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The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business
- Narrated by: Marlin May
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
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Publisher's summary
For decades, hidden from the public eye, William Morris agents made the deals that determined the fate of stars, studios, and networks alike. Mae West, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Danny Thomas, Steve McQueen--the Morris Agency sold talent to anyone in the market for it, from the Hollywood studios to the mobsters who ran Vegas to the Madison Avenue admen who controlled television. While the clients took the spotlight, the agency operated behind the scenes, providing the grease that made show business what it's become.
The story begins more than a century ago, when a fiery young immigrant named William Morris opened a vaudeville-booking office on New York's Fourteenth Street and went up against the trust that ruled the leading entertainment medium of the day. Led after Morris's death by the legendary Abe Lastfogel, a cherubic little man who treated agents and clients alike as family, the firm transformed the agent's image from garish flesh-peddler to smooth-talking professional. But when Lastfogel's successor brutally sacrificed his best friend--the man who'd brought Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz out of the mail room--William Morris gave birth to its own nemesis: Ovitz's new firm, CAA. Throughout the '80s and '90s, as the Morris Agency made, and lost, such stars as Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Kevin Costner and Tom Hanks, Ovitz's power grew inexorably as Morris's waned. Lulled by the phenomenal success of Bill Cosby and the upward spiral of the Beverly Hills real estate market, Morris's board failed to act as death and defection thinned its ranks. Finally, with its flagship motion-picture department on the brink of collapse, the board was faced with the stark reality of having to buy its way back into the business it had once owned.
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Good, but a Little Misleading
- By Chris Love on 11-28-20
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The Daily Stoic
- 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
- By: Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Why have history's greatest minds - from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson along with today's top performers, from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities - embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise. The Daily Stoic offers a daily devotional of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations.
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Not well made as audio
- By Andreas on 12-27-16
By: Ryan Holiday, and others
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Tribe of Mentors
- Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
- By: Tim Ferriss
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith, Ray Porter, Tim Ferriss, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Tim Ferriss, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, shares the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book - a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world's top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life's most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life.
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Maybe not a good format for an audio-book version
- By M. Arthur Cré on 06-13-20
By: Tim Ferriss
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Take Control of Your Life
- How to Silence Fear and Win the Mental Game
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Mel Robbins is back! The international bestselling phenomenon and creator of The Five Second Rule and Kick Ass with Mel Robbins returns to help you tackle the single biggest obstacle you face: fear. This life-changing Audible Original features a powerful mix of one-on-one life-coaching sessions and a personal narrative with vital take-aways that you can start using immediately.
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Stop living in fear
- By Nike7 on 02-08-19
By: Mel Robbins
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Worthy
- How to Believe You Are Enough and Transform Your Life
- By: Jamie Kern Lima
- Narrated by: Jamie Kern Lima
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Author Jamie Kern Lima's first, instant New York Times bestselling book Believe It, captured her journey of going from Denny's waitress to billion-dollar entrepreneur by learning to believe in herself. And now her second, much-anticipated, upcoming book Worthy, is the playbook for how YOU can believe in YOU! If you've ever struggled with self-doubt, felt like you don't have what it takes...or that who you truly are isn't enough, even if you're really good at hiding it from the world, WORTHY is for you.
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💫 We're so WORTHY! 🦋 Listen - Read - Share 🔆
- By Diana Yin on 02-22-24
By: Jamie Kern Lima
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The Creature from Jekyll Island
- A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
- By: G. Edward Griffin
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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This classic expose of the Fed has become one of the best-selling books in its category of all time. Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story - which it really is, but it's all true.
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Lost confidence in author
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-20
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The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime
- By: MJ DeMarco
- Narrated by: MJ DeMarco
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Since you were old enough to hold a job, you've been hoodwinked to believe that wealth can be created by blindly trusting in the uncontrollable and unpredictable markets: the housing market, the stock market, and the job market. I call this soul-sucking, dream-stealing dogma "The Slowlane" - an impotent financial gamble that dubiously promises wealth in a wheelchair. For those who don't want a lifetime subscription to "settle-for-less", there is an alternative.
