The Operator : David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood

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DreamWorks cofounder David Geffen, as portrayed by Wall Street Journal reporter Tom King, is in various ways a saint, a visionary, and an absolute maniac. In his saintly mode, Geffen both raises and gives record-breaking sums of money to AIDS foundations, advises and supports the President and progressive causes, and races to visit old friends stricken with grief or illness (even the washed-up agent Sue Mengers, whose friendship could do him no earthly good).

As a visionary in the music, movie, and Broadway theater industries, Geffen orchestrates the sale of his record companies, which made him a billionaire, and brings you Laura Nyro; Cats; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Tom Cruise; the Eagles; Nirvana; Bob Dylan; John Lennon; Guns N' Roses; Saving Private Ryan; and Joni Mitchell (who immortalized his deepest yearnings in her tune "Free Man in Paris").

But the most impressive and detailed portion of King's landmark biography is Geffen's performance as an entertainment entrepreneur, and in this capacity he is apparently a visionary and a maniac at the same time. Not only does he discover all manner of talents and works of art and hire the best hit-sniffers in the business, he also masters the fine Hollywood art of the Machiavellian tantrum. Geffen allegedly softens up his prey in a business deal by offering up disarming gossip about his own life--his traumatic courtship of Cher, or Marlo Thomas, perhaps, or the male prostitute he is said to have boasted about being in bed with the night John Lennon was shot. At some point, minutes or decades into an apparent friendship, Geffen is shown betraying anyone, even best friends and mentors, in his relentless quest for winning a deal. King's book provides a ringside seat; it's fascinating to watch Tinseltown's titans slug it out in championship bouts, maneuvering, lying, reuniting, and seizing power like crazed Renaissance princes.

In one memorable encounter, Geffen protests that Sid Sheinberg of MCA is displeasing his DreamWorks colleague, Steven Spielberg. "David, stop screaming," says Sheinberg. "I'm not screaming!" Geffen screams. "David, you know what would make me happy?" says Speilberg. "Stop screaming." It turns out that Geffen doesn't even know the details of the deal in question. But nobody knows how to strike a deal--with mind and maniacal heart--like David Geffen. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Complex, contentious, and blessed with the perfect-pitch ability to find the next big talent, David Geffen has shaped American popular culture for the last three decades. His dazzling career has included the roles of power agent, record-industry mogul, Broadway producer, and billionaire Hollywood studio founder. From the beginning, though, Geffen's many accomplishments have been shadowed by the ruthless single-mindedness with which he has pursued fame, power, and money. In The Operator, Tom King--the first writer to have been granted full access to Geffen and his circle of intimates--captures the real David Geffen and tells a great American story about success and the bargains made for it.

The extent of Geffen's accomplishments is extraordinary. As a manager in the 1960s, he made the deal for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to appear at Woodstock. He discovered 1970s superstars Jackson Browne and the Eagles and masterminded Bob Dylan's famed 1974 tour; Joni Mitchell, Geffen's roommate for a time, memorialized him in her song "Free Man in Paris." He produced Risky Business, the movie that made Tom Cruise a star, and was the moneyman behind Cats, the longest-running musical in Broadway history. One of the most brilliant dealmakers ever to work in Hollywood, he became a billionaire shortly after selling Geffen Records in 1990, and he made movie history when he founded, with friends Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks SKG, the first new Hollywood studio in fifty-five years. And Geffen's influence has extended far beyond show business and into the worlds of Wall Street, art, real estate, and politics.

Geffen's personal journey is as compelling as his business machinations. Although he knew from an early age that he was gay, he hid his true sexual urges and for years attempted to lead a heterosexual life. In the mid-1970s, he dated--and almost married--Cher. Not until 1992, when being honored for his extraordinary financial contributions to the fight against AIDS, did he open the closet door. His coming-out was national news.

Beneath this phenomenal life story has always been a ferocious drive to succeed, a blind ambition that has left onlookers astounded. Geffen learned from his earliest days in the William Morris mailroom that he could cheat and lie his way to the top, and he has ever after lived unconstrained by traditional notions of right and wrong. Geffen has demonstrated time and again that he is willing to sabotage any relationship, business or personal, to get what he wants.

At his best, David Geffen is a fiercely devoted friend and a bountifully generous man, both privately and publicly. At his worst, he is a vindictive bully who lashes out at loved ones and colleagues with irrational screaming fits that leave his victims shaking and sweating. And though he has periodically attempted to better himself through psychotherapy and self-help programs like est and Lifespring, he seems always able to find new enemies to rage against.

