Rating: 
Summary: View Altering
Review: As an avid James Dean fan and bio reader, I pick up most all of his bios and try them out. This one definitely ranks up there with some of the best. It is told by a Very close friend of Jimmy's and goes into exacting detail about character traits of the brilliant star. Though it is absolutely not your "typical" biography in a objective sense-because it can't be-it may be a better insight for that reason. The gritty reality imposed by this book is palpable; literally! You will watch Jimmy through some of the closest eyes ever to reflect his image. A Must Read for true fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Its not that this book is bad...
Review: Believe me, this is a good book. But, I don't feel comfortable with the way Dean is protrayed. Gilmore seems to make James out to be a whore... [...] The only bisexual reference he makes about Dean is the relationship HE had with him. There is a lot more in this book about his career than his sexual life...don't be fooled...its done well. All I can say is, if this is how James Dean really was (and he might have been) I lost just a little respect for him. Nothing to do with his sexual identity just some things he said about people ect... but...the truth hurts and at times, so does this book.
Rating: 
Summary: RADIANT AND EROTIC
Review: I guess I can say this is a muscular book, the writing is strong, muscular, and very sensual. James Dean, as portrayed by John Gilmore, a pal from the New York days before Jimmy became a star, then for a brief time after like in the spring of 1955, presents Dean as the real maverick he was, a thorn in Hollywood's side. A saddness eminates from this account as does the hypocricy of the movie business. Dean tried to be real in much the same way as the Beats struggled shortly after Dean's death to break from the suffocating conformity of the mid-1950's. James Dean comes across as a real innovator, not only in his craft and talents, but in his sexuality which is captured on target by Gilmore. A highly worthwhile read; not necessarily the red-ribbon stuff the fans might be chasing, but what's here is the nuts and bolts of a real life personality.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Shocking
Review: I loved this book, was not shocked by anything his "best friend" Gilmore had to tell us. It's the sort of stuff I'd heard about for years, and it was fun to finally hear about Jimmy through the eyes of someone who actually knew him. Jimmy was a "bad boy" for sure, I got a kick out of it. It's extremely well written and I'd recommend this to any Dean fan (who isn't a complete prude).
Rating: 
Summary: Gilmore on James Dean
Review: I loved this book, was not shocked by anything his "best friend" Gilmore had to tell us. It's the sort of stuff I'd heard about for years, and it was fun to finally hear about Jimmy through the eyes of someone who actually knew him. Jimmy was a "bad boy" for sure, I got a kick out of it. It's extremely well written and I'd recommend this to any Dean fan (who isn't a complete prude).
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Shocking
Review: I loved this book, was not shocked by anything his "best friend" Gilmore had to tell us. It's the sort of stuff I'd heard about for years, and it was fun to finally hear about Jimmy through the eyes of someone who actually knew him. Jimmy was a "bad boy" for sure, I got a kick out of it. It's extremely well written and I'd recommend this to any Dean fan (who isn't a complete prude).
Rating:
Summary: This was an enjoyable read-very informative-spoiler included
Review: I thought James Gilmore did an excellent job. I had already read a couple of bios on James Dean, and Gilmore was noted in both, so it seemed logical to read his point of view. He was obviously a good friend, and offered personal insight from actual contact with Dean. Dean was mesmerizing, talented, and a person in obvious pain. I think anyone who reads extensively about Dean must reach the conclusion that he was not homosexual, but bisexual and very experimental. He also seemed to enjoy it when people wondered about him, and was a very private person. It is a tragedy that he did not live to his potential, professionally or personally. I did wonder about the implication that Gilmore made about Dean fathering a child who by anyone's count could certainly be alive today. Interesting. Get it, read it, and learn about one of the most complex personalities Hollywood ever had the priviledge of promoting.
Rating:
Summary: Gilmore on James Dean
Review: John Gilmore attempts to dispel the myths that have accumulated surrounding Dean, yet he only succeeds in creating new and less endearing ones. Gilmore also refranes completely from expressing any care or affection for his friend, at any point in the book.If you can get past the clumsy prose, all you are left with is yet another person trying to cash in on the Dean legacy.
Rating:
Summary: It Takes Your Breath Away!
Review: John Gilmore's writing dazzles. There is no other way to put it. Since back when I first saw "East of Eden" and "Rebel Without A Cause" there was a strong identification I felt with James Dean. More of a recognition for something I couldn't pin down until reading this book by Gilmore. He has succeeded in making his language go right to that spot in the reader, like the expression "it gets you where you live". The book has made me understand that recognition and what it was that came across the screen from Dean that has had a powerful affect on some many fans. I feel like I understand who James Dean was and what he thought and felt. I've read other books on Dean but never one where he comes so alive that he steps right out of the page, as he does in Gilmore's book. I can feel the wind on those wild motorcycle rides, and experience the warmth of the affections between the characters. Also share the timid explorations in the sexual activities, which make this book really quite remarkable. Above all, this is an intense story about some intense, very human individuals. The fact that James Dean was a major movie star only adds so much more luster to a credible and rich story. Anyone with any interest in James Dean whatsoever must read this book. It takes the reader across those muddy waters created by others cashing in on the tragic story James Dean.
Rating: 
Summary: Meretricious trash
Review: Preying on the lives of deceased and therefore forever silenced celebs -- especially by weaving together a tissue of unverifiable "information" about their sexual lives -- surely has to be one of the lower forms of journalism. This piece of meretricious trash is just such a piece of malodorous muckraking, and although Gilmore claims to have been party to the salacious fun-and-games described, his account of Dean is fractured, and where it moves from the area of putative first hand experience, is obviously patched together from unreliable and in many case unnamed and therefore thoroughly dubious sources, making the book ultimately profoundly unconvincing. The unwary reader is advised to take it with more than a pinch, a shovelful of salt (which may also provide the added salutory benefit of acting as an emetic).
Anyone seeking accurate information about the real James Dean should go elsewhere and not make the mistake of looking for it in this pathetic piece of garbage. I regret the formality of having to give it even one star, which it certainly doesn't deserve.
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