Born in the bucolic Austrian village of Thal, many miles from anywhere, Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to become a body-building champ, an action movie star, a Kennedy husband and The Governator: the Republican governor of California.Yes, it’s a true Hollywood tale, this one.
Painting Arnie as a cultural and political icon, Laurence Leamer’s Fantastic offers jaw-dropping insights into the sweaty, sneakily strategic world of professional body-building; the promise, pretense and power that is Hollywood film-making; and the snakes ‘n ladders of electoral campaigning – with Arnie injecting guttural insights at every turn.
Leamer, a prominent Kennedy biographer, has a real inside track. But his opus, albeit fascinating and meticulously researched, is hardly objective. Arnie is charismatic and complex, but he’s no Kennedy; no “man who could change the face of politics in America”. It’s also a flight of biographical fancy to term a good action hero “the biggest movie star in the world”.
Nonetheless, Fantastic is a satisfying read. And Arnie, although he comes across dof, could teach us all a thing or two about self-marketing. In which he’s a pro to rival even Trump.
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