Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters

The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire

By: Richard Hack

Narrated by: Dan Cashman

Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

"Howard Hughes would have hated this book...because he never wanted the truth to be told. As the man who knew Hughes best for 17 years and to whom he referred publicly as his alter-ego, I now believe that the entire story has finally been told." (Robert Maheu)

Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States.

His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, 25 years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact. Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth. He was a playboy whose sexual exploits with Hollywood stars were legendary. He was a man without compassion; an entrepreneur without ethics; an explorer without maps; and ultimately, an eccentric trapped by his own insanity, sealed off from reality, who died a lonely and - until now - mysterious death.

Newly uncovered personal letters, over 110,000 pages of sealed court testimony, recently declassified FBI files, never-before-published autopsy reports and exclusive interviews reveal a man so devious in his thinking, so perverse in his desires, and so influential that his impact continues to be felt even today. From entertainment to politics, aviation to espionage, the influence and manipulation of this billionaire has left an indelible and unique mark on the American cultural landscape.

©2001 New Millennium Audio, All Rights Reserved (P)2001 New Millennium Audio, All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"In the most exciting bio of the year, Hack presents the American dream curdling into the American nightmare, personified in a legend who at last has an accounting worthy of him." (Publishers Weekly)
"A fascinating, captivating listen." (AudioFile)

Not bad, but it is long...

I was interested in reading this book after seeing The Aviator. This book is filled to the rafters with details and minutia, which isn't bad, but the abriged version might be better for some people. It is informative and a bit entertaining. It doesn't go into his businesses much, other than how it affected his personal life - so if you're looking to see how he became so rich, this probably isn't the right book.

The reader (Cashman) is good (not great, but not bad) except for his pronounciation. It is HORRIBLE. It actually is entertaining and part of the fun to try and figure out what he's referring too. The director/producer/audio engineer were either asleep or laughing their asses off. It is seriously that bad.

I listed to this while jogging or biking long distances, and it was entertaining enough. I wouldn't recommend it for long drives as the details wouldn't keep you up. Also, listening while doing anything that requires any concentration is difficult, because the long lists of details can get drowned out by what you're doing.

All in all, I'm glad I used my subscription credits for this one. And, if you're very interested in various personal aspects of HRH, it's not bad.

Fascinating

This is a somewhat cheesily-written (no one just goes away when they can "vanish into the night") but absolutely amazing story that appears to be extremely well researched. It's a bit reticent about what Hughes' psychiatric problems really were and what role drugs played in them, but otherwise it's filled with detail and at the same time fast-moving and always interesting. I always feel a lack with audio biographies because there aren't photos or an index, but I was sorry when this one ended.
I thought the reader did a great job. As has been pointed out, he makes a handful of pronunciation errors over the course of 19 hours or whatever, but I didn't find these significant. Meanwhile, he does Hughes voice whenever reading actual documents by Hughes that it is very effective at conveying who's saying what and also adds nice atmosphere.

Interesting life

I enjoyed this book. Very in depth review

Narrator needs a dictionary!

Good book. Enjoyed it, less the narrator mispronouncing tons of words. If you don't know how to pronounce something.. look it up! Made an otherwise good book, grinding to listen to.

Enjoyed

Overall I enjoyed this book. I wish it spent more time on the business side of Hughes and explained more on how he made his money. I would recommend to anyone interested in the life of Howard Hughes. Narration was pretty good.

Hughes Hater

The author's opinion of Hughes came out clearly in the narrative of the story. This book is not one that future researchers should use to find the history of Hughes, it is a novel with the writer's opinions laced throughout the book.

A great story poorly told

There's no question that Hughes lived a life interesting enough to justify several biographies, but this one is pulled down by its many flaws. The reader is OK, barely, but it's the writing that falls short; it's pedestrian at best and downright annoying at times. Details can add to a book, but not when they're meaningless, like the names of all of the members of the medical team who would have treated Hughes but who didn't because he was DOA. Or the full menu of what his parents had for dinner one night before Hughes was born. Most annoying to me were the constant nonsensical metaphors, dumb enough to make Dan Rather blush. Hughes' life was fascinating enough to help overlook some of these weaknesses, but it isn't enough to make you completely forget them.

Blah, Blah, Blah

I wanted to understand more about Howard Hughes and had good expectations that this book would enlighten me. However I gave up after Part 1 - it was a long dry litany of names, places and events - no insight or comment upon Hughes life and the man himself. Do yourself a favour and give this one a miss.

A Good Book Spoiled

Richard Hack did a fine job researching the enigmatic and always fascinating Howard Hughes. The story is fascinating, at least at the beginning, before Hughes descends into addiction and mental illness.

Sadly, even a fine book can be ruined by a poor reading. And this is an especially poor one. Dan Cashman apparently does not share Mr. Hack's penchant for research. He may not even own a dictionary. As a result, words and names are constantly mispronounced. In Mr. Cashman's reading, director George Cukor becomes George Sue-core. The Glomar Explorer is the Glommer. The city of Tonapah, Nevada becomes tuh-NO-puh. When Mr. Hughes gets a haircut, he is described as freshly coy'fed.

There is nothing wrong with Mr. Cashman's voice, but his unwillingness to do his homework created a major distraction that took away much of the pleasure from this book.