Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters

Rating:
Summary: Intimate and Grand
Review: To truthfully and fully expose someone's life in 400 pages, especially someone as enigmatic as Howard Hughes, is a virtually impossible task. But Hack's narrative paints a picture that alternates between the intimate and the grand. We can see Hughes' boyish charms seduce Hollywood starlets and watch the world's reaction as he breaks aviation records. There are fine details about his daily life, as well as dramatic accounts of his business dealings. The book also revels in his love life and eventually tapers into Hughes' final years of hopping about the globe, escaping imagined persecution. Hack remains grounded to the facts, referencing the hundreds of memos left behind by his associates and Hughes himself. And interestingly, the truth is as compelling as any work of fiction out there.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: Well-written, well-paced, and well-researched. I only wish there had been more photos of the airplanes mentioned in the text.