
Empire
The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes
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Narrated by:
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Christopher Hurt
Hughes had always been different. Certainly his riches set him apart, but he was also tough. Orphaned and a millionaire at 18, Hughes repudiated his relatives, seized control of the Hughes Tool Company, the linchpin of his fortune, and went on to become a flamboyant movie producer, holder of many world aviation records, principal owner of Trans World Airlines, a critically important defense contractor, Hollywood's most pursued and elusive bachelor, and partner of the United States government.
This is an epic biography of an epic figure who bestrode the world like a colossus yet could not master himself.
©1979 Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Of all the books written about Howard Hughes, Empire is easily the best...." (New York Times Book Review)
"A remarkable job of investigative reporting....cracks Hughes's public persona as it disentangles the psychodrama of his private doings." (Publishers Weekly)
"[The] most responsible and authoritative biography of Hughes to date." (Newsweek)
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Very well done. Greatly enjoyed it
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Great insight into Hughes life
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A bit long... very detailed
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
My books are during 1 hour ride to & from work, 5 days per week for 10 hours. This book had some dry spells, but overall I found it educational.What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
I think the pinnacle is the 'Spruce Goose', but there are so many different things he did, it's difficult to peg any one.Least interesting was the in depth reading of the multiple hand written instructions for every aspect of his mad, mad solitude.
What didn’t you like about Christopher Hurt’s performance?
For the documentary present, it was well read. Par for documentary, some dry spots, but not taking away overall.Could you see Empire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
There are already movies. Most recent being "The Aviator"Any additional comments?
A very long book, I appreciated its additional information even if it did get boring at times. I have long fascinated in HRH, mainly for his aviation interests. I learned much about the many other things he obsessed over. In the end I realized he swung onto the scene due to his parents untimely demise, and without proper direction, became a spoiled, self indulged brat. That said, he and those working for him did make great strides in the science of aviation.EVERYTHING you Ever wanted to know about HRH
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Interesting Man - OK Book
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Any additional comments?
The book goes on for 30-40 minutes detailing correspondence between Howard's mother and his summer camp leader when Howard was around 7 or 8. "Please make certain Howard has plenty of thick socks for summer activites", "I assure you madame, Howard will have an ample number of socks for the summer", etc., etc. 30 to 40 minutes of this? Seriously? This could have been abridged.Too Much Detail on Trivial Matters
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The man was more interesting than the details
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NO HAPPY ENDING HERE.
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Beyond that, the story really suffers from the time jumps. This story should have been told from start to finish, not broken into separate subjects and telling the story of each of these subjects from start to finish. At the time of the 4th or 5th subject change with its corresponding jump back in time, I started to feel like this book was never going to end and that the most interesting parts were never going to be touched on again.
Starts interesting, ends with jarring editing
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just to long and to much detail
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