ROBERT L. RIPLEY, MODERN MARCO POLO

by Bob Considine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 1961

Candid and compact, and at times as carefree as a comic strip, journalist Considine's portrait of the legendary Ripley should prove a delightful diversion for the older generation, especially in these jumpy months. Reaching his apogee during the madcap Twenties and the depressed Thirties, Ripley's life may not read stranger than fiction, but it certainly played him for a Character of the first rank. As the world's original millionaire cartoonist, he received more mail than any king or president anywhere, sailed the seven perilous seas in his own yacht yet couldn't swim a stroke, housed on his estate a pet boa constrictor, a dog cemetery, an erotica collection, an international harem, and the top celebrities of the day. He also had a wild success in radio, films, books, an Auditorium at the World's Fair, and TV. His ""Believe It Or Not"" strip went round the globe, as did his love life; his statistical ""shockers"" often edged out dictators in the headlines; he was an American chauvinist who loved old China with a passion; he travelled from small town to penthouse, from shy young man to playboy; he came to the end of a riotous route on quasi-paranoia and tippling. Anecdotal, affectionate, often amusing, never in bad taste, this will entertain quite a few.

Pub Date: Oct. 20, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION