This may still be the only book recommended for a Pulitzer by the editorial committee; and rejected by the Board of Directors. An excellent book on a highly influential American, whose power would put Rupert Murdoch to shame. ( )

1991 Citizen Hearst: A biography of William Randolph Hearst, by W. A. Swanberg (read 23 Mar 1986) The subject of this biography was born 29 April 1863 in San Francisco and died in Beverly Hills on Aug 14, 1951. The book can only be described as fascinatingly monumental. While I was reading it I often thought that Swanberg has many weaknesses: he is no scholar; he never uses a primary source if a secondary source is available; he is really only a journalist. Hearst was a very unlikable person--his wasteful spending made me rejoice when he about went broke in 1937. It is astounding that he was a major candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1904--he was a second-term Congressman at the time. His utter disregard for truth in journalism is really sickening. I would like to go to San Simeon and look over the castle--it is open to the public now. When he died his estate was for $59,400,000, but in 1937 he was in real financial trouble. His father was U.S. Senator George Hearst. ( )