Book summary

The son of an immigrant newspaper publisher, the art collector and philanthropist Walter Annenberg ranks among the wealthiest Americans at the end of the 1990s. Journalist Christopher Ogden has consulted private family records and papers, with an emphasis on the Annenbergs' financial dealings. A New York Times Notable Book for 1999.

Media reviews

"This is the compelling, sometimes heartbreaking story...in [Ogden's] winning double biography of Moses Annenberg, the brash self-made millionaire, and his awkward son, Walter, now universally respected as one of the world's most generous philanthropists....The author deftly places Walter's most petulant behavior in a sympathetic light. In lesser hands, such kid-gloves treatment would result in bland hagiography. That [this book] succeeds in spite of its politesse is a testament to Ogden's obvious prowess as a writer."