This is a great story of a strange man. Someone who got power, defined the celebrity personal interest story, exploited the influence he developed, thought he was God, and ruined his own life. It is especially compelling reading when it becomes clear that our fascination with famous people and their love lives and personal faults is really whipped up by these media people. It is also great when talking about Lucille Ball and how the public embraced her. When you see Winchell making the fateful mistake when siding with McCarthy, it seems like karma. This is a fantastic book.

Although most of us remember Walter Winchell fo rhis rapid-fire narration for the old "Untouchables" television show, he was much more than that. Neal Gabler chronicles Winchell's career and life, but it's his analysis of Winchell's affect on his times and culture that makes this book transcend routine biography. Winchell's became a powerful voice for a time: businessmen wanted to be his friend, celebrities needed him, and politicians feared him. In fact, most people feared him. But somehow, Winchell created a definition of celebrity that has endured even today. Although he may be forgetton in our conscious memories, Winchell still looms large in our cultural memory. This is a stunning biography of a man who fought hard to get it all and fought equally hard to keep his fame and recognition as lost it in a blaze of self-destructiveness. One of the best books I've read in years.

One has to admire Walter Winchell for he had it all: fame, power, money and beautiful women. Everything a man could want. And he had it for a long time (from the 1930s to the 1950s).

He also had an enormous ego which fostered many feuds with others he feared.

An outstanding book.