Dreams Die First

by Harold Robbins

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"Robbins eroticized commerce, and, at the same time, he commercialized erotica, dashing into a rich new market for dirty books." —The New Yorker

"Robbins' dialogue is moving... his people have the warmth of life." —The New York Times

Taking on the free love hippie culture of the '60s, Harold Robbins spins a masterful tale of lust, greed, lurid sex and ambition. This classic, which spent almost 30 weeks on The New York Times best sellers list, shows the passion of youth and the power of show more exposing societal taboo.

Gareth Brendan, a war-weary Vietnam veteran, returns home to California to find that the country he risked his life for changed dramatically during his tour. When he's unable to find a job, his shady yet powerful uncle hands him a failing underground newspaper to run as a money-laundering front. Gareth quickly realizes he can use the circular as an outlet for the radical ideas he'd formed in Vietnam. To gain an audience, Gareth turns to the golden rule: SEX SELLS—and he transforms the local ad rag into a glossy, full-colored, in-your-face porn magazine never before seen, with cover girls and high-profile interviews every month.

Quickly gaining fame and wealth from his paper, Gareth is rocketed to the highest echelons of society with all its accoutrements along with a vast empire of casinos, clubs, movies, magazines and an entourage of models and pimps who cater to the ultrarich. But Gareth's success comes at a price—it makes him the target of a ruthless crime syndicate who will stop at nothing to hijack his holdings.

From the author of The New York Times #1 best seller The Carpetbaggers, Dreams Die First continues to transport readers—with an explosive story—to a glittering, dangerous world of decadence, power, S&M, mega-wealth, sexual liberation and New Age sex cults.

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4 reviews
Vanaf het moment dat Gareth Brendan - knap, jong, machtig, seksueel agressief - het failliete huis-aan-huisblad The Hollywood Express overneemt en het opwerkt tot een sensationeel tijdschrift, is zijn lot onverbrekelijk verbonden aan dat van zijn oom Lonergan met zijn onderwereldconnecties en zijn nietsontziende honger naar macht. Gareth laat de ene gewelddadige confrontatie op de andere volgen: met de wet, met het syndicaat, met al diegenen die azen op zijn succes, om zijn droom, een blad dat open en eerlijk over seks spreekt, te kunnen realiseren. Hij beweegt zich in een wereld van plezier en genot, waarin geld en seks bijna niet meer van elkaar te onderscheiden zijn; een wereld die zo rijk is, dat hij Gareth bijna ontglipt...
Gareth Brendan, un hombre que convierte su visión personal de la liberación sexual en un vasto imperio económico cimentado en Macho una revista que escandaliza fascina a millones de lectores con sus comentarios audaces y sus desnudos sorprendentes. Robbins no había escrito nunca una novela que revelara, con igual brillantez la vida, los amores y la intensa ambición de un hombre que exige todo de la vida pero cuyo destino está dominado por un secreto del que ni todo el dinero del mundo puede desvincular. A partir del momento en que Gareth Brendan apuesto joven, fuerte sexualmente agresivo se hace cargo de un semanario al borde de la ruina, el Hollywood Express, y lo transforma en una sensacional publicación Underground su vida show more queda ligada a la de su tío Lonergan, a sus contactos con el hampa y a su inescrupulosa sed de poder. De un choque violento a otro, con la ley, con la mafia con quienes buscan aprovecharse de su éxito o sumirlo en el fracaso, Gareth mantiene su deseo de transformar su revista erótica en un extraordinario universo personal: universo casinos clubs, lugares de vacaciones, hoteles, fotógrafos y modelos muy bien remunerados; universo de hedonismo desbordante en el cual dinero y sexo no pueden distinguirse, universo de drogas, sexo libre y violencia, universo tan variado que casi escapa del control de Gareth Brendan... show less

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
Lehtikuningas
Original title
Dreams Die First
Original publication date
1977
Dedication
This book is for Grace because Grace is for me
First words
It was five o'clock in the afternoon when I woke up.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Of course I meant it. I love you."
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
813.5Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-1999
LCC
PZ3 .R53564Language and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction in English
BISAC

Statistics

Members
217
Popularity
150,348
Reviews
3
Rating
(2.83)
Languages
13 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
39
ASINs
8