For years, David Geffen has managed his own life story and rewritten history. But in The Operator, Tom King has set the record straight. Written with Geffen's cooperation--though not his authorization-- The Operator is an explosive, illusion-shattering story that details the mogul's indisputable contributions to entertainment history while also baring the man behind the legend.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent biography! Must read for serious business people!.......2006-12-26

I had never heard of David Geffen before this book was recommended to me...Now, I say WOW!!! What an OPERATOR he was and is...What a fitting title. I highly recommend this book to all serious business people...Mike Stokes

A mostly well-told story of an unlikelable character.......2006-05-21

This is a book that's basically for the show business junky and even then it can get to be a bit much. About two-thirds of the way into it, I had to put it aside for awhile. The paranoia, betrayal, double dealing, etc. had happened over and over so many times, with so many people, that I wondered if there was anything more to the story. In some ways, there is. We are given a sometimes convincing portrait of Geffen coming out as a philanthropist, although I came to the conclusion that it's mostly just another persona. King hedges his bets, by reminding us that, as the book ends, Geffen is estranged from his remaining family and various other pivotal people in his life.

One thing that would help make the unrelenting scuzziness of Geffen's business life and the lack of meaningful long-term relationships in his personal life more bearable would have been some perspective. Despite pulling off some major deals, Geffen also took on some very weak clients and found himself with some very bad breaks, like taking on Donna Summer as a client just as she found religion and homophobia. He was an uneven judge of talent and largely out of touch with the popular culture his business helped shape. Even the most vile of studio moguls, like Harry Cohn, could have an acute appreciation and respect for talent. It's also telling that some of his greatest feuds were with people like Jerry Wexler, who understood music, built careers and helped open new doors for different styles of music. Geffen was fortunate to be on the ground floor of trends, in popular culture, but did little to actually shape them. Buried in the details is something else that's interesting--much, if not most, of Geffen's money came from his trading in junk bonds, rather than his show business wheeling and dealing. I came away thinking "yes, he's a talented deal maker", but a good salesman is someone who can believe in their product and maintain long-term business relationships. Geffen, like Jack Welch, is overrated and it will probably take a more analytical volume to make this more clear. Someone also needs to figure out a way to get his long-time secretary to tell her story (right now a settlement precludes that). Knowing how to survive for 20 years with a megalamaniac would be almost as interesting as the further betrayal and double dealing she could add to Geffen's story.

If you want to be rags to billionaire read this book.......2006-02-01

Bottom line, Geffen slept on couches as a kid in Brooklyn, and w/ nothing but intense drive, charisma, and extremeley hard work he built a 4.5 billion dollar fortune from scratch. If you are considering going in the entertainmetn industry, and particualrly starting a record company..... read this book and act like Geffen does to acheive your goals because you will see exactly all that is required of you to build a record company from nothing to 250 million in revenues in under 10 years..... and ultimatly how to build a net worth that puts you in the top 30 of the Forbes 400 ...... read it and take action and if you create 10% of it you'll be in the top 1% of America. Blake---- bldgassets247@yahoo.com

Good Book, Horrifying Subject .......2004-09-27

I know I'm not being entirely fair, but I couldn't bring myself to rate this book a "5" even though it is thoroughly researched, and the author, Tom King, who died recently, was a very, very good writer. The reason for the "4" rating in two words: David Geffen. Notwithstanding his many contributions to the recording and film industries in particular, and his and phenomenally generous philanthropy, Mr. Geffen is quite simply a completely unappealing person as depicted in this biography and, undoubtedly to many people, in real life as well. However, thanks in large part to the author's talent I still read every word of Mr. Geffen's fascinating climb to the top of the Hollywood -- and financial -- heap. During the past thirty-five years or so (for better, in the case of spearheading the careers of artists such as Joni Mitchell and other singer/songwriters as well as some exceptional motion pictures and his "liberal" politics; and for worse in the cases of some of those heavy-metal noise machines promulgated by Geffen Records and a few pretty awful motion pictures), Mr. Geffen unquestionably has left his mark on history. Unfortunately, he has been absolutely ruthless in doing so. Mr. Geffen comes across in this book as a selfish and greedy creature for whom (literally) billions of dollars still isn't "enough." Maybe the irony of Mr. Geffen's life (so far), and the subliminal message of this book, is that money truly can't buy happiness. I highly recommend this book but with fair warning: Once you get to the end, you'll probably feel like sticking your finger down your throat. I wish Tom King had had time to have channeled his exceptional journalistic and writing talents towards more appealling subjects for other books.

Excellent Book.......2003-06-16

This book is almost impossible to put down. Geffen's life has been truly extraoridinary and it provides an excellent story. Buy this book if you have any interest in the entertainment industry or business in general.

Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution

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A 2D Approach to Flash Animation
A great book for Intermediate-Advanced Flash artists.
Only for wanna-be animators.
Great Book
A Good start for Flash Based Commercial Animation

Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution
Sandro Corsaro , and Clifford J. Parrott
Manufacturer: Course Technology PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 159200170X

Book Description

Digital animation, particularly using Flash, is primed to take Hollywood/TV by storm in the Fall with two feature films and three television shows underway. This book describes why Flash is the future of broadcast animation. As the future of 2D animation, the knowledge provided to the reader by this book will be a necessity for animators, producers, and executives. Author, Sandro Corsaro, is currently working on a feature film, "Lil' Pimp", for Sony Pictures done 100% in Flash, and has worked on two animated films for Warner Bros, "The Iron Giant" and "Osmosis Jones". Corsaro provides rare insight for many budding animators stemming from his consulting and connections with numerous studio executives. The book explains Flash animation and shows its direct correlation to real-world scenarios that animators experience at studios including budgets, schedules, salaries, labor issues and production flow.

Customer Reviews:

A 2D Approach to Flash Animation.......2007-04-16

This is a must have book for Flash Animators who really want to do character animation in Flash. It requires a general knowledge of Flash however the interviews with industry professional are worth buying the book alone. While not a traditional "HOW TO" book the technical insights, short cuts and tips especially in the special effects chapters can help animators move their projects to the next level.

A great book for Intermediate-Advanced Flash artists........2007-02-22

Let me just say right off the bat that this book is not for beginners. Apart from one chapter on effects animation, (a topic that could almost be a book in and of itself) there's just not much coverage of the actual ins and outs of animating in Flash. Unfortunately, Sandro Corsaro's other book, "The Flash Animator," which focused on Flash animation techniques, in now out of print.

For those who have a solid working knowledge of Flash, this is an invaluable resource for using Flash for any level of 2D animation production. For people accustomed to traditional animation, you'll learn how Flash can work as a efficient alternative to the usual production pipeline.

Much of this book may seem a little out of scope for those not in the big time of the animation industry, but even if you're a studio of one, there's plenty of tips to help cut down the amount of time you spend cursing Flash. Through proper pre-planning and design one can make the best use of Flash's time saving re-usability of elements. The ability to draw storyboards directly into Flash in another way to streamline the animation process.

The interviews peppered throughout the book give some great insight on how Flash can best be used in the production process. Although you'll have get over the irony that most of the interviews came from people working on the now infamous Flash feature Lil' Pimp.

Again, if you're new to Flash, you might want to hold off on this one for a bit, but if you have some experience and you're ready to make the most of animating in flash Hollywood 2D Digital Animation is a must-have.

Only for wanna-be animators........2007-02-14

Bought this much hyped, stylish book and found out that the book (and CD that comes w/ it) DOES NOT have any character animation tutorials. What it DOES have is some SFX tutorials, simple Flash movies, templates (maybe you'll need 'em, maybe not) and a few very short & simple Flash animations (w/ all the layers for you to tweek). It's NOT a step by step, "how-to" book and more than 3/4 of it talks about all the animation stuff you've heard a million times before (animation history & principles, production pipeline, interviews). It talks about what Flash CAN do, but not HOW to do it. A good book for Flash people who know nothing about animation production, but not for animators who want to learn Flash techniques.

Great Book.......2007-01-31

This is a great book to keep encouraging you to work work work at your ideas and goals. A good insight for the flash industry with lots of information and personal industry views.

A Good start for Flash Based Commercial Animation.......2007-01-05

If you're in a school catering towards animators, specifically 2D Flash animation (not so much web animation), this is the Bible for the moment. Reccommended by two of my professors whom work freelance for Bottle Rocket, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios Burbank, you couldn't get a better start. The book covers a brief history of animation, as well as coloring, drawing in Flash, storyboarding in Flash, different production work flows and so much more. Backed up by industry veterans Hollywood 2D Digital Animation gives insight into making your flash animations better in a timely manner. Demonstrating shortcuts and techniques to make your animations less "flashy" and better animated. Keep in mind this book is NOT for the novice animator. You absolutely need to understand some of the principles of classic 2D animations and flash itself before you can make effective use of the book's techniques(ie: timing, spacing, contrapasta, Flash tools, etc). But if you can overcome these obstacles, turn off the music/tv, sit down with this book and practice the lessons included, you'll earn everything you can gain from it.

*Please not this book is meant for animators whom plan to work in the US within small Flash studios in the Los Angeles, CA area. But that doesn't mean it can't useful for you.
*If you want beginner material to fully take advantage of this book, I highly reccomend "Animators Survival Kit", "Hands On Training Flash Professional 8", and "Human and Animal Locomotion".

Take care.

Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show

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Must Read on Political Frames
Fear of psychology
The Sound of One Hand Clapping
How to tilt public perceptions
A book about the shadow, arguing for the importance of the substance

Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show

Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1586483862

Book Description

A captivating and outraged account of "The Great Relabeling" of American language and thought, by the well-known "Fresh Air" commentator and author of Going Nucular

Geoffrey Nunberg breaks new ground with this fierce and funny narrative of how the political right has ushered in a new world order, aided unwittingly by the liberal media.

