George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals

Book Overview

Contributors include Harold Bloom, Jules Feiffer, John Guare, Norman Mailer, Peter Matthiessen, Maggie Paley, Richard Price, James Salter, Robert Silvers, William Styron, Gay Talese, Calvin Trillin,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400063981
• ISBN13: 9781400063987
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 423 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Engrossing Chatter about a Charming Man

George Plimpton was the editor of the Paris Review, a droll and self-deprecating sports journalist, a toastmaster supreme, and a prominent but rebellious society figure. In all of these public roles, Plimpton evinced immense class and charm, which GEORGE, BEING GEORGE actually captures best by publishing a few of Plimpton's editorial memos, as well as remarks that he made at the 2001 alumni dinner for Exeter, his prep school. In these documents, Plimpton's amazing voice--graceful, intelligent, tasteful, and funny--is there, on the page. Surely, it is the sensibility animating this voice that made Plimpton a celebrity and a much beloved figure in literary New York. Readers who want to experience this sensibility might purchase The Paris Review Anthology, which provides highlights from this literary magazine from 1953 to 1987. While Plimpton's written contributions to this anthology are limited to introductions, the authors he spotted and promoted are truly an A-list in American letters. In the section of this book headed 1981-1987, for example, the Paris Review published fiction from such authors as Bass, Boyle, Carver, Gass, McInerney, Minot, Rush, and Simpson. And, it published poems from Ashberry, Brodkey, Brodsky, Galassi, Heaney, and Hustvedt. To spot and/or promote these talents was clearly a great service to people who enjoy literature. GEORGE, BEING GEORGE also establishes that the Paris Review, while a distinguished literary journal, was chronically short of money. But Plimpton kept the ship afloat through his charm, which helped him secure patrons, as well as generous cash infusions from his own bank account. Once again, thank you George. At the same time, GEORGE, BEING GEORGE does look behind the Plimpton persona. In particular, it presents many comments from his two wives that show he was a sometimes difficult husband. Essentially, Plimpton lived large, making his living (and paying his heavy expenses) as a celebrity toastmaster. To play this part, Plimpton was always out and about, being George, what Philip Roth described in Exit Ghost (Vintage International) as an "urbane witty gentleman of easy intelligence and aristocratic bearing." This secured fame and a lush livelihood while keeping the Paris Review afloat. But apparently, George belonged to his public as much as to his wives. One contributor compares Plimpton, in the early years of his first marriage, to John Kennedy, who was not malicious but just did as he pleased. Both John and George were difficult mates. GEORGE, BEING GEORGE is composed of hundreds of interlaced comments from 200 of Plimpton's associates, friends, and family members. Often, these comments focus on George, the celebrity, which was not especially interesting to me. Further, this dependence on comments has a reductive effect on Plimpton's literary achievements. Yes, this technique does convey the premise and project flow of his self-deprecatory sports journalism. But it excludes excerpts from his work.

George Plimpton, A LIFE!!!!

George Plimpton was a guy who lived life to the fullest every day of his life. This book by Nelson Aldrich, using letters and statements from his friends and wife and others clarifys the way he chose to live, bringing The Paris Review to fruition, and following his adventures in the sporting world and beyond. I met him once aboard a transatlantic crossing on the QE2, and thoroughly enjoyed his company and his tales of his life. This was a page turner for me and highly recommend this book.

Getting it Right

Nelson Aldrich, already a noted and perceptive writer, has done a marvellous job of creating this oral history of George Plimpton whom he knew well all his life. There are so many interviews with people who had disparate contacts, opinions, and experiences with George, that his joyful but complicated life really shines through. My wife, my children and I knew him pretty well,in a purely social way; I didn't work for him, didn't go out with him, didn't start a magazine with him and was determinedly just a non-lit pal. Thus,I was so enthralled by the way Aldrich covered the endless facets of George's life, weaving in the fascinating family tensions, the serious writing,the glamorous ladies,the incredible parties, and his more famous sports adventures. There is a wonderful lack of tidy sequence to the book, and that I can tell you was completely George. It's a surprising adventure for someone who wants to know a unique man, set in the cinematic background of New York in the last fifty years. Geoffrey McNair Gates