Valentino: A Dream of Desire

by David Bret

In this unique biography of the world's greatest lover, there is much unpublished material to reveal the real Valentino, a man who was sexually attracted to other men and whose relationships with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786719486
• ISBN13: 9780786719488
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Unfairly Condemned

The first most disappointing factor about David Bret's biography, "Valentino: A Dream of Desire", is that it is too brief - a scant 200 pages. The second disappointment is that it has received so many unfairly negative reviews. There is a danger in writing biographies about Hollywood legends - especially those who died tragically young. The danger lies in the fact that the true story is always hopelessly buried underneath a pile of myths, legends, inaccuracies, and lies. Even the very best of biographers have trouble sifting through the rubble. It has happened with Marylin Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis - to name only a few. Everyone who knew them, or claimed to know them, has jumped on the publicity bandwagon with books, articles, interviews, and documentaries, ad nauseum. Unfortunately, sources straight from the proverbial horse's mouth are often as distorted and unreliable as those from the sleazy Hollywood tabloid renditions. As a free lance writer, silent film fan, and Hollywood history aficionado, I have read nearly every available source concerning the life of Rudolph Valentino and have talked to several people who knew him. No source is definitive and most are biased in one way or another. Ask twenty people an opinion and you'll inevitably get twenty different answers. Having published several magazine articles about Valentino early in my writing career, I was bombarded with the same negative responses that David Bret is presently getting - simply because I concluded that Valentino was possibly bisexual, but much more probably homosexual. A bleak revelation to naive fans of Hollywood's legendary Lothario. Widely circulated stories about Valentino's gay escapades are far too numerous to be ignored. His unconsummated marriages to known Lesbians clearly does not indicate a heterosexual predilection. Valentino was plagued with an immature vulnerability, through which he saw many women as mother figures rather than sexual objects. His ambitious wife Natacha Rambova took full advantage of this weakness. David Bret's biography,"A Dream of Desire",makes full use of reliable sources and isn't nearly as inaccurate as some reviewers would have us believe. His observations are largely astute and on the mark. If there is a negative aspect to this biography, it is that Mr. Bret relies far too heavily on the sexual rumors that plagued Valentino's existence. Had the Latin lover dallied with everyone named in the book, he probably wouldn't have had any time for a movie career. Those people looking for a scholarly, indepth profile of Valentino should probably go elsewhere. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to believe that gay liaisons were (and are) rampant in Hollywood should definitely go elsewhere. Those who want a brief, but largely accurate bio of the legendary silent screen star will find Mr. Bret's book a satisfying read. One brief afterthought: In the Product Details describing this book, it is listed as having 336 pages. This has to be

A gay's man hell

What really interested me most in David Bret's account of Valentino's life was the gay scene of the 1920s in Hollywood. I believe that is very useful to understand that gay attitudes were not born in the 1960s. I feel compassion and anger for the supressed sexuality of million of men and women.