Iconic Voices

Iconic Voices is a fictionalized autobiographical text divided into five parts: (1) Elvis Presley; (2) Marlon Brando; (3) Norman Mailer; (4) John Lennon; and (5) Andy Warhol. The lives and works of these five people were interconnected in intriguing ways. All of these people are now dead.

Iconic Voices is based on the conceit that all five are lost in the Afterlife, not quite knowing if they are dead or alive, but each remorselessly going over, in the first-person narratives, the highs and lows of their colourful lives, to give, between them, a detailed, if blackly satirical, picture of the turbulent times the famed individuals lived through – from the rock & roll explosion of the 1950s (Elvis), to the rebelliousness of the 1960s (Elvis and Brando), the social upheavals of the 1970s (Brando, Mailer and Lennon), and the ruthless commercialization of the arts in the 1980s (Warhol). In other words, a comprehensive, hugely entertaining picture of the past five decades and their growing obsession with ‘celebrity culture.’

Iconic Voices: The most outrageous of all ‘celebrity’ books in the Age of Celebrity. Now available both as POD editions and Kindle ebooks.

Beauty and the Beast

As a movie actor and ‘cult’ figure, Klaus Kinski was often described as a monstre sacre, a sacred monster, because of his ferocious, even frightening appearance and his often violent, demented behaviour, both on and off-screen.

By way of contrast, his daughter, Nastassja Kinski, was widely viewed for a time as cinema’s most angelic beauty, a possible successor to the ethereal, mysterious Greta Garbo, but a woman whose private life was often as turbulent and scandalous as her father’s.

When Nastassja made her second film, To the Devil a Daughter, many believed the title to be a deliberate reference to her odd relationship with her notorious father.

The story of Nastassja and Klaus Kinski is one of the most remarkable of all show-business stories… ranging from rags to riches, from Germany to Hollywood to the international jet-set, from unbridled sexual licence to drink and drugs, huge success and eventual failure… a story of artistic and emotional conflict between a lovely, highly talented daughter and her ferocious, uniquely talented father... the true, contemporary story of…
Beauty and the Beast. Now available both as POD editions and Kindle ebooks.

Elvis Presley: An Illustrated Biography

Elvis Presley: An Illustrated Biography (published in the US as The Illustrated Elvis) reached the Number 1 position in the New York Times bestseller list of October 1977, with over one million copies sold. Being a genuine fan and something of an authority on Elvis, Harbinson went on to write the text for other 'Elvis' books, including a large-format illustrated biography called, simply, Elvis, and published by Colour Library Books Ltd (Bramley Books) in 1992. The book remained in print for many years and a special 'commemorative' edition was published in 1997.

“Powerfully written… packed with facts and 400 photographs.”
-Leicester Mercury

“Obviously written by a Presley fan, but one with a clear vision who is able to criticise as well as praise… the most appealing aspect of the book for Elvis fans must be the superb collection of photographs.”
-Leicester Mercury

“A collector’s piece… some of the photographs Harbinson has turned up are magnificent.”
-Sheffield Morning Telegraph

“Decent and imaginative English prose… and the photographs are superb.”
-Irish Press

Bronson: A Biographical Portrait

This biography was written in 1975 when Charles Bronson was the hottest box office attraction in cinema with four movies released in that one year alone. Combining his skills as both journalistic researcher and novelist, Harbinson produced an exceptionally vivid ‘biographical portrait’ of the reclusive actor… as a boy, a man, a film star… and an heroic cult figure. The resultant book was first published in the U.S as a paperback original (Pinnacle, 1975) then, the following year, in Great Britain as both a hardback (W..H. Allen, London) and a paperback (Star Books, London). It is now out of print.

“A powerful and penetrating analytic book…”
-Photoplay

“A brave attempt to assess the appeal of this extraordinary actor…”
-Screen International

“The story of how he became a cult figure, a sex symbol at the age of fifty, a star from Pole to Pole without any help from Hollywood is an astonishing one… a most unusual biography of an extraordinary man.”
-Cosmopolitan

“An oddly complex, sometimes controversial, and graphic portrait of the most unusual cult figure in contemporary cinema.”
-Club International

Evita: Saint or Sinner?

Harbinson wrote the text for another large-format, illustrated book, Evita: A Legend for the Seventies, published by W.H.Allen (Star Books) in 1977. A later biography, Evita: Saint or Sinner?, included additional text about the making of the Alan Parker movie and an accompanying biography of the movie's star, Madonna. The published book reached the Number 6 position in The Times's "Top Ten Movie and TV Tie-Ins" of August 1996. It was also a big seller for St. Martin's Press in the U.S

Other biographies

Harbinson's other 'Elvis' work includes co-authorship, with KAY WHEELER, of the evocative 1950s memoir, Growing Up With The Memphis Flash. Illustrated with rare vintage photos of Elvis, this was published by Tutti Frutti Productions, Amsterdam, in 1994, as a 'limited edition' collector's item. All copies were sold and the book is now out-of-print.

Harbinson was also the ghost-writer for Private Presley: The Lost Years, published by Boxtree, London, in 1993 as a large-format, illustrated book with a CD included. U.S.rights were sold prior to publication. Serialisation rights went to Life magazine.

Other biographies include: George C. Scott: The Man, The Actor, The Legend (1976).