True Believer
The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
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True Believer
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Narrated by:
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Vikas Adam
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Written by:
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Abraham Riesman
About this listen
The definitive, revelatory biography of Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, a writer and entrepreneur who reshaped global pop culture—at a steep personal cost
HUGO AWARD FINALIST • “A biography that reads like a thriller or a whodunit . . . scrupulously honest, deeply damning, and sometimes even heartbreaking.”—Neil Gaiman
Stan Lee was one of the most famous and beloved entertainers to emerge from the twentieth century. He served as head editor of Marvel Comics for three decades and, in that time, became known as the creator of more pieces of internationally recognizable intellectual property than nearly anyone: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk . . . the list goes on. His carnival-barker marketing prowess helped save the comic-book industry and superhero fiction. His cameos in Marvel movies have charmed billions. When he died in 2018, grief poured in from around the world, further cementing his legacy.
But what if Stan Lee wasn’t who he said he was? To craft the definitive biography of Lee, Abraham Riesman conducted more than 150 interviews and investigated thousands of pages of private documents, turning up never-before-published revelations about Lee’s life and work. True Believer tackles tough questions: Did Lee actually create the characters he gained fame for creating? Was he complicit in millions of dollars’ worth of fraud in his post-Marvel life? Which members of the cavalcade of grifters who surrounded him were most responsible for the misery of his final days?
And, above all, what drove this man to achieve so much yet always boast of more?
©2020 Abraham Riesman (P)2020 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
"Illuminating.... A well-researched, engrossing and compulsively readable book." (Los Angeles Times)
“Tantalizing...Riesman puts in the hard yards to separate fact from myth.” (Dorian Lynskey, The Spectator)
“An illuminating and reliable account of Lee’s improbable odyssey.” (Jacob Heilbrunn, Washington Monthly)
What listeners say about True Believer
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- 4XampL
- 2021-02-17
Sample was annoyingly terrible
There should be reviews for samples.
I still bought the book, but woman oh man, that sample was grating on the ears. Just get me a Marvel anecdote to whet my earhole.
Who in the heck decided that that what I just heard should be the 5 minutes we get to hear? If the book is like that for the first 30 minutes, I will return the book.
This review is mostly for the publishers - please pick a different sample, unless that is truly the best you have to offer us. If that is the case, then this will go down like a lead balloon.
Ok, I will most likely come back and edit this after listening, but what a shocker sample.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-03-04
A vicious muckraking of a beloved figure
the author makes it clear at the beginning that he is no fan of Stan Lee, and goes to length to denigrate Stan's accomplishments, giving far more credence to others suggesting Stan had nothing to do with the creation of the characters he is known for while showing no evidence to support this stance.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jean Carrieres
- 2021-12-29
Revealing and speculative
This book is written by someone who also writes for gossip websites, so you have to take its content with a grain of salt. It paints a biased but interesting portrait of a flawed and talentless man who wanted to do something other than comics with his life. The author seems to have done his research, but much of the book (let's say about a quarter) feels like speculations written by someone attempting to paint a complete picture from the verbal descriptions of others. Whether this is fiction of an accurate portrait of Stan Lee, it's an interesting book about someone who probably wasn't as large as the legend he's become.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-05-13
If you dislike Stan Lee this book is for you!
The author seemingly has a personal issue against Stan Lee and spends the duration of his book diminishing any and all of the positive contributions Stan Lee made throughout his life/career.
If you are a fan of Stan and Marvel comics you are better off listening to podcasts like Robservations with Rob Liefeld, or Fatman on Batman with Kevin Smith. Save your money/credits and skip this book.
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