Howard Hughes: The Untold Story

I came across this book shortly after seeing Scorsese's `The Aviator', and I can't imagine a better source for those wanting to know more about Howard Hughes. Although the movie may seem fantastic, this book shows an even more outlandish reality. A small example: not only did Hughes restrict himself to a few standard meals, like the steak and peas seen in the movie, but he used a special rake-like utensil to separate out, and discard, any peas above a certain diameter. The film also tones down his womanizing: apparently he slept with almost every screen sex symbol of the 30s and 40s, as well maintaining a private harem of starlets. And there are whole aspects of his life I had no idea about, like his links with Nixon and Watergate. Despite his eccentric, sometimes cruel, behaviour, the authors maintain their - - and the reader's - - sympathy for Hughes. This sunk in when the book reached his infamous final years. Although I'd started out eager to know the truth about the mad hermit at the top of the Las Vegas hotel, by the time I reached that stage I felt sorry for him and was reluctant to read the sordid details. Here again the book gets the balance right; insightful without wallowing in freakishness.

A compelling, well-researched and sympathetic story of an extraordinary subject: you can't ask for much more from a biography.

This bio gave me a pretty good picture of Hughes' life, good enough that I don't feel a strong need to read any other bios. However, the authors don't really deliver everything they promise in the introduction. Yes, you'll learn that he built one of the nation's greatest airlines, founded an industry-leading aircraft company, became a leading defense contractor, became a major player in Las Vegas, indirectly contributed to the Watergate scandal, had shady dealings with the FBI, CIA and DoD, and much more. But you won't learn how; I guess we're supposed to take the authors' word for it. If you're looking for an examination of HH the businessman, the aviator, the inventor, the financier, or the Las Vegas tycoon, this book is very short on detail. It's clear that what really interests the authors most are 1) his love and sex life and 2) his Hollywood career and his life among the rich and famous. For every paragraph discussing his business career--which, after all, made him one of the nation's wealthiest men, and which constitutes a unique and fascinating story all by itself--you'll find 3 paragraphs about which movie stars he was wooing in 1948, where he took them for dinner, who sat next to them at the restaurant, what kind of flowers he gave them, what lies he told to get them in the sack, how much jewelry he gave them, what their mothers thought of Hughes, and the contents of their love letters.

Hughes' obsessive womanizing was an important part of his life, and makes an interesting story. However, there were a LOT of women, and with a few exceptions, he treated most of them essentially the same way. We see the same sad story of obsession, manipulation and heartbreak (for the women, not HH) over and over again. My eyes glazed over more than a few times while reading this. I think the book could have been much better with a little less detail about the lovers' quarrels, and a little more about the many other activities that made Hughes such a brilliant and controversial figure.

"The Aviator" inspired me to take another look at Howard Hughes. The movie told a story only possible in America, the 20th Century in particular. Utterly amazing, I was on the lookout for a book on Hughes' life. I don't think I could have started with a better portrait of Hughes than the one painted here by Brown & Broeske. Wisely, they have told Hughes' story with a realism and attention to detail that allow the facts to speak for themselves. Hughes life was so extraordinary that any attempt to sensationalize it is redundant and suspect. I found such amazing scenes from the "Aviator" as the crash at Beverly Hills in 1946 to pale in comparison to the event as it is described in this book. As hard as it is to put down, I also found this easy to read in bursts as my schedule allows. So dramatic and fascinating at every turn, if it has to be put down, one never forgets where they left off.

Who would ever want their personal lives investigated, picked over, revised and speculated upon, and then transformed into countless books and a movie or two? This American fascination with everyone's business but their own has made anyone considering a public life to factor in what such a wholesale invasion of their privacy is worth. Just because it is written or said is no guarantee it is true and once it starts there is no stopping it. This is a story of a man as he runs like hell to stay one step ahead of the forces that feed off but threaten to consume his uniqueness. Like many who seek fame, Hughes would pour gasoline on the fire and then run from it. For all the contradictions in Howard Hughes' life, it is hard to imagine how much more drama, danger, triumph and extraordinary achievement could be crammed into a just one. "HH, The Untold Story" could almost just as easily be about what Hughes was never able to accomplish in the second half of his life as a result of his own weaknesses compounded by the target fame and fortune paints on your back when you weren't looking. The authors are fair and compassionate in telling the good and bad in this life. The medical issues that complicated matters worse were not fairly represented in what I have read about Hughes in the past. I finally have a sense of Hughes as a human being and individual. For all the neurotic fear of germs, this was one tough customer. He had many lives and should have died and gone broke time and again if he didn't possess such a remarkable resilience and determination powered by a self confident, brilliant intellect. The 20th Century was his time and he didn't waste the opportunity. Hughes makes Bill Gates look like a wimp, coward and a crashing bore by comparison. With the uncertainty surrounding how the people around him took control of his life and affairs in his last years, the contrast between the deceit and greed driving Hughes' "caretakers" and what motivated Hughes to live such a dynamic life is startling. It would be too easy for this to be another book about a wild, eccentric madman. Instead it is a fascinating and true to life tale of ambition, genius, imagination and desire and everything that comes along with these things when someone believes that action speaks louder than words. As grand as his life was, Hughes still gave more than he took. Highly recommended reading.

