Behind the Candelabra

My Life with Liberace

By: Alex Thorleifson, Scott Thorson

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

In this unusually frank book Scott Thorson, Liberace's longtime lover, tells all: the good, the bad, and the ugly truths about the legendary entertainer who went to outrageous extremes to prevent public knowledge of his homosexuality.

Liberace's unhappy childhood, dominated by a mother determined to force him into a concert career, serves as the prologue for a story that goes on to detail Liberace's early appearances in honky-tonks, his move to New York to seek fame, and, finally, his first booking in Las Vegas, where he was courted by the Mafia.

As Thorson attests, such successes provide a bright counterpoint to a darker tale of a man hungry for power, given to every excess. Liberace's credo - "too much of a good thing is wonderful" - is reflected here in his acquisition of new lovers, luxurious homes, a large collection of pornography, and a total of 26 house dogs.

Behind the Candelabra above all explores the fundamentally tender love affair between Liberace and Thorson - whom Liberace sent to his own plastic surgeon to have his face remodeled in Liberace's own image!

This fast-paced story, sprinkled with anecdotes about famous entertainers such as Michael Jackson and Shirley MacLaine, ends with an intimate look at Liberace's final days as he lay dying of AIDS - and his deathbed reconciliation with Thorson. Thorson's story will also appear in the upcoming biopic of the same name starring award-winning actors Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

©1988, 2013 Scott Thorson with Alex Thorleifson (P)2013 Tantor

Liberace, prejudice, AIDS

I always take first person accounts with a grain of salt, but read this as light relief from my usual serious reading agenda. It was an interesting picture of talent, the quest for stardom, and the distorting power of money and fame. The ins and outs of family and love affairs are always titillating but for me, the book is most informative as a social history of being gay in the pre-AIDS and post-AIDS Western world. Early in his life and career Liberace had no choice but to remain in the closet and, once the pretence was established, what could he do but maintain his stance and deny the rumours? It is a sad indictment of prejudice and persecution of gay men. How different Scott and Lliberace's lives would be if they were born now - if not fame/notoriety, at least more freedom to be who they are than they could ever have dreamed of.

A new point of view of Liberace

What did you like best about Behind the Candelabra? What did you like least?

It had a different aspect of Liberace life than is commonly known. He was a very entertaining and talented man but quite superficial which shows what a good actor he was.
I didn't care for the narrators voice. Also the sound went higher and lower which means poor quality sound editing which I have never experienced before in any audio book I have purchased from Audible.

Would you be willing to try another book from Alex Thorleifson and Scott Thorson ? Why or why not?

Not really.

What didn’t you like about Peter Berkrot’s performance?

If he was the narrator I didn't care for his voice quality.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I might

Any additional comments?

Disappointing sound quality going higher and lower made it annoying which is the fault of the sound editing or the narrator moving away and then closer to the microphone.

A must Read

whether your a fan or not, this is an amazing story of life. To much of a good thing not to read.

A very titillating book!

Although this book is filled with numerous and obvious factual errors that I totally missed when I first read it in the 1980s, this book otherwise appears to give an inside honest look into the life of Liberace (which isn't always flattering).

Great book

If you could sum up Behind the Candelabra in three words, what would they be?

This was very informative and entertaining

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the story of Liberace and Scott and then Scott's removal from Liberace's life

Bravo or brava

Oh I love the book it is so relaxing and fun to listen too I’m listening to it for the 4 time it just takes you to a wonderful gay man weekend in Palm Springs… You just have to sit down with a martini for this one..
Lois Webster
SD, CA
PS: I also loved the movie

Definitely Enjoyed this Story & Narration

Scott Thorson definitely let us all into the real very private world of Liberace. Very well written and occasionally slips off track to explain some of the back story to what he is relating at the time. For me, it is definitely the kind of book that you can re-read a few times and grab something new you didn't read or "hear" before. The narration is wonderful and not monotone at all.

I Believe!

I have been a life long fan of Liberace. My mom and grandmother loved him, so we always watched him when he was on television. Liberace was one of the first shows I ever saw in Las Vegas. Having met Liberace personally while on a trip to Las Vegas, I can honestly say he was very nice, but come on....you'd have to be blind to not know he was gay. I read this book about 23 years ago. With the Michael Douglas movie coming out, I decided I wanted to read it again, so I am getting it either for my Kindle or Audible. I do believe most of what is in this book. You have to look at the time... the early 1980's...All of his peers knew, at that time an entertainer did not come out as gay...most of his fans were older women, it would have been career suicide. No one really knew what Aids was or how you got it. I'm sure if everyone knew back then about Aids, and how it was spread and how to prevent it Liberace would have lived and been performing up into his 80's. There was another movie about Scott and Liberace that had Victor Garber portraying Lee. The end of that movie almost had me in tears when he was taking the hairpiece off at the end. When I met Liberace, I could see what Scott saw in him...he had a way of making you feel special. When you're 18, you just want to fit in and be accepted, so I can see how a young guy could make Lee their life and lose themselves. Read this book, you won't be disappointed. Liberace was a true performer...just seeing him perform, you knew why he was the highest paid entertainer in the world. He made a brand of himself...the Piano...the restaurant, the museum....sadly the museum and the restaurant and Lee are only memories, but his legacy will live on.

SURPRISINGLY GOOD FOR A CELEBRITY EXPOSÉ

I was pleasantly surprised by Scott Thorson's candor. He told all of the dirt - even his own. What is sad is Liberace's delusion about the world knowing that he was gay. And that he tried to hide this fact even when he knew he was dying of AIDS. Another disturbing thing is Scott Thorson's insistence that a tired old queen, 40 years his senior, was giving him the love he missed growing up with a mentally ill mother and being shuttled from one foster home to another. He comes off more as one of the many young teenaged boys who worked the Sunset Strip and Las Vegas, looking for lonely old gay men. I ain't saying he's a golddigger but I think he would have been "less gay" if he hadn't been taken in my Liberace at age 17. He even admitted to being "disgusted" by male sex acts - what does that say about his intentions? This book ends right after the acrimonious $113 million "palimony" suit that Thorsen filed against Liberace, settled right before the performer's death for a mere $75,000 after 5 years of litigation. THEN I had to ruin it by Googling Thorsen in a "What Are Thet Doing Now" moment. Scott not only goes further downhill as a person, he is arrested and jailed, shot 5 times, and - the most ridiculous ploy of all - claimed just a few months ago that he had an affair with Michael Jackson. This, after giving MJJ a very respectful chapter in this book, a friendship which ended in the 1980s. Can a lying sequel be far behind with Thorsen having gay affairs with every dead celebrity from Isaac Hayes to James Gandolfini? Readers, just check out this book then wipe both Scott Thorson and the pitiful predatory Liberace from your little gray cells!

Tawdry

I like biographies, but I am dubious about the accuracy of this one! While I’m sure this is Scott’s honest recollections, I have a hard time believing that he was so innocent and that he didn’t know what he was getting into. Ok yes, he was 18 and maybe a little naïve… but I don’t buy the innocent deer-in-the-headlights routine.

You know what they say: there are always 3 sides to every story – his version, her version, and the truth. The book was interesting, yet felt a little tawdry, and therefore lost some credibility for me.