Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman

One of the original adoring "Baleheads," Cheung joined the "House of Bale" in the early 1990s and diligently worked for nearly a decade to further the actor's visibility and star power, reworking promotional materials and ultimately making Bale one of the Internet's biggest names in acting. Despite the success of Cheung's efforts, the book is suffused with an overwhelming sense of bitterness%E2%80%94Bale is frequently portrayed poorly, chastised for bad housekeeping habits and worse personal hygiene, and vilified as a short-tempered employer. Still, Cheung's first-hand observations of Bale's rising career and early roles%E2%80%94including Patrick Bateman in American Psycho%E2%80%94provide an interesting perspective on the making of a star, albeit one with an obsessively overbearing father who had a habit of rewriting family history and snooping through his son's belongings. Finally fed up, Cheung eventually left to work for Jake Gyllenhaal. Strangely, the book continues to chronicle Bale's career after Cheung's departure, so while the author's vitriol wanes, gossip-mag reportage takes over. Fans looking for dirt will find plenty of it here, but an Appendix A dedicated entirely to a transcript of Bale yelling at the DP on the set of Terminator Salvation seals the deal on this being little more than one man's version of payback. Photos. (May)