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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Robbins Has One Foul Mouth, May 13 1999
By A Customer
Don't get me wrong, this is normally a good thing. I have no problem with it. I hate to sound like Ms. P.C. femi-nazi sourpuss with no sense of humor here, but I really don't like Harold Robbin's habit of constantly using a 4-letter word ending in "t" (and the word in question is not "aunt"!) as a synonym for female. I understand there are men who refer to women constantly that way, and when it fits in with the character or story, fine, but it got REAL old in this book. Really, I've gotten pretty immune to sexism and chauvinism, but out-and-out hatred for women does get to me. I've noticed a trend in this and other Robbins books where his few female characters (I say "few" as 90% of his female characters are always evil, whores, or castrating b----s )who have class and don't "put out", or are gay, or monogamous, usually meet with horrible ends, or something tragic happens to them (usually rape). Like I said, don't get me wrong, I'm all for a good, sleazy, even exploitational book, but sometimes I really wonder how this writer feels about women. Well, he's dead now, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore, but I hope he didn't treat the women in his life the way women in his books are treated. That's just the feeling the book left me with. Other than that, it's a farily enjoyable read, and it's always fun to figure out who his characters are based on-Cord is obviously modeled on Howard Hughes. I liked the way he broke up the book into different character's stories, each of which were fascinating in their own way. Nevada's story and Rita's story stood out. Like I said, the book is a good read, it just left me with kind of a bad taste in my mouth. That being said, as soon as I get paid, I'm picking up a copy of "The Raiders." (I told you I wasn't the PC type)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Zenith Of A "Writing Machine" Author's Career., Jun 2 2003
Harold Robbins has written numerous books, almost too many to count. If one follows his career cronologically, beginning with a Stone For Danny Fischer and ending with the posthumously 'subsititute author' written Sin City, one can almost trace Robbins' improving talent/success leading to his increasingly heavy drug use and finally see the work suffer as he cranked out bools faster and faster to keep up on his income tax back-payments. The Carpetbaggers was written at the point in the man's life just after he hit his true stride as an author and just before his cocaine madness sabotaged his work. If you've never read a Harold Robbins book, do yourself a favor and read The Carpetbaggers first. Even though the racey passages seem campy now, the story is just as good as it was in the early 1960's when the book was first released.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
100,000,000 People Can't Be Wrong, Nov 20 2002
Forty years later and this novel is still a MUST READ! However. I wish that Harold had taken this book and split it into two. Although Hollywood failed to capture the magic when they separated the tales, the books could've been sequels--- going from Max Sands' boyhood story to Jonas Cord Jr.'s boyhood story and then the sequel would pick up when Jonas Sr. dies and we're off to the skies of Hollywood. But great literature always leaves you wanting more. The characters are veiled reproductions to be sure . . . Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe . . . but unlike in Carter Beats the Devil--- that does the same thing by re-writing Houdini--- Robbins makes his characters and plot interesting enough that you forgive him for copy catting. This is a fascinating story told by a master storyteller who's own life story would certainly make a great book. If you're ready for a fresh perspective on Hollywood of old---filled with the scintilating erotica that Harold Robbins got us hooked on--- check out Olde Hollywood by Thorne Peters who not only picks up where Robbins leaves off, but keeps on going to find his own tawdry realm.
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by Charles Bukowski
