Wild

By: Graham Boynton

Narrated by: Chris Ciulla, Graham Boynton

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Preface and epilogue read by the author.

Graham Boynton's Wild is the definitive biography of photographer Peter Beard, a larger-than-life icon who pushed the boundaries of art and scandalized international high society with his high-profile affairs.

He was the original 20th century “enfant terrible” with the looks of a Greek god who blazed like a comet across the worlds of art, photography, and fame. The scion of several old WASP fortunes, he was by instinct an adventurer, and the more dangerous the escapade, the better: whether he was hunting big game in Africa, ingesting epic quantities of drugs, or pursuing the most beautiful women in the world. Among his friends were Jackie Onassis, Andy Warhol, and Francis Bacon. When Peter Beard died in 2020 after mysteriously disappearing from his Montauk home, he remained an enigma to even his closest friends.

Journalist and author Graham Boynton was a friend for more than 30 years, spending time with Beard at his bush camp in Africa, in London, and at his Long Island home. From hundreds of Boynton’s interviews with Beard’s closest friends, former lovers, and fellow artists comes this intimate portrait of a man Sir Mick Jagger called “a visionary.”

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2022 Graham Boynton (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“In this densely researched portrait, Boynton vibrantly captures the mercurial nature of a spectacular, exuberant, insatiable, and committed adventurer, photographer, and artist.” --Booklist

“An engrossing account of an elusive artist.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Boynton teases out the complexities and contradictions that made this heir of railroad money a fascination to English royals and African guides alike…beautifully written, fast and fun, Wild has colorful characters on every page. The most compelling is Beard himself, pinned to the page in this first account since his most dramatic death.”--Michael Shnayerson, Vanity Fair contributing editor and author of Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art

A little too biased

Before this book, I did not know much about Peter Beard. On his art and his relationship to Africa, I found it interesting, and the narration was great, but by the end, I did get tired of the repeated narrative of a great fun, incredibly tough, wonderful guy brought down by the women in his life. Some of them are presented as too evil to be believed. On the whole, the book comes off as a fanboy gushing over this incredibly cool guy he once knew.