Being interested in this fella and reading books from the 70`s on came across this one and bought it as the local library had lost it's one copy. After reading it came away with a slightly different take on Mr Huges but got the feeling reading this take on the man that although the authors did an exhaustive job researching the subject too much was made about the female aspect (which wouldn't us guys love to be able to do) but they made up for it showing how the 'Mormon Connection' robbed the guy blind to the tune of billions the whole time covering their tracks by all means available. Which by the way should be a book on it's own.
Here's a guy thinking these righteous religious christian zealots would protect his interests and do what's best an do the right thing while the whole time they were just worming their way into his fortune an sealing off all outsiders....what a shame. But his (Huges) paranoia sealed his own fate.
Walked away from this book thoroughly disgusted with those people and left with that age old feeling that greed knows no bounds.

I must admit I didn't know too much about Howard Hughes until my husband made me sit through the movie "The Aviator." I personally found the movie to be quite boring; however, it piqued my interest to find out more about Howard Hughes. After reading all the reviews on the various books, I chose this one (Howard Hughes: The Untold Story). It was very difficult to put the book down; it tells a most fascinating life story. Hughes' life was unbelievable; he should have died several times before he even turned 30! Definitely an interesting and entertaining book.

It's a fascinating story as it traces the life of Howard Hughes from childhood to his death. But it's almost entirely about the women that he chased and almost nothing about the companies that he built and ran. After reading this and seeming to learn about every woman that he ever met, I am left wondering how he ever found time to actually do any work for the companies that he owned - TWA, Hughes Aircraft and the RKO movie studio. I'm sure that can't be quite right, so I'm left thinking that there is still an awful lot missing from this story.

It's amazing how much living Howard Hughes packed into his life. He bedded just about every movie star and starlet of his era. He made gazilions of dollars from his tool company. This book also details the sad end to his life, which it attributes to his brain being scarred from syphilis, his obsessive compulsive disorder, his brain injuries from numerous plane crashes, and being hooked on pain killers. It seems business associates surrounded him, destroyed his will which probably left his money to his medical research charity, and hastened his death by keeping him dehydrated, hungry, and overdosed on liquid codeine. Read the book!

If you’re looking for Howard the Business Man, keep looking. You won’t find an exhaustive analysis of Hughes’ financial ventures here, nor does this work detail Howard the Aviator (Charles Barton’s Howard and his Flying Boat is currently the single best work available on Howard’s aviation achievements). Sure the book does cover these areas, as it follows the full sweep of the man’s near-mythical life—from his restrictive rearing by a hypochondriacal mother, to his stunningly inglorious demise in 1976—but the main focus of Brown and Broeske’s The Untold Story is Howard the Lady-Killer, the handsome, wealthy rock star with a visionary mind and balls of brass. Through the maze of Howard’s love life, a fascinating, intimate portrait emerges of a man who could be supremely charming and charitable, manipulative and callous. Yet, the book never loses sight of the central villain: Howard’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, the symptoms of which were made worse by numerous head injuries. In the light of this condition, much of Hughes’ seemingly strange behavior is understood. Brown and Broeske do go some length to maintain an air of respect for the man, making impressive use of secondary sources to dutifully dispel some of the erroneous rumors hovering around Howard Hughes, elevating The Untold Story above the dreadful tabloid biographies that plague the market. It’s likely there will always be an air of mystery around Howard Hughes, but The Untold Story does an admirable job in presenting a coherent insight into an extraordinary figure.

I was a little disappointed in the proportion of this book that was dedicated to his love affairs. No doubt, reading how he related to women gives some insight into his character and his declining mental state. However, I'd say 60%-70% of this book reads like a who's who of Howard Hughes' girl friends and lovers and read like a tabloid magazine of affairs and break ups. Howard Hughes was a very interesting man who achieved much more than bedding a laundry list of women. I wish Mr. Brown had given more focus to those other aspects of Howard Hughes' life.

I watched Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" and was immediately interested in learning about the "real" Howard Hughes. This book more than satisfied my curiosity. I wasn't aware of the non-aviation contributions made by Hughes; satellites, seek and destroy missles. All very important to our national security. I had never heard of Hughes' connection to the Watergate scandal until I read this book.

This publication was a page turner about a man that we'll most likely never learn the full truth about. A great read!