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Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages
Published
March 15th 1990
by Knightsbridge Pub. Co.
(first published June 22nd 1988)
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Scott Thorson did a decent job of explaining what type of life style Liberace lived. Some time he rambled on about other people.
I have read other books about famous people and have come to the conclusion that many of them are very troubled people. They have money to live the great life but are very lonely people and have some very sick life styles.
Liberace had a very permissive life style and paid the price for it. And it was a very high price--his life. The book is filled with examples of how...more
I have read other books about famous people and have come to the conclusion that many of them are very troubled people. They have money to live the great life but are very lonely people and have some very sick life styles.
Liberace had a very permissive life style and paid the price for it. And it was a very high price--his life. The book is filled with examples of how...more
The HBO movie made me want to read this ahead of time and it's hard to know what in the book could possibly be used in a film--there is almost nothing to the story. The "author" Scott Thorson (supposedly Liberace's male lover but the forced writing style is that of the co-author) mindlessly goes through the excesses of his life with Liberace but nothing really happens. Lee pouts. Lee gives expensive cars and jewelry. Lee buys another mansion. Lee gets jealous of Scott hanging out with people lik...more
Okay, I had to read this book after seeing the HBO movie. Maybe I'm gullible/naive, but I believe this book is a decent representation of Thorson's life with Liberace. One of Dr. Phil's folksy remarks is "No matter how flat you make a pancake, there are always two sides" and this is only one side. But in my opinion Thorson is for the most part quite complimentary toward Liberace. Yes, the man had his quirks and some deeper problems, foremost being so deeply in the closet and having to deny, up t...more
When I was growing up, there were two men on television I found totally repugnant. One was Milton Berle, and the other was Liberace. I usually don't read biographies or autobiographies because there's no one else's life I'm THAT interested in reading about. I have enough with keeping after my own. However, I was intrigued by the idea of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon starring in a movie about Liberace and his lover, so I watched it. Interestingly enough, that made me want to read the book, so I...more
This was a great book. I am still trying to comprehend how Lee could have been so cruel to Scott at the end of their relationship. I felt bad for Lee at the beginning of the book. He didn't have much of a childhood and I tried to understand how that may have made him selfish as he got older and became wealthy. But when he just was done with Scott I couldn't believe how cruel and almost evil he became. If he really cared about Scott why couldn't he have let Scott have his tract house after going...more
This is a well-written book. Thorson and his ghost-writer did a great job.
The behind-the-scenes story of Liberace is captivating with lots of action and excess. I knew little about Liberace going in and this book serves as a great introduction to the man and his life.
Thorson starts the book off well, playing the narrator instead of choosing sides. Near the end, around 80%, that shifts heavily. Perhaps realizing the audience for the book would be Liberace’s fans, and not wanting to go up against...more
The behind-the-scenes story of Liberace is captivating with lots of action and excess. I knew little about Liberace going in and this book serves as a great introduction to the man and his life.
Thorson starts the book off well, playing the narrator instead of choosing sides. Near the end, around 80%, that shifts heavily. Perhaps realizing the audience for the book would be Liberace’s fans, and not wanting to go up against...more
3 likes · like · see review
When I first learned that this book existed I was pissed that I didn't know about it years ago. Then I worried it was no longer in print, after a quick check on Amazon I had a "praise Jaysus!" moment when I found it and that I could get it for my Kindle.
