Zane Grey was a disappointed aspirant to major league baseball and an unhappy dentist when he belatedly decided to take up writing at the age of thirty. He went on to become the most successful American author of the 1920s, a significant figure in the early development of the film industry, and a central player in the early popularity of the Western. Thomas H. Pauly's work is the first full-length biography of Grey to appear in over thirty years. Using a hitherto unknown trove of letters and journals, including never-before-seen photographs of his adventures--both natural and amorous--Zane Grey has greatly enlarged and radically altered the current understanding of the superstar author, whose fifty-seven novels and one hundred and thirty movies heavily influenced the world's perception of the Old West.
As a long time devoted Zane Grey fan, this book confirmed much of what I had already known about the man, and did not diminish any respect I had for him as a writer. Thomas Pauly indeed has done a magnificent job in collecting and compiling a massive amount of information into an entertaining and informative book about a man who lived the life of adventurer, writer, and sportsman. For those who want to know more about Zane Grey this book will give you all of the details, both good and bad, his strengths, his weaknesses, as husband, father, family man, and much much more. And as the title suggests, Zane Grey was involved with many women over the years, and it has just been in the last few years this facet of his life has become known officially. There had been hints of this activity but the family managed to keep it secret believing it would hurt his image and consequently sales of his books. Instead, I believe, it has only opened Zane Grey up to many more people and created an interest in him and his novels. This is a marvelous biography. I do wish it had included a complete bibliography, as the best source named in the book is impossible to find.
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