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Excellent!
- By Iray007 on 09-22-15
By: MJ DeMarco
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The High 5 Habit
- Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Don't let the title fool you. This isn't a book about high fiving everyone else in your life. You're already doing that. Cheering for your favorite teams. Celebrating your friends. Supporting the people you love as they go after what they want in life. Imagine if you gave that same love and encouragement to yourself. Or even better, you made it a daily habit. You'd be unstoppable. In this book, Mel teaches you how to start high fiving the most important person in your life, the one who is staring back at you in the mirror: YOURSELF.
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Narrator issues.
- By Jesse on 10-05-21
By: Mel Robbins
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Manifest Now
- By: Idil Ahmed
- Narrated by: Idil Ahmed
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Manifest Now provides a step-by-step guide with tools, techniques, and proven strategies to raise your frequency and create the reality you want. This audiobook is designed to guide you through the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of manifesting and creating all that your heart desires. You'll learn how to start removing mental and emotional blocks so you can rediscover that manifesting is your natural birthright. You'll feel more confident, reconnected, and powerful as you listen.
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This is my first review of 2 years subscribed!
- By Rodrigo on 02-22-19
By: Idil Ahmed
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The Ideal Team Player
- How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues: A Leadership Fable
- By: Patrick M. Lencioni
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle's company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players.
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Lot of talk about a simple concept
- By Andrea on 09-05-16
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The 1-Page Marketing Plan
- Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd
- By: Allan Dib
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn’t get done.
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You Need to buy Book to get key info
- By Rosie's mom on 10-23-18
By: Allan Dib
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F--k Your Feelings: Master Your Mind, Accomplish Anything and Become a More Significant Human
- By: Ryan Munsey
- Narrated by: Ryan Munsey
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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95 percent of decisions are based on feelings. Not logic. Not rational thought. Feelings. Can you feel the pull of emotions, hunger, guilt, pain, jealously, depression, and everything else weighing on every decision that you make? Business owners, entrepreneurs, regular people looking to get in shape, anyone with a goal that isn't terrified of tough love - you need to listen to F--k Your Feelings - as soon as possible! In this audiobook you'll learn how to use personal mind control techniques to control the way your brain is wired and much more.
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Science heavy for those of us who want the why
- By Beth T. Irwin on 10-29-18
By: Ryan Munsey
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Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Leaves much to be desired
- By Melody H on 02-02-20
By: Michael Pollan
What listeners say about The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vince M. Barron
- 01-04-21
Very educational.
The narration is a bit dry and the reader misprounces quite a few important names, but no matter. The history of this agency teaches you what really goes on behind the scenes of showbusiness. This tells you where the real influence and the corridors of power really are. Ever wonder why certain actors get the deal of a lifetime, or how the tipping point in their careers really come about? This book explains that and how important it is for you to be repped by a talent agent -- the right talent agent. If you pay attention closely you will learn what to look for in the right agent and what that agent should be telling you that will make you understand that they are the right agent for you. This is the education about the entertainment industry that is not taught in school. If you want to succeed in the entertainment industry, I urge you to read, or listen to this book.
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- Lois Creamer
- 06-12-16
Bogged down ..
Interesting but bogged down by a constantly mentioning names that no mere mortal could keep straight.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Daniel R Granger
- 02-08-15
I was so sad for this book to end!
What made the experience of listening to The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business the most enjoyable?
This book combined everything I want in an audio book: History, Hollywood, Business lessons, and a delivery by Marlin May so good it kept pace perfectly with Frank Rose's brilliant writing. I just wish this book went on forever.
Any additional comments?
