(FORTUNE Magazine) – With the buzz surrounding The Operator, the new biography of Hollywood supermogul David Geffen, you'd expect some decent dirt--at least enough for a tawdry movie. (Geffen, who stopped cooperating with biographer Tom King, is reportedly irate.) Instead King, a Wall Street Journal reporter, dishes pretty innocuous stuff: Geffen says he's in love with Cher! (What gay man isn't?) Though peppered with Forrest Gump-like photos of Geffen and his music clients, King's 670-page tome is a lugubrious read. He portrays Geffen as a dishonest, amoral hothead but gives little insight or context to explain his subject's actions. Skip it.

--Henry Goldblatt