The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart: The Early Years (1899-1931)

Claiming to explore the""young, hot and horny Bogart,"" former Miami Herald bureau chief Porter has penned a salacious account of the actor's salad days. The book drips with gossipy tidbits from Bogart's years on Broadway and in early Hollywood. For example, Porter (Hollywood's Silent Closet; Midnight in Savannah; etc.) says Bogart worked undercover for Howard Hughes, procuring male escorts for the business tycoon. He also charges that Bogart brought Jean Harlow to Mexico for a secret abortion (it was supposedly Hughes's baby); and gives lots of steamy details about Bogart's own sex life, including trysts with Tallulah Bankhead, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis. Heavy on obscenity-ridden dialogue and light on official sourcing (Porter bases much of the book on the papers of Bogart's friend Kenneth MacKenna), this book might appeal to Bogart junkies, but readers seeking an extensive, credible biography should look elsewhere. 64 photos.