Elvis, Sinatra, Monroe. There were so many behind the scenes Hollywood tales about people that have impacted us, some famous, and many of whom we've never heard. Rose brilliantly weaves each individual person's story into the largest narrative of the Agency that has made such an impact for over a century. And while Rose has us in the palm of his hand with masterful storytelling, Marlin May sinks his teeth into every line and delivers us into a world of wonder and mystique of days past in a world that no longer exists. Together, they paint the picture of Hollywood's evolution through the lens of the William Morris Agency to perfection.
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- James Paris
- 02-10-18
A seemingly honest and dramatic portrayal of the entertainment business
This was a very honest and forthright portrayal of the entertainment industry. Specifically, it focused on the William Morris talent agency. I was always fascinated with the agency and it was interesting to learn its history. This is a very good book to read.
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- sylvia mason
- 08-26-16
Whew...finally finished it
What did you like best about The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business? What did you like least?
What I liked the best was the overview of the history of the company and the tiny bits of interesting stories about certain artists. What I disliked was - the details were overwhelming (too many names to keep up with), the length of the story, the inconsequential side stories that I expected would be picked up later but simply fell off the cliff and the narrator's voice was much too monotone for this kind of in-depth story.
What could Frank Rose have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Finished any of the 'side stories', shortened the story by eliminating the details that didn't seem to fit into the story of the company (we learned more about CAA than I expected) and because the company's history is almost a hundred years long, I wouldn't have told the story in such a linear way...made it boring.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
The narrator's voice was rather monotone and because of the length of the story, and the linear way in which it was written, yes, the narration matched the pace of the story...unfortunately.
Was The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business worth the listening time?
Nope - not almost 22 hours. A few hours with the highlights - probably.
Any additional comments?
Appreciated the facts and some stories but too long and overwhelming with details.
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2 people found this helpful
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- G
- 04-06-16
good Hollywood Story. Horrible narrator.
A fascinating insight into the world of Hollywood agents. Great for anyone in the industry. However, the narrator speaks with a monotone that makes him sound like Siri, and it's very annoying. Also he mispronounces many famous Hollywood names, and obviously he doesn't know anything about the story he's narrating. still, worth a listen if you're in the industry.
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- James M. Patton
- 09-01-17
21 hours with 15 hours of asides - Poorly Done
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Not really, and here is why:
First off: Are we sure this was "Unabridged"? Because at around 10 hrs and 12 minutes into part two the thing ends in the middle of a conversation with Mike Ovitz. I logged on to double check that I hadn't missed Part 3. There was no part 3, so I guess the author spent 21 hours of filler and about the time we got to actually quoting the participants, the typewriter ribbon gave out.
That said, this book is the type that has to constantly veer off into side stories and unnecessary details. Literally, if an agent of William Morris has a heart attack and a doctor is summoned, a brief biography of the doctor is given. Like I need to know the history of the doctor, or even that a doctor was summoned. How about you say they "had a heart attack and was out of the office 6 weeks"? It would have saved 4 minutes of time describing the doctor, mode of transportation to the hospital, the garish walls of the room they stayed in, their wife's reaction to the heart attack, and a lot of other detours that drag us away from the Willliam Morris story.
I would say out of 21 hours there is maybe 5 hours of good material here. The rest is asides and description. This is coming from someone who averages a book a week and loves memoirs and biographies regarding Hollywood. I would rather we cut some of the asides and the book not go off a cliff during the Ovitz era.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The fact that William Morris was scheduled to travel on the Titanic but had to cancel at the last minute due to a business issue, and later was scheduled to travel on the last voyage of the Lusitania and again had to reschedule, dodging death both times. And after all of that, the Hollywood Blacklist took down his son.
Beyond that, there were brief moments the curtain was pulled back and you got a chance to learn the inner workings of the Morris Agency and what it faced through the years, before the curtain closed so that an in-depth description of the curtain, including what it was made of and the family history of the curtain's maker pulled you back out of the William Morris offices and took you to your sad place.
