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| Odd Man In: Norton Simon and the Pursuit of Culture | 
 enlarge | Author: Suzanne Muchnic
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (2 reviews)
Sales Rank: 408646
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 339
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0520206436
Dewey Decimal Number: 709.2
EAN: 9780520206434
ASIN: 0520206436
Publication Date: October 13, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In 1931, at age 24, Norton Simon invested $7,000 in a bankrupt juice bottling plant. This investment grew into Hunt Foods, which soon ruled California's canned tomatoes empire. With a rare ability to transform laggard companies into highly profitable enterprises, Simon went on to amass a huge fortune. Then, in his late forties, he turned to art collecting and built one of the greatest private collections since World War II. Suzanne Muchnic has written an intimate and very readable biography of Norton Simon and at the same time provides a thoughtful overview of Los Angeles culture in the postwar years. The tycoon-turned-art-collector was accused of knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, but he pursued art with passion. A shrewd negotiator, obsessed by power, Simon astonished the art world with acquisitions ranging from Old Masters to Impressionists to rare Indian and Asian artworks. Searching for an appropriate home for his 12,000-strong collection, Simon courted (and disappointed) numerous California museums before eventually taking over the floundering Pasadena Art Museum, now the Norton Simon Museum. Simon's influence extended beyond the business and art world: as a University of California regent he challenged funding cutbacks, sympathized with student activists, and opposed the firing of Angela Davis. His personal life was equally tumultuous and included a difficult divorce, his 31-year-old son's suicide, a whirlwind courtship and marriage to actress Jennifer Jones, and a run for the U.S. Senate. Simon died in 1993, and during his last ten years Suzanne Muchnic was the only person to whom he granted an interview. Odd Man In reveals a man very much of his timebrilliant, anxious, powerful, and caught up in the rapid change and cultural ambiguity of Southern California in the second half of the century.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A carefully crafted legacy July 11, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Norton Simon was what so many rich men want to be, but can't for lack of the kind of zeal and willingness to jump into areas which require leaving everything you know behind and immersing yourself full-fold into that world.
For those Southern Californians familiar with The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, this will be an especially interesting read. If you have a dreamy idea of what art collecting should be, this book will shatter your delusions.To excell at anything takes a willingness to accept high risks, discipline, and the guiding passion to ensure one's vision is carried forth. Thus, it was with Norton Simon, who managed to build an empire that later would become Hunt Foods, and amass a collection of art that ranges from Southeast Asian antiquities to the well known impressionists Degas, Manet, and Gaugin. Norton Simon not only led the way in integrating businesses but perhaps his finest legacy left behind was one of the most generous and comprehensive collections of art in the world.
Norton Simon had wanted to install his collection in Fullerton, CA, where he had made his fortune with Hunt Foods. One can only bemoan the shortsightedness of the town leaders, who mired his intentions in a bureaucratic nightmare, resulting in his taking the entire collection to Pasadena. Lessson learned: Don't mess with a titan when he offers you a Modigliani.
This is the only book you'll ever find on Norton Simon. For a public figure, a maverick and an outspoken leader, he was fiercely private.
 Life of radical collector and millionaire May 1, 2002
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena is well known its surperb
collection of the old masters, the impressionists and Asian arts.
These collection is only based on the founder, a self-made millionaire Norton Simon's taste.This book describes how he earned money and spent to the collection. Although he believed only his way of doing things and made a friction everywhere he goes, his talent, money and passion made possible to build the museum titled his name. Many episodes make this book readable and interesting even a reader who isn't interested in Southern California or Art collector.
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