Excellent review. I was wondering about this book, but now I think I want to give it a try.

The University of Texas has acquired O'Toole's "archive" since the 2015 publication of this biography, so I'm in hopes that there will be at least one more book drawing on new sources: https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/peter-otooles-archive-bought-for-370k-in-us-448438.html . Really, I've never been very sure why O'Toole is such a source of fascination for me (far more than any of his contemporaries) - but I think it must have been that I first saw "Lawrence of Arabia" at just the most susceptible age. Lawrence himself is another subject that fascinates me, and though I try not to acquire many new books these days, I will still add new Lawrence-related or new O'Toole-related items to my physical shelves without hesitation. Back when eBay was new and exciting, I even acquired a big, beautiful souvenir programme from the first run of the film - they did things in style back in 1962! Anyway, I hope you will find this book interesting; at least is not a mere rehash of magazine articles or a sanitized children's bio.