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 enlarge | Author: Neal Gabler
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
Buy New: $11.70
You Save: $8.30 (42%)
New (25) Used (8) Collectible (1) from $11.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 11873
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 912
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8
ISBN: 0679757473
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43092
EAN: 9780679757474
ASIN: 0679757473
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080906212818T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amazing Book April 13, 2008
Simply amazing book. The depth of research and objective look into WD's personality is an awesome feat. The willingness to set aside the national collective notion of who and what Disney is and let the facts speak for themselves is refreshing when delving into the world of Disney. So much of the copious copy on the man and the World that is recycled in numerous books, simply supports and fuels the myth that has endured. Gabler's book minutely documents how the mythological force of Walt Disney came to be in the first place.
It's a long book (I felt accomplished to have read the whole thing) but there is so much research done- with primary sources that every page is packed and dense with information. I never felt the text to ramble on.
Gabler didn't shy away from the touchy subject of whether Walt was a good guy or bad guy and simply presents the human who was Walt Disney. That said, I would have liked to see a little bit more information on Gunther Lessing. It seems as if the lawyer was extremely influential on Disney yet only mentioned in passing in the book.
It would be great to see an equal book to this chronicling the history of the Disney company after Walt's death to the present.
 Not Bad for 26 CDs February 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
When I saw this book in my local library and saw that there were 26 CDs, I thought, "This better be a good book!" I did not want to be bored to death by someone droning on about Walt Disney. I was not let down. It fulfilled my image of Walt Disney and gave tremendous insights into his life and quest to achieve perfection.
I was very impressed and enjoyed the book a great deal. I am an attorney by trade and a study of successful people by hobby. I have read numerous biographies and consider this one of my favorites. There were times I laughed out loud and, by the time I reached the 25th CD, I cried with his family at his death. It was an excellent read and the 26 CDs go quickly!
Walt Disney January 25, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book gives more information about Walt Disney than I thought was known. Well written and detailed. A must read about Walt Disney.
A new look at an animation great January 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love to learn history through biographies and this one did not disappoint. Great people in history are often on the cusp of disaster since they are innovators - Walt Disney was not different. I learned a lot and loved the story.
A meticulous, serious biography. January 13, 2008
Neal Gabler's "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination" is a painstakingly researched, unapologetically serious biography of the man who, for better or worse, left his indelible stamp upon the imaginations of all Americans and a large part of the world. Thanks to Disney, people really do believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. Disney held up the example of his own life as proof; of course, it also helps to be as ambitious, driven, hard-working and brilliant as Walt Disney was. Gabler does a marvelous job of recreating Disney's impoverished, drudgery-laden boyhood. He throws into bas-relief the precious escape that imagination provided for young Walt, and also the one idyllic period of his early life--the few years spent in the small town of Marceline, Mo.--that eventually provided the impetus for both Disneyland and the nostalgic movies of his later career, such as "Pollyanna" and "So Dear to My Heart." Gabler also provides meticulous detail as to how Disney started his animation studio, how he assembled his crack team of animators, and how he led them to create such masterpieces as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," a truly revolutionary film in its time. Gabler's minute descriptions of the business deals that made Disney films and Disneyland possible can be tedious, but historically they are of great importance, and Gabler is right to devote so much space to them. The Disney Gabler portrays is a massively contradictory man: a folksy, friendly guy who kept his distance from other people, a loving but distracted husband and father, a decent and honorable man who ran roughshod over his employees. Obsessive, capricious, hot-tempered perfectionists generally do not make good bosses. But they do tend to succeed spectacularly at whatever they set out to do, and Walt Disney succeeded spectacularly in making his name synonymous with fun, joy, and the life of the imagination. This biography is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of film and show business.
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