The Passions of Howard Hughes

by Terry Moore

Howard Hughes was larger than life. His legendary achievements as a record-setting aviator, movie mogul, airline executive and hotel owner - even his celebrated failures - ensure his place in history as one of the giants of the 20th century.
With her collaborator Jerry Rivers, film star Terry Moore, Hughes' former wife, brings to life the secret side of this very public man in The Passions of Howard Hughes. For years his closest confidante, she recounts their astonishing conversations and the true stories of his amorous adventures with everyone from Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth to Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. This revealing personal journal reads like a steamy romance novel - only it's all true!
It is also the gripping tale of Hughes' other consuming planes and power politics, from his first daredevil flying adventures to his equally daring exploits as a wheeler-dealer behind the scenes in Las Vegas and his international undercover work for the U.S. government. And it's all interwoven with the tragic story of Hughes' final years of self-imposed confinement as a drug-addicted prisoner of his own guards and their greedy keepers in a conspiracy to take over his far-flung corporate empire.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book on the life of Howard Hughes. It was a pretty long book and I did not understand everything at the time but have reread since then and it has given me lots of information.

Recommended for anyone who likes biographical reading.

[Jeff Russo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hughes staged a bogus wedding in international waters with the young starlet Moore in 1949 to get her into bed. It worked. Moore later claimed to be married to Hughes for 8 years, which is interesting because she married another guy in 1951, divorced him, and married yet another guy in 1956. This book consists of vignettes (with lots of dialogue cobbled up by Moore) on various business and sexual escapades. Much of it reads like Hustler Forum letters. But, in books like this, it's the spirit that counts, not the narrow correctness of the dialogue, and Jane Russell said that this is the only book she ever read that captures the essence of the real Hughes.

Best/unique things about this book: Attributes the following dialogue to entertainment legends:

Billie Dove: "Get the champagne and pour it over my feet and up my legs and onto my pussy... now be a good boy, Howard, and lick it all up."

Marilyn Monroe: "I dyed my pussy just for you, Howard."

Bette Davis: "Or were you dreaming about my tummy and how smooth it would be, and how it would feel when you ran your hand over my stomach down to my pussy and how silky the hair would feel?" - "I'm going to show you what it's like to fuck a real woman." - "Can Katie Hepburn offer you this?" - "I'm going to show you what the word 'fuck' really means."

See all my Howard Hughes book reviews.

[Jonna Hayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the book with a grain of salt. The co-author (Terry Moore) claims to have been married to Howard Hughes. The book is dotted with so-called sex scenes of Hughes and his many conquests. The story is told in a non-linear fashion. She does not mention Hughes marriage to Jean Peters which lasted for many years. It is a basic biography of Hughes with many omissions and badly written erotica.