The Duke: A Legendary Life

John Wayne liked J.R.R. Tolkien. That’s a fact in Scott Eyman’s new biography John Wayne: The Life and Legend. Where other biographers have struggled to create a singular image of this complicated man, and his work, Eyman has succeeded.

Presenting memories, and facts, culled from dozens of interviews with family and friends, sometimes contradicting each other, Eyman affords us an intimate look at Wayne. This isn’t a stained glass portrait of a saint, but the story of a man’s life, with its glories and defeats. Duke would approve. –C. Courtney Joyner, author of The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers