Fury gives us an honest and balanced account of Johnny Weissmuller's life. He is not afraid to show us all the wrinkles and scars of his difficult marriages, especially the tumultuous five-year relationship with Lupe Velez, the "Mexican Spitfire." It gives us some idea of what a marriage between Tarzan and La might have been like. Fury approaches Weissmuller with great enthusiasm, yet his account does not slip into hagiography. The fact of the matter is, this man WAS larger than life. His heroic acts on-screen and off need not be exaggerated.
    If some Tarzan fans are dismayed at Weissmuller's movie portrayal of the Jungle Hero for one reason or another, it will serve them well to take another look at Johnny through the photographs and accounts in this book. I found some of the rare movie stills to be simply astounding, as though the fortunate cameraman had the opportunity to capture the ape-man himself on film. For me, the photographs alone in this splendid collection are worth the $40 price of admission.
    Weissmuller was a giant of a man whose great strength allowed him to almost leap out of the water as he swam. He performed many of his own movie stunts with apparent ease, lifting men over his head, riding on elephants, swinging on vines with grace and style. "In his role he is what Hollywood calls "a natural." He stands six-feet-three in his bare feet and weighs 190 pounds. His body is hard and supple ... slimwaisted... narrow-flanked. He might have indeed been the original model for Edgar Rice Burroughs' fictional hero." (Fury, p. 139)
    Johnny Weissmuller made 12 Tarzan movies, then portrayed Jungle Jim in 16 films for Columbia Pictures between 1948 and 1955. This khaki-clad Weissmuller is the logical extension of a Tarzan without the benefit of kavuru pills. The reason these B-movies worked so well was indeed because we saw an older and wiser Tarzan, one mellowed by age and experience. The fire of old sprang forth from time to time, and we all knew the true powers of the man under the wide-brimmed hat.
    Johnny Sheffield too played the older, grown up "Boy" in his "Bomba" series. The Umgawa was in force — the magic of the film Tarzan family had a life of its own — and this life has proved over time to be truly immortal. Weissmuller's role as Tarzan has overshadowed his remarkable swimming records. This book helps to put his life back into its true perspective. Like Johnny said, "I have been the luckiest man alive and I love the people who made me what I am. I could do it all again, easy. All twelve Tarzan films and fifty Jungle Jim shows. It s been a wonderful life!"
    I count 48 unnumbered, double-sided pages of glossy photographs in this book besides the many other photos on pages with print. There are 360 pages of text — 104 more pages than Fury s "Kings of the Jungle. It is a long book with it s slight quarter-inch page margins. In outside dimensions, it is the same as Taliaferro's "Tarzan Forever" but thicker, due to its slightly larger font. Its inside dimensions are discussed above. The dust jacket is glossy (and heavy — no torn dust jacket to worry about) with the title in raised gold lettering. The front dj photo is a great Weissmuller shot in his Tarzan role with a scar across his forehead. (It is posed on the left side like all of Weissmuller's close-ups because of the real scar on the right side of his neck which he would not allow to be photographed.) The binding is black cloth on boards with impressed gold lettering. The inside cover is metallic silver-gray, which David inscribes with a gold marking pen. It is a very attractive book on the shelf with Johnny's cover photo reproduced on the spine.
    Since the circulation of my reviews are to Burroughs' fans, I am just preaching to the choir, but this is one of the most inspiring books I have read in a long while. I heartily recommend it, and of course your ERB collection will be sorely incomplete without its august presence. There is also a deluxe, numbered edition for $60 with additional color plates.