I was filled with a joyous glee that warmed my heart. I imagined Thorson's story to be a magical waterfall of sleaze that would flow down a sparkling mountain of garbage and at the summit of this mountain of trash would be a beautiful rainbow. An...more
I was filled with a joyous glee that warmed my heart. I imagined Thorson's story to be a magical waterfall of sleaze that would flow down a sparkling mountain of garbage and at the summit of this mountain of trash would be a beautiful rainbow. An...more
I saw a new version of this book at Barnes & Noble, and there is an afterward by Scott Thorson in this newest edition. I really enjoyed this book, and had a hard time putting it down. I read it because of the upcoming HBO movie staring Michael Douglas as Liberace, and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson. Scott meets Liberace when he is only 18 years old, and Liberace is 57, and Liberace takes him under his wing as a father, mentor, lover, employee. It is a fascinating look into the life of Liberace....more
This will be filed as one of the most bizarre and impulsive reads I've embarked on this year. I was inspired to read this memoir after reading an article in last week's "Entertainment Weekly" about the upcoming HBO movie on Liberace's life and lover starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglass. I was so intrigued that I went out and got the book, even hough I know little to nothing about the legacy of "Mr. Showmanship." This book told me everything I ever wanted (and didn't want) to know about the p...more
This wasn't the best written book, the writing style reminded me of reading a biographical essay assignment from an eleventh grader who discovered a thesaurus. That being said, it sure was interesting. Most of the basics were covered in the movie version, but there are some interesting tidbits left in the book. Just reading about Scott's friendship with Michael Jackson and the completely crazy afterward made this worth reading. This is an interesting look into the world of celebrities who are pu...more
I don't know who was more delusional Scott Thorson or Liberace. The idea that Liberace thought he was closeted is laughable and the idea that Scott thought he was anything more than a boy toy is as well. How Scott could write this himself and still come off as such sleaze ball is beyond me. The statements he makes about homosexuals in this book are astounding. I believe the term is self-loathing.
trashy but fun read while waiting for the bus. if you lived in Nevada, no doubt you have bumped into this type of character. there's an obvious mix between truth and the truth as Thorson sees it. I would definitely mark this as a long airplane ride read. entertaining. makes me want to visit Liberace museum if it ever reopens.
Read this while I was under the weather last week. As trashy tell-all celebrity bios go, this was surprisingly good, i.e. full of titillating tidbits but also tempered with as much wisdom as one might expect given the participants. Much better than the other celeb bio I read that week, Belinda Carlisle's "Lips Unsealed."
3 1/2 stars
surprisingly easy to read (not a biography) and quite gripping. Not as titalating as I am sure it could have been. Still...very engaging story and quite horrific at times. Scott lost all sense of himself. Replaces glamour with reality. Necessary book in these times when stars are glorified.
surprisingly easy to read (not a biography) and quite gripping. Not as titalating as I am sure it could have been. Still...very engaging story and quite horrific at times. Scott lost all sense of himself. Replaces glamour with reality. Necessary book in these times when stars are glorified.
In the mood for someting trashy, I listened to the book on CD. Bad writing about the life of a lost soul manipulated by the decadent, narcissistic entertainer. Curiosity kept me listening, all the while wondering why I was wasting my time.
The portrait of Liberace drawn from this somewhat self-serving story depicts a selfish, manipulative sociopath who used and disposed of his "proteges" and treated people like objects.
The high fructose corn syrup of books. Enjoyable and entertaining despite the sad ending and the author's shortcomings as a person and a writer.
Not very well written, but I was somehow compelled to keep reading. Liberace was a fascinating, fascinating character.
It was definitely a dishy, fun behind the scenes bio but the writer - Liberace's former boyfriend - came off as a little too biased and not totally honest/open which lowered my rating.
Jun 15, 2013
Kristy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
autobiography,
read-2013
I didn't know anything about Liberace before reading this, I was just intrigued by the new film. A sad tale of twisted love and complex personalities. Worth a read.
Craziest thing was the "Afterword". But now I'm ready for some gold leaf and velvet flocked opulence, HBO. Bring it!
A sleazy book about a sleazy guy who got taken by a sleazy taker.
This is Scott Thorsons life with Liberace his view of how things went not really a bio that is unbiased. But it was interesting if seen that way.
VERY repetitious, but still a good read.
I soooo wish I hadn't read this.
Dishy and fascinating, if not particularly well-written.
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Truth exposed.
All I can say is, the HBO movie based on this is going to be amazing!
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13 de Jun 19:33
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