Very Interesting

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Both informative and interesting. Although long it never felt that way. I must say after finishing, Orson did seem to waste his immense talent.

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Boreson Welles

I love the films of Orson Welles, Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, The Transformers Movie to name but three and I 'liked' the idea of Orson Welles as a single minded, unique voice, creator, actor, writer and director, but having listened to all 22 hours of this 'leave no stone unturned' biography I've come to the conclusion that he was an absolute arse.

Barbara Leaming has done a sterling job in writing her book, spending much time with Boreson himself and her passion for his work is obvious, nor can I condemn Grace Conlin for her narration. In both cases it's not their fault that I came away with a revised sense of the 'great man'. I was left with the sense that Welles wasn't a nice man, he was a driven uber egotist who pursued his obsessive goals with no apparent consideration for family or friends. Told he was a genius from an early age it's clear that it gave him carte blanche to barrell through life screaming ME! ME! ME! LOOK AT ME! FEED ME! LOVE ME! TELL ME I'M GREAT! And despite much denial in this book, it's clear he was indeed a man who got bored and hated to finish off projects, or films. That said, it's sad how many of his projects failed because he couldn't get backing and it's also safe to say he peaked at the age of 26 with Kane.

In all honesty I got bored listening to his life and had to skip through several chapters. It did make me want to check out some of his films I've not seen but I was left feeling sorry for those he left in his considerable wake.

Interesting and detailed but somewhat exhausting.

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