Citizen Hughes: The Power, the Money and the Madness of the Man portrayed in the Movie THE AVIATOR

In his blacked-out Desert Inn Las Vegas suite, with only Mormon aides under the strictest of rules. Eating only canned goods after the most precise label removed sterilization routines. And the continuous viewing of the movie "Ice Station Zebra" morning, noon and night. This is the unshaved, rarely bathed Howard Hughes in his final years. Las Vegas because of its heat; heat representing in his mind cleanliness and purity. My how the mighty have fallen! Should be a sequel to the film "The Aviator".

Michael Drosnin goes deep into the bowels of the Hughes empire and as a bonus, the deepest pathway into the Washington power elite. (Is there really and honest person in Washington?)Drosnin's technique for skipping back and forth through time was cleverly done through blending the characters names and incidences with subtle reminders. There are many names to remember and in the beginning I thought I may be "screwed" to remember all of them. But this was not the case. This read left me with truly ambivalent feelings for several characters but most of all Hughes. His total waste of his brain power through drugs and isolation and still his remarkable ability to be lucid when demanded of him is insight to the genius he once was. I wish I read this book when it was first published.

A non-stop page turner! Since the seriousness of Drosnin's literary efforts are suspect [given his other works e.g. his bible code books; which should be interpreted for what they are - commercial entertainment - instead of some apocalyptic revelation beyond silliness], I don't know if his "facts" are accurate, but what a great read! Immensely entertaining!

Drosnin's painstaking research makes this book THE most authoritative account of the later years of Howard Hughes. Students of politics will enjoy the tales of political bribery.Citizen Hughes should be reissued for HRH's centennial in 2005.

Michael Drosnin did an excellent job of deciphering all the memos that Howard Hughes exchanged with Robert Maheu (his chief of Las Vegas operations) and writing a cohesive story. He also interviewed many associates to obtain a true picture of what went on with Howard Hughes during his many years of self-imposed exile. I found it to be the most interesting and revealing book about Hughes that I have ever read. I worked for one of his companies for 30 years and I would highly recommend this book.