I read this after the second volume of James Kaplan’s magisterial biography of Frank Sinatra, so I was in the mood for reading about more horrible men with bad tempers. The Operator is a biography of David Geffen, who has had an extremely broad and influential career in show business. I knew only about Geffen Records going into this book, and it broadened my view of everything he’s been involved in, from helping produce Cats on Broadway to being one of the founders of DreamWorks. His business acumen and his ability to make deals can’t be overstated, and this is an interesting look at someone who’s been behind the scenes of a huge amount of American culture.
However, a large part of this book is about his temper and his ability to cut people dead if they cross him in any perceived way. The amount of synonyms for “screamed” in this book is unbelievable. You can tell King had to have a thesaurus out because Geffen is yelling every couple of pages and King comes up with a new word every time. Geffen has a hair trigger temper and will end a years-long friendship over very small things if he feels slighted. The psychological background about his childhood was particularly interesting to me, as I think I am always trying to figure out what causes some people to feel they can approach life through screaming. As someone who never raises their voice, it’s a mindset I find particularly fascinating.
Overall, King is a solid writer and this is a decent biography. However, it did feel to me that Geffen managed to elude the biographer to a certain extent. King talked to a huge amount of people, so it wasn’t a research problem at all. To me, it seemed to be more of a writing issue, with the book feeling more workmanlike and surface. Geffen’s motivations and inner self seemed somewhat opaque. This is probably because I was coming from James Kaplan, who is an amazing writer. No offense to Tom King, who did a commendable job, but Kaplan is on another level from most biographers. If you’re interested in Geffen or American popular culture, this is recommended.