Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed

A fascinating story of four drunken, promiscuous, selfish, destructive and talented actors. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Just when you thought the behaviour of these thugs could not get any worse it often did and certainly got no better. Women were treated like shagging material and casually cast aside in their scores when they had served their brief purpose. Faithful wives were treated appallingly. The exception being the spoilt, demanding, drunken Elizabeth Taylor who screwed Richard Burton, in every sense, till the end of their two marriages. A former husband of Taylor, Eddie Fisher, said a $50,000 diamond would please her for only a few days.They got away with their destructive behaviour - smashing up restaurants and hotels was their forte - because of the adulation, amounting to a societal disease, that we accord to those we deem to be celebrities. But Nemesis stalked them in the form of alcohol. Their daily consumption, throughout their days and much of their nights, was gargantuan. And when the party was over their end was pitiful as they deteriorated in body and mind.Yet this was a story with lessons offered to rest of us. Most of us, certainly myself, lead constricted lives, anxious to please, concerned about our reputations. These four renegades defied authority, ignored the restrictions of society and lived life without restraint. Having read theirstories I found myself wondering if I too could benefit from being a lot less ready to submit to the petty tyranies that are visited on us. Thebook is full of stories that will make you laugh and at other times your skin will crawl. And, as another reviewer rightly said, they are sodifferent to the bland celebrities of today and the telling of their banal activities.If you want an entertaining escape into lives so outrageous that they seem to recognise no limits then this is the book to provide it.

Feels like I have been drinking just reading about these titans of British cinema.Throughout there are references to other actors who should be equally heralded for their love of the booze.Search out Reed All About Me whose boozy tales will also raise a smile. And a glass!

Really good book, interesting read. Exciting and depressing in equal measures. Could have been shorter and I had hoped for more 'new' stories. I won't fault the author though, so much is known about these hellraisers that it's hard to pluck new material.

An interesting read of the boozy ways of four well known actors the book takes us through each decade with lurid tales switching from actor to actor, in this way where they come across each other it works quite well. I would imagine quite a lot of research went into to this and its does make for interesting reading; entertaining, if repetitive, stories of unbelievable antics.Some people may think these actors had some deep troubles to drive them to booze it up so much, perhaps Richard Burton did (he was married to Elizabeth Taylor after all) but the rest seem to have just done it because the enjoyed it and they hated the thought of living a conventional life.

The author would have done a better job if he wrote separate chapters for each actor.The to and fro is annoying.Sorry, but I can only give the book three stars for reason given above.