Have you listened to any of Marlin May’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Not that I know of. When I hit part 2, I changed my speed on my MP4 to Fast and realized it made the tempo go better and got me through the asides a lot quicker. I rarely do this because I want to savor a book; but in this case, I needed to stay awake.
Was The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business worth the listening time?
Yes and no. I am glad I know the history that I gleaned from it, but sorry I wasted the time learning about that doctor at the hospital that escaped the Bronx and worked his way through medical school at night to be the one to not save an agent, etc.
Any additional comments?
"Powerhouse: The Story of CAA" should be about the lowest version of a book on this topic, and it was ok. The Agency is really not worth the time or money/credit for what you do learn, unless, like me, you have ran out of memoirs available and you are desperate to have something to listen to. If that is the case, set your MP4 to Fast, and be ready to hear about doctors, curtains, and all of the other things that we can take just a moment to talk about before returning to our feature presentation.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Bindy Wuertenberg
- 01-22-17
Informative look into the cogs of the Hollywood Machines
Wow! I was ALWAYS so curious about how things started and worked with these big powerhouses of the film industry.
William Morris has been such a big name in the industry. Even today we still hear many of the names listed as a part of this agency.
What a fascinating look into the world where only the most powerful in Hollywood play a game of high stakes gambling on the backs of the talent that walks through the doors.
If you are fascinated by actors/actresses, films, movies, Hollywood, and or the history of some of the most powerful men in the industry of film, and Hollywood..., this book is for you!
Yes!! The stories you've heard are true!
Peddling the flesh of new talents and fighting to hold onto what they have..., the William Morris Agency is cut throat, and at times ruthless.
A book well worth the time and the money👍🏻
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- Jim
- 04-13-15
Talentless reader detracts from excellent book.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, the subject material is fascinating.
Who was your favorite character and why?
It was a broad overview of the William Morris Agency and too many characters to name just one.
How could the performance have been better?
The reader has all the inflection of a dial tone. It was difficult to concentrate on the story because he read so poorly. I can't believe a book with such extraordinary and interesting subject matter was given to someone with virtually no talent. His diction was fine, but he had zero personality and one had to make a conscious effort to dismiss his lackluster ability. What were they thinking? His reading undermines this fascinating book.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
How to read a book like a junior high school C-student.
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- Chris
- 09-13-17
Waste of Time
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
1. A narrator who actually sounds interesting. Marlin's reading sounded incredibly dry, it was hard to get used to.
2. The book itself wasn't focused--it went on half a million tangents that contributed little to nothing to the story of the William Morris Agency.
3. Despite being published in 2013, the history of William Morris ends back in the 90s--before the IMG and Endeavor mergers. So any hope that we'd get a real look into how William Morris started and how it became what it is today (or at least, effective 2013) is disappointingly absent.
4. The last 1/4 of the book is basically a slow trudging experience describing how old and dying and ineffective everyone at William Morris became...There is a giant disconnect between what looks like the death of the William Morris agency at the end of this book and the reality of where they are today (what with their IMG/Endeavor mergers/acquisitions) that begs the question, "what happened?!"
Has The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business turned you off from other books in this genre?
No.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Dry reading; he didn't sound interesting or excited about anything. He also didn't know how to pronounce a few words here, which was mildly annoying. But the dryness is the worst part.
What character would you cut from The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business?
All the random people who have nothing to do with the William Morris agency. There are too many tangents in this book.
Any additional comments?
I listened to this hoping to understand WME's roots and understanding their position in the market as of the time this book was written (2013), but it was majorly disappointing. Not only do the historical accounts end in the 90s, but most of the details in the book are irrelevant or otherwise add little to nothing to the conversation. I felt like they went into more detail on some of the stars themselves than the actual agency. For example, there were entire sections for Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, the CAA offshoot from William Morris, but even less on what was keeping William Morris going towards the end of the book.
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