Dean crafted his own image and performances, and the product of still unequalled research, vivid writing, intimate photographs, and profound meditation, James Dean: The Mutant King has become almost as legendary as its subject.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #917425 in Books
• Published on: 1983-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 9 pages

Review
"One of the best books ever written about the iconic, laconic actor" -- Mark Burger, Winston-Salem Journal

"Pure, poetic gold. . . . A spellbinding portrait." -- Houston Post

"Vividly intimate, engrossing." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author
David Dalton is the author of Living with the Dead, To Hell and Back, Been Here and Gone, Faithfull, and Piece of My Heart. He lives in Delhi, New York.

Customer Reviews

For the Most Part, a Good Biography
Dalton's biography of James Dean is a very good book about the cinemic legend. He seems to have interviewed many people who were close to Dean, and he focuses as much on the real man as on the icon. Dalton also writes quite well.

The only problem I have with this book is I wonder how carefully it was fact-checked. There was at least one blatant gaffe in the book, which alleged that James Dean was a big fan of Elvis Presley. Now every Elvis fan knows Presley was a huge fan of James Dean, even to the point where he is said to have memorized all of Dean's lines in the classic "Rebel Without a Cause." The question I have is, was Dean really a fan of Elvis?

On page 195 of the paperback 1983 edition, a friend of Dean's is quoted as saying how much James Dean loved the Elvis hit "Hound Dog," and how Dean loved to wake people up in the middle of the night by calling them on the phone and playing the record when they said "Hello." It's a compelling tale.

Unfortunately, this story cannot be true. By the end of 1955, Elvis had signed on to RCA and had obtained Col. Tom Parker as manager. Elvis was still a regional performer in 1955, and his Sun recordings (today big collectors' items) sold only modestly in the South. Elvis did make appearances on "The Louisiana Hayride," and he made some other appearances on local and regional television programs, but it wasn't until January 1956, when he made his first national television appearance on the Dorsey Brothers program "Stage Show," that he became a sensation. Furthermore, Elvis did NOT record "Hound Dog" until July of 1956, almost a year after Dean's death. Now it is possible Dean might have heard "The Louisiana Hayride" or bought any of Elvis' five Sun singles, but more likely he, like most of America in 1955, had never heard of Elvis. This blatant error, while only taking up one paragraph in the book, calls into question how accurate the rest of the book is. Dalton doesn't call this tall tale into question, so the gullible reader is led to believe Dean was a big fan of Elvis. Since I haven't seen a newer edition of this book, it's possible the error was corrected, but I doubt it.

Because people's memories can fade or they can simply exaggerate, most biographies have to be read with caution. Even though I enjoyed the book and refer to it often, it is certainly no exception.

The Best Dean Bio Starter
For the reviewer who gave a lengthy discussion on Elvis...enough already! So there may be a few factual errors...show me a bio that doesn't have a few and I'd be very surprised. This bio nails James Dean perfectly, and paints a picture that makes it easy to understand why he remains an icon over 50 years after his death. Well written it paints an indepth portrait of the person who represents so many different things to different people. Ignore the negative reviews on here.

Well done, Mr. Dalton
In the slew of Dean Biographies I've read, this came to me third. And I was in general, very privelaged to read it. It is concise, thorough, factual, and eloquent. Favorite parts in all Dean bios are his chilhood years, his 3 years before success, and experiences while making his 3 films- and this book does wonderful justice to those times. You'll learn about his sex, loves, and hot&cold personality. There were a few(only a few) moments where some details lagged and dragged slightly. Those thoughts, however, disapeared instantly with the next sentence I would come upon in the book. It's in my top three Dean bios list-probably #3. Please let yourself discover Jimmy. Buy this and several other of his bios and take them on a vacation(or some time and place where you can commit yourself to them)and devoure them."James Dean-Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and "Live Fast Die Young", are two other necessaries. This is a must read. Happy Readings!