∎ Download Free The Great Getty The Life and Loves of J Paul Getty Richest Man in the World Robert Lenzner 9780517562222 Books

The Great Getty The Life and Loves of J Paul Getty Richest Man in the World Robert Lenzner 9780517562222 Books

Download As PDF : The Great Getty The Life and Loves of J Paul Getty Richest Man in the World Robert Lenzner 9780517562222 Books

The Great Getty The Life and Loves of J Paul Getty Richest Man in the World Robert Lenzner 9780517562222 Books

This is a barely acceptable overview of J. Paul Getty's life. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a well documented biography like Roger Lowenstein's biography Buffett then you will consider this book rubbish. Having said this it is probably the best Getty book available so with that in mind you may have to settle for this if you are intent upon learning something about Getty the richest person in the world during his lifetime. So all in all an OK read given the disgusting trash about Getty poising as biography that are your alternatives. Still this is not much more than a scantily documented overview but better than a gossip biography with no documentation at all. The sad thing is that Lenzner has the research tools to have done this right and I hope in a future edition if he is still alive will first read Lowenstein's book or even Alice Schroeder's book The Snowball, both well documented books on Warren Buffett and using these as blueprints do the biography that Getty deserves.


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The Great Getty The Life and Loves of J Paul Getty Richest Man in the World Robert Lenzner 9780517562222 Books Reviews

Robert Lenzer does an excellent job of showing every side of a very multi-faceted man. J. Paul Getty may be described as a horrible father, an unsurpassed lover, a great business man or a paranoid eccentric. Lenzer finds a way to portray all these descriptions and more in just 235 pages. Lenzer does not drag down the conversational tone with technical business terms. Although business was of central importance to Getty and, as such, of central importance to the book, Lenzer throws in pieces about Getty's personal life to keep the reader entertained.
My sole complaint is that sometimes Lenzer appears to be stretching to make the book longer. Many times Lenzer goes off on tangents, describing a particular favorite beach of Getty's, or giving the history of some of Getty Oil Company's rivals. It seems that Lenzer does not feel he has enough primary source material about Getty alone, so he makes the most of the sources he does have.
Despite the stretching, The Great Getty provides a few hours of entertainment (and often shock) as Lenzer shows us just what it might be like to walk in the shoes of the richest man in the world.
ISBN 0451146999 - "People hate rich people." On the final page of the text of book (which is followed by over 50 pages of appendices), Lenzner quotes a Getty spouse with that statement. Perhaps it's true - it certainly seems Lenzner himself has an issue with at least one rich person J. Paul Getty. Getty may have been every bit as terrible a person as he is painted in this book, but there is something not quite impersonal in the writing, as if Getty had somehow offended Lenzner and it seeped into the writing. In fact, Robert Lenzner was once an investment banker for Goldman, Sachs. Goldman, Sachs becomes part of the Getty story in 1983, when they were approached to find a "white knight" during the power struggle between Gordon Getty and the board of Getty Oil. Perhaps there's a connection there - it wouldn't be surprising, because the book takes a definite turn after Getty's death. For 290 pages, the book is about J. Paul Getty. It draws a portrait of a mean, selfish, self-centered, sex-obsessed, womanizing bigamist who clings to pennies while rolling in dough. Suddenly, the old man is dead and over the next 23 pages, we read how much better are the sons. I come to the conclusion that Lenzner possibly met the younger Gettys, heard tales of the terrible man who gave them life - and millions upon millions of dollars - and wrote a book that told their tale. Without that personal connection, if it doesn't exist, I have a hard time understanding the tone of the book.

J. Paul Getty, born to a loving but not affectionate set of parents, has the luck - good or bad - to have George Getty as his father. And George has the luck to wander into the oilfields when his son is eight years old and when oil is a young business. The stage is set for J. Paul, who will eventually become the richest man in the world. Of course, to get there, he has to get through his father. When his father dies, he's got to get through his mother. The way he deals with his mother is heartlessly business-like but Mother Getty is no fool and fights back as meanly as her son fights her. While he works on that, he seems to work at little else but women.

Getty's marriages overlap, some of his children are questionably legitimate and his empire grows. When he finally has control of the business his father began, he is obsessive about every last detail and dime. His business obsession leaves little room for caring about his children, who are portrayed as unloved and necessary, but not particularly wanted, heirs. Through it all runs the only story that would matter to Getty - business. It seems there's not a trick in the book that Getty wouldn't try to gain control, power and money, and to keep it. When his grandson is kidnapped, Getty's response is to cling to his money and refuse to pay the ransom. He doesn't give in when the kidnappers threaten to dice the boy up and send him home in pieces, either. Until they actually send home a piece of him, Grandpa Getty tries pretty much anything to keep as much money as possible rather than pay up and secure his safety.

In the end, I don't think I know any more about the man than I did before. Ann Getty, wife of Gordon, is pronounced the best Getty ever - and that she was Lenzner's connection to the family is noted in the preface. It hardly gives the author credibility. If there's another book about Getty that you can get your hands on, you might try that one. This one feels too mean-spirited to be accurate. The only nice thing Lenzner's got to say about the man is the title - unless you count the references to his skills as a lover, it's all downhill from there.

- AnnaLovesBooks
The author gives well-documented accounts of Getty's entire life, from his parents' early marriage to his death in England in the 70s and all the cringe-worthy scandal and bald materialism in between. Actually, I found it fascinating to see how Getty worked the stock market and his complex holdings in his companies, as well as how he and his family plotted to deprive one another of too much of the wealth. He was not just an oilman who collected art; he was a capitalist who brilliantly worked the American system to climb to the very top in a very short time, and stayed there throughout his life. As odious as most writers portray him on the page, you can't help but wonder what it would have been like to meet him in life and see why so many women were drawn to him. It wasn't just the money. He was a lifelong playboy whose charm and reputation in the sack got him at least as far as his billions in the bank. Whatever he was, his legacy of the Getty Art Museums and Institutes makes you appreciate the skill and the remarkable accomplishments he was able to realize during a long, interesting, though not-necessarily-happy life.
rarely honest book
Happy with this purchase. I am very glad I bought it when I did. Thank you from David L.
better bio's out there
this is history what a rotten man a little dry but keep reading A part of American history.
This is a barely acceptable overview of J. Paul Getty's life. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a well documented biography like Roger Lowenstein's biography Buffett then you will consider this book rubbish. Having said this it is probably the best Getty book available so with that in mind you may have to settle for this if you are intent upon learning something about Getty the richest person in the world during his lifetime. So all in all an OK read given the disgusting trash about Getty poising as biography that are your alternatives. Still this is not much more than a scantily documented overview but better than a gossip biography with no documentation at all. The sad thing is that Lenzner has the research tools to have done this right and I hope in a future edition if he is still alive will first read Lowenstein's book or even Alice Schroeder's book The Snowball, both well documented books on Warren Buffett and using these as blueprints do the biography that Getty deserves.