<![CDATA[George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by More Than 300 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ...]]>

false <![CDATA[George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by More Than 300 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ...]]> 2977980 2 Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. For more than fifty years, his friends made a circle whose circumference was vast and whose center was a fashionable tenement on New York’s East Seventy-second street. Taxi drivers, hearing his address, would ask, “Isn’t that George Plimpton’s place?” George was always giving parties for his friends. It was one of the ways this generous man gave back. This book is the party that was George’s life–and it’s a big one–attended by scores of people, including Peter Matthiessen, Robert Silvers, Jean Stein, William Styron, Maggie Paley, Gay Talese, Calvin Trillin, and Gore Vidal, as well as lesser-known intimates and acquaintances, each with candid and compelling stories to tell about George Plimpton and childhood rebellion, adult indiscretions, literary tastes, ego trips, loyalties and jealousies, riches and drugs, and embracing life no matter the consequences. In George, Being George people feel free to say what guests say at parties when the subject of the conversation isn’t around anymore. Some even prove the adage that no best-loved man goes unpunished. Together, they provide a complete portrait of George Plimpton. They talk about his life: its privileged beginnings, its wild and triumphant middle, its brave, sad end. They say that George was a man of many parts: “the last gentleman”; founder and first editor of one of our best literary magazines, The Paris Review; the graceful writer who brought the New Journalism to sports in bestsellers such as Paper Lion, Bogey Man, and Out of My League; and Everyman’s proxy boxer, trapeze artist, stand-up comic, Western movie villain, and Playboy centerfold photographer. And one of the brave men who wrestled Sirhan Sirhan, the armed assassin of his friend Bobby Kennedy, to the ground. A Plimpton party was full of intelligent, funny, articulate people. So is this one. Many try hard to understand George, and some (not always the ones you would expect) are brilliant at it. Here is social life as it’s actually lived by New York’s elites. The only important difference between a party at George’s and this book is that no one here is drunk. They just talk about being drunk. George’s last years were awesome, truly so. His greatest gift was to be a blessing to others–not all, sadly–and that gift ended only with his death. But his parties, if this is one, need never end at all. 3008345 28 10 2008 George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by More Than 300 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ... total:68|5:17|4:23|3:21|2:6|1:1| 68 253 156 32 3 1 false false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 19:50:02 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 20:12:20 -0800 2009
He comes across as starting out a...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Dec 07 00:57:31 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 00:59:01 -0800 2008 http://miamisunpost.com/archives/2008/11...

Bound - Miami SunPost

Nov. 20, 2008

A Gentleman Among Men

George Plimpton Was All That and Then Some

By John Hood

George Plimpton and I first met at his Manhattan home back in ’90 or ’91...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 01:31:12 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 12:29:21 -0800 2008
1. Being born rich
2. Being born well-connected
...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Dec 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 19:08:14 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 21:36:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 10:00:03 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 21:30:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Feb 15 20:26:37 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 20:28:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Dec 17 08:55:41 -0800 2008 Wed May 20 10:12:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 02 00:01:18 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 11:59:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 16 16:35:56 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 26 11:57:26 -0800 2009 George Being George is structured as an oral history of George Plimpton's life. Rather than take the form of a traditional narrative, the book is a collection of brief anecdotes, observations and snippets harvested from interviews wit...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 12 23:16:33 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 23:22:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 14 06:14:31 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 06:17:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 06:58:43 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 13:13:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 24 09:16:11 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 09:20:31 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 15:20:06 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 15:24:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 14:58:25 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 15:00:32 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 04:29:32 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 04:34:33 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Dec 10 14:48:55 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 14:49:36 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jan 04 23:32:22 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 23:40:30 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Nov 24 11:18:58 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 11:20:59 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Aug 14 22:12:15 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 22:13:43 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2977980