Reviews for The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa

The average rating for The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-08-31 00:00:00 Molly Reed Imagine? He fills your room with flowers. He changes his hotel room to be next to yours to "feel you through the walls." Maybe he sends a limo and escort to take you shopping for something special to wear for dinner. He's a great dancer. He's dashing on a horse or in a race car. The impeccable manners match his perfectly tailored clothes. Why would you think that he represents a Saddam Hussein style manager of a Caribbean nation and its torture chambers? Why would you think he's an accessory to murder? a murderer? a jewel thief? a profiteer from passports sold to Jews desperate to escape Hitler? Now what is it he does with the fleet of fishing boats his 3rd wife gave him? He doesn't think about any of this, so why should you? Levy does a great job of tracking Rubi down. It was an intercontinental life in 5 languages, but that would be the easy part, since facts (the ones that Rubi doesn't want anyone to know) are like the proverbial jello nailed to a wall. In his last chapter Levy tries to opine on the meaning of it all and finds very little. What if Rubi had joined the Dominican resistance? (would never cross his mind.) The closest thing he finds to meaning is a Langston Hughes obituary noting Rubi's (possible) race, which no one had noticed before. Rubi was a man of his time, but not all time. Why? Where are the Rubis of the world today? Have divorce lawyers and pre-nups driven them out of business? Have the women lost their sense of romance? Rubi with Madonna? Paris Hilton? Oprah? Martha Stewart? They just don't seem so emotionally vulnerable. Maybe the playboys are still here, sub rosa (pun) in blue jeans, the veritable playboy next door. Or maybe our consciousness has been raised and no acting career can be built when you're seen with the rep. of a 3rd world strong man. Maybe men have become better attuned to women, such that Rubi's sweet nothings are not the tonic they once could be. Maybe drugs have sapped the energy needed to drink all night and play polo the next day. I became aware of Rubi through my interest in Doris Duke. Levy cites the Mansfield book as the best bio of her. While Mansfield has put together the story, it needs a lot more sifting through. Levy's 3 chapters on Doris flesh out her story. I'd like for Levy go back to his notes, maybe team up with Mansfield, and pack in more research. Doris has (or maybe Doris is) a story aching to be told. The survivors, just like those of Rubi, won't be here forever. Levy, with this difficult work, shows that he's up to it.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-05-25 00:00:00 Ruth Settle Disappointingly narrow in scope. Pretty much lifestyle porn with a small dose of cold war intrigue. I guess a book about a playboy who succeeded in his ambition to do nothing beyond chase women and money and ride fast cars should be this punchless.