Rate this book

George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life As Told, Admired, Deplored, And Envied By 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and A Few Unappreciative ... (2008)

by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1400063981 (ISBN13: 9781400063987)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Random House

review 1: It's compulsively readable, of course, given the people that Plimpton knew (Ric Burns floats in for a one-shot statement, for example). What it doesn't really do is establish why he was important to anyone but his friends, since it really doesn't establish the Paris Review's place in literary history --- it sounds more like a Mickey/Judy "let's put out a magazine!" project. I was flabbergasted by the list of books Plimpton wrote at the end, most of which aren't mentioned at all. And while it is a little squeamish to mention it, the descriptions of his marriages were so elliptical that it is hard to understand why Freddy and Sarah Plimpton married the man. The book stresses his charm, which must have been enormous in person, but which fails to convince on the printed page. ... moreAll of which makes the book sound dreary, which it isn't in the slightest. So maybe his charm camed through after all.
review 2: Diverting in its way. You come to understand that Plimpton was who he seemed to be; an old style WASP who had a pathological need for company. Somehow though nothing terrible comes down about him, I liked him much less after reading it than before. Ditto on Peter Mathieson who somehow manages to come off as snarky, passive-aggressive and mean-spirited towards Plimpton with every quote. Not sure it adds up to anything, maybe the presentation of a life that had genuine literary promise and degenerated into something else. less

Download links for: George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ...

Advertising