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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
EAN num: 9780312359867
ISBN number: 0312359861
Label: St. Martin's Press
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: January 15, 2008
Publishing house: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 52126
Studio: St. Martin's Press
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1992: Andrew Morton showed a Princess in a light we had never seen before--Diana: Her True Story became a #1 New York Times bestseller.
1999: Andrew Morton revealed the young woman behind the blue dress--Monica’s Story was a #1 New York Times bestseller.
January 15, 2008: Andrew Morton uncovers the true story of the biggest celebrity of our age.
Everyone knows Tom Cruise---or at least what he wants us to know. We know that he overcame a difficult childhood to star in astonishing array of blockbusters: Top Gun, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire, three Mission: Impossible movies, War of the Worlds, and more. We know he has taken artistic chances, too, and as a result has earned three Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globes, along with the respect of acting legends like Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman.
After that, the picture becomes a little less clear. We know that Tom is a Scientologist, but not necessarily what that means in his life. We know that, despite persistent rumors about his sexuality, he has been married to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes. But it was not until the spring of 2005, when he jumped on Oprah’s couch to proclaim his love for Katie and denounced Brooke Shields for turning to the “Nazi science” of psychiatry, that we began to realize how much we didn’t know about the charming, hardworking star.
For two years, award-winning biographer Andrew Morton has been tirelessly seeking out everyone from former teachers and girlfriends to Scientology insiders to friends who have watched a once-bullied, “nothing special” outsider transform himself into an icon Forbes has called the most powerful celebrity in the world Here, with never-seen photos and never-heard revelations, is a riveting, sometimes shocking portrait of the real Tom Cruise---his work, his love life, his marriages, his religion---from a master at uncovering the true story behind the public face of celebrity.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is one of the best contemporary biographies that I have read in years! And while it may be old news - in that so many have already reviewed this book, I simply feel compelled to add this thought. Hailing originally from New Jersey myself, and knowing the soil from which this fantastic actor was raised, I stand in awe of what Andrew Morton brilliantly conveyed in Tom Cruise's courageous journey to his celebrity status today. And while it appears from the bio that many felt the book to be biased regarding aspects of Cruise's personal life, it struck me as extremely balanced in content and tone. Upon completion of the book, I had even more respect for Cruise as an actor who has provided me with so many terrific hours of entertainment in countless films. Little does it matter to me what personal choices he (or frankly...anyone makes) regarding their beliefs in a country that is supposed to be the home of the *free* and the brave. For the price offered by Amazon, and no matter your perspective, Morton provides a first-rate biography of one great actor in our time.
Rated by buyers -
I thought this book provided a really interesting look at Tom Cruise especially when you consider everything that's been revealed about him in recent years (or what's been hinted at). The journalist gave his life a fair, factual treatment, as you would expect given the potential for litigation in publishing a book like this. It was interesting enough that I read it very quickly, and when I lent it to some friends that are a couple they fought over who got to read the book they thought it was so interesting.
Rated by buyers 
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so much hype for this book. It was not that great a read. I'm glad I waited for it from the library rather than purchasing it.
Rated by buyers -
This is an informative tell-all story of Tom's life including details from his early childhood up until the present. His childhood was fraught with financial and emotional difficulty especially after his father divorced his mother. He had to work hard for nice things and a sense of security but was very much a typical young macho guy. His larger-than-life personality came out in his teens when he proved to his peers that he could stand up for himself by being a tough guy. His very first true acting debute and subsequent dream to become an actor surfaced when he played the lead in a high school play just before graduation. His involvement in the Scientology movement came later but would have profound impact on his life, career and relationships.
Recommend highly as interesting reading! I couldn't put this down until I got to the end.
Rated by buyers -
Tom Cruise is probably still the most popular Hollywood star after having acted for a quarter of a century, nonetheless, there is very little known about his private life, apart from the usually cheap gossip of the orange press. Like most Hollywood stars he's been very protective and concerned about his past. Whenever reporters tried to find out things about his past on their own he would usually have them threatened with law suits through his many lawyers.
That is why this book is so interesting and revealing. Credit has to be given to Andrew Morton, the author who actually talked to those people that knew Tom from the past. He found out some things that directly dispute the "nice guy from subsequent door" image that Tom has always promoted about himself. Apart from finding out that while during his early youth when Tom and his family were in Canada he was at best a mediocre student, Morton also got into his abusive father's relationship with Tom. His father was mostly harsh to Tom and often down right abusive. Thus it should come as no surprise that when Tom was about 12 years old his mother decided to leave their father behind, and just got the kids and left in a fly-by-night manner across the border back to the USA. While Tom was going to school in Canada, and later back in the USA, he always felt the need to fit in with the most accepted and esteemed kids at the school. Although he usually tried hard to impress them, they usually didn't let him hang out with him, since he was seen as a short and somewhat average guy, and thus not cool or special enough to be part of their highly esteemed crowd.
As Tom was getting a bit older and closer to finishing high school he realized that he was a lady's man. Girls tended to like him, since he was good looking and apparently somewhat charming. It was also during high school that he began to realize his potential and talent as an actor. Ironically, it was a friend of Tom's who said that he should try getting into acting seriously. The girl who gave Tom this advice was at the time the leader of the cheerleading team who had herself already been in a commercial or two. Years later when Tom had just begun to play in his very first few Hollywood movies, as a young but still mostly unknown actor she remembered a humiliating encounter with Tom. She had long a ago given up acting as a career, and become a waitress. Now unexpectedly Tom came to the restaurant in which she was serving him as a waitress, him the new aspiring Hollywood movie star. She explained to Morton that she never felt so humiliated in her life. Although Tom was nice to her, she couldn't stop thinking how it had been her that told Tom to become a serious actor, and now here she was, of all things, a waitress serving Tom.
Morton`s book is good in describing the personality of Tom Cruise in real life situations. For example, we find out that Tom has always been a control freak, especially in his relationships with women. Perhaps the reason why his 10 year old marriage with Nicole Kidman failed was due to the fact that he couldn't control her as much has he wanted to. Toward the end of their marriage, she was filming intimate love scenes with another scottish actor, who it must be said, spoke about this episode in such a provocative manner that it could only frustrate a control freak, like Tom. It is also very interesting to note, that despite the fact that it was Nicole that often criticized Tom, it was ultimately Tom who ended their 10 year long marriage. The weird thing about that was the fact that Tom never told her why he left her, when Nicole asked him why all he would say was you know why. This sounds a lot like he didn't want to mention his reason for leaving her, because that would probably have involved having to say that he wanted more control over their relationship. Something that obviously Nicole would not have approved of. It also seems that another reason for the failure of their marriage was the movie "Eyes Wide Shut" that they acted in together. Here both Nicole and Tom had to have love and sex scenes with other film partners. Knowning Tom it must have been especially tough for him to watch Nicole filming sexual scenes with another man. According to Morton director Stanley Kubric was really being harsh on both Tom and Nicole during the extensive filming of this movie. He actually filmed several scenes of Nicole having intimate sex, although he knew that virtually all of it would never make it into the movie, and would thus be left over material for the trash can. Apparently, he took such great pleasure out of ordering Nicole into filming serveral of these scenes that they were almost pornographic. This in itself must have been a heavy burden for their marriage and especially for Tom's ego, that is known to be rather bloated.
But apart from their serperation, which clearly hurt Niclole the most, it is Tom's obssession with Scientology which takes ... Read More
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