True Myths

Though the title purports to suss out the kernels of truth in Schwarzenegger’s colorful story of a rural Austrian child turned Hollywood mega-mogul, author Nigel Andrews seems more interested in rebutting Wendy Leigh’s prior chronical.

This wouldn’t be so bad if Andrews could reprint the allegations that he’s attempting to refute (he can’t thanks to a libel suit brought against Leigh by Schwarzenegger), or if the blatant factual errors (Andrews has longtime Schwarzenegger friend Franco Columbo arriving in Germany in 1976 instead of 1966) didn’t make you question the rest of the book’s accuracy.

The early chapters dealing with Arnold’s life in Austria are the best, as everyone connected to Schwarzenegger’s later life in Hollywood declined to talk to the author, making for a less-than-enlightening second half.