Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness

This book was fascinating, but at times so detailed that it was tedious to read. I would say the detail is simultaneously the book's greatest asset and it's greatest liability.

The thing that struck me most about Hughes, who died well before I was born, is that his persona still lives on as a great, eccentric, rich aviator. He was actually a horrible person whose stubbornness and indecision ran nearly every company that he started into the ground and bankrupted businesses that he purchased. He also manipulated the government nearly to the extent that Republicans do today, all so that he could avoid paying taxes and appear to be a "good guy." He wasn't that great of a pilot, he was a horrible businessperson, and he was a terrible human.

I show more read the 1979 version of this book. I was left curious if the Hughes estate had been settled... apparently in 2010 it finally finished going through rounds and rounds of litigation. His death seemed to bring about the worst in the people who could have had a piece of the pie. show less

This is a thoroughly engrossing biography by two newspapermen who know their craft and the art of succinct reportage. It is especially to be admired because the coverage of this sad case extends so widely to include the machinations of the U.S. government to its highest levels, in tandem with the frenzy of the American legal system.
Howard Hughes life was morbidly fascinating because it reveals the crippled personality of an obsessive compulsive victim. That one so rich and gifted could fall and fail so completely is hard to fathom.

Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness is painstakingly thorough. The saying: "It's all in the details" could've easily been instigated by this astounding piece of work. Better yet, encyclopedia. The level of meticulousness does have its downside: boringness. Although his life wasn't uneventful, it—being his post aviation years—can be rather dull due to Hughes relentless refusal to learn from his mistakes. Bound to repeat himself, he masterfully does so, until his death. There is one adage in the book which aptly compresses the 627 pages into a single line: "Same baby, different diaper." The diaper—consisting mostly of deceptive, political, and corporate diarrhea—was too much for me to handle. Although I read every line, I couldn't show more suppress my frustration regarding its legislative nature. Unconsciously I dozed off. I never imagined money, greed, and the legal system could be so intertwined. Yet I was wrong. My disappointment by the lack of scientific thinkers in governments has been reinforced once again.

Objectively, as previously stated, this is an impressive book. One that without a doubt many people rightfully love to read. Subjectively, it was tedious, because of my disinterest in law. A tl;dr for the second half would have sufficed. show less

I came to this book through a stamp featuring Howard Hughes.
This book was far from the biography I hoped for, so If you're looking for an uplifting and straightforward HRH book, you might want to look into other options. Nonetheless, if you enjoy a wealth of information, facts, and references, this book is an excellent choice. One thing to keep in mind is that the cast of characters is large, and I must admit that keeping track of everyone was difficult.
I just wished there was more heart put into the writing.

The authors hate Howard Hughes.

I appreciate the authors' effort to collect all the details about the people and the events related, or not related, to Mr. Hughes. But, please, I don't need so much information. A lot of them are useless for me to understand him. Putting all of them into a big book is just wasting of money and reader's time.

Another thing I hate this book is I don't believe that Howard Hughes was all bad. Why did the author spend more time to discuss how Howard Hughes successfully build his empire? The empire was not remarkable, but still, it was impressive, right?

Aviator, Playboy, Film Producer, Entrepreneur, and Recluse, Howard Hughes lived a life that was the stuff of headlines. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele's biography is an extraordinary and brilliantly researched work on Hughes's multiple careers; his romances with Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, and Rita Hayworth; and his turn away from the world into addictions and secrecy. Book jacket.

I think I'll have some blue bombers, a few 8E's, then end the day with a big E. Wow Howard Hughes was totally fucking nuts.