Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Hiltons
The True Story of an American Dynasty
Randy Taraborrelli
Read by Robert Petkoff

Grand Central Publishing
April 1, 2014/ ISBN 147892764X
NonFiction / Biography / Audiobook - Unabridged / 20 CD set

Reviewed by Nicole Merritt

 

If you are interested in Hollywood gossip this is the audio book you’ve been looking for. Although the title emphatically states it’s about the Hiltons, it’s more of a saga than a biography.

The story begins and ends with Zsa Zsa Gabor as the protagonist. While it traces the history of the Hilton family, pre-Paris Hilton, it does not delve into the historic creative efforts of Conrad Hilton’s rise to hotelier. It does give dates and times and routes the historic moves in building the empire, but it lacks the historic biographical information to make it an in depth study.

The audio book reader’s voice is pleasant and easy to follow, and his Zsa Zsa impersonation is noticeable, but sometimes distracting. The story is well researched and interesting. The reader will learn many of the private thoughts behind the famous hotelier’s dealings involving his son, Nicky’s, destructive alcoholism and death, his dramatic marriage to Zsa Zsa along with her daughter’s later lawsuit, his daughter’s legitimacy issue, and many behind the scenes feelings and opinions that shaped his life.

I enjoyed the book. It is long and will definitely take some time to get through it, but I think the reader will come away with a good sense of the Hilton family and how it was shaped through the years.

 
Reviewed 2014
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