Uncommon Youth: The Gilded Life and Tragic Times of J. Paul Getty III
When J. Paul Getty III (“Little Paul” to his family) was kidnapped in 1973, provoking widespread media attention, his grandfather, notorious oil magnate J. Paul Getty (“Old Paul”), revealed his miserly side by refusing to pay the ransom, even when abductors mailed in his grandson’s severed ear. Prolific magazine writer Fox, who passed away last year, was on the scene reporting the kidnapping just after it occurred. Here, with the younger Getty’s approval, he recounts the tragicomic circumstances surrounding the incident and its aftereffects on the heir’s life. Drawing on newspaper clippings and interviews with Getty’s family and friends, Fox puts together a vivid collage of exotic characters, lively settings, and abduction-related developments as they happened. Little Paul’s mother, Gail, for one, gives insightful background on the eccentric lifestyle of Old Paul and sheds light on her son’s rebellious temperament, which led to his camaraderie with the underworld denizens of Rome, where he was kidnapped. A fascinating look at the Getty clan’s peculiar history and love-hate relationship with celebrity. --Carl Hays