Democrats are well known for their "lousy bumper stickers," as Joe Klein puts it. As liberals wade through the semantics of "social security lockbox," "single payer," and other wonky locutions, the right has become harder, meaner and better at getting out the message: the estate tax became the more menacing "death tax" and a contentious education initiative was wrapped in the comforting (and memorable) blanket of "No Child Left Behind."

But Nunberg shows that the real story is more subtle than just a bumper sticker war. Conservatives' main goal wasn't to win voters over to their positions on healthcare, education, or the environment. They had a much more dramatic ambition. By changing the meaning of words like "values," "government," "liberal"; "faith," and "freedom," conservatives have shifted the political center of gravity of the language itself to the right. "Whatever our politics," Nunberg observes, "when we talk about politics nowadays, we can't help using language that embodies a conservative world-view."

Customer Reviews:

Must Read on Political Frames.......2007-01-05

This is a must read for anyone in America who cares about politics--which should be everyone! If you thought Lakoff insightful on the differences a frame can make, wait until you read Nunberg. I teach this stuff and know whereof I speak. Talking Right is one of those rare hybrids that's right for the classroom and right as a trade book for the typically older, post-college reader. I've ordered several copies for friends.

Fear of psychology.......2006-11-05

Well done for what it is, but Nunberg exhibits the classic fear of delving below the psychological surface. He seems to believe that the left will lose the common man even worse if it starts thinking psychologically about why it's losing him already. He disses Lakoff's look at policital metaphors and doesn't even bother to dis explanations that are even better, such as those of Alice Miller, Stephen Ducat, and Lloyd deMause. It frustrated me to no end as I read Nunberg advocate a return to the populist rhetoric of Truman and Clinton, hardly big winners. Truman's was a nortoriously narrow win, and Clinton's first election was a gimmie from a thrid-party candidate on the right. Nunberg seems to set his sights on the unlofty goal of 51% of the vote rather than a true strategy that will dismantle the psychological tricks the right plays on the populace like stroking their machismo, their fear, their weath fantasies, their need for scapegoats, etc.

Wake up and smell the psychological coffee, Nunberg. The right has.

The Sound of One Hand Clapping.......2006-11-04

We swim through words like fish swim through water. Metaphors are accepted as reality by many. Legends become gospil truth. This books was an informative and fun view at a very important (not just politically) subject. And now, at last, I know where the word "pinko" came from and what it means.

How to tilt public perceptions.......2006-10-22

"Talking Right" by Geoffrey Nunberg is a timely analysis of the lopsided and dysfunctional status of U.S. political discourse. Mr. Nunberg is a linguistics professor who explains how the Republican Party's privileged relationship with the media has helped to define the political narrative, which in turn has effectively tilted public perceptions to the political Right. However, by deconstructing the manner in which the Right's political language has been frequently served up as a smokescreen to obscure its radical neoconservative agenda, the author helps us understand how the political Left can present an alternative discourse that could resonate with the vast majority of Americans. Assiduously researched and cogently argued, this thoughtful, nuanced and highly readable text should interest a wide audience.

Mr. Nunberg presents a brief history of the neoconservative movement to recount how language has been deployed in order to associate particular words and phrases with politically-charged meanings. For example, the phrase 'cultural elite' was introduced by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 and succeeded in connecting Hollywood entertainment with sectors of the public who might have felt apprehension about social change. Indeed, Mr. Nunberg points out that since the 1960s the Republican Party has adroitly manufactured and magnified the importance of Pat Buchanan's 'culture war' in a way that has convinced large blocs of the working class to vote against its own material interests. Unfortunately, as liberals are reduced to a snobbish and out-of-touch caricature of the consumer culture imagination, Mr. Nunberg contends that the Democratic Party has failed to articulate a meaningful narrative of its own to inspire the faithful or to define the Party's mission.

Nonetheless, Mr. Nunberg believes that the Democrats can yet prevail if it dares to once again speak truth to power. Mr. Nunberg cites Bill Clinton's highly effective narrative about the powerless versus the powerful during the 1992 campaign as an example of how a message can resonate with an increasingly insecure working class beset with economic grievances. To that end, the author goes on to argue that in the wake of the Bush administration's disastrous policies (including preemptive war, fiscally irresponsible tax breaks and reckless environmental rollbacks), liberals have an excellent opportunity to articulate a new popular narrative of working-class struggle in the pursuit of economic justice and equality.

I highly recommend this important book to everyone, and especially to those interested in media and politics.

A book about the shadow, arguing for the importance of the substance.......2006-10-17

Government, John Dewey famously said, is the shadow cast by big business over society. And political language, Geoffrey Nunberg argues in Talking Right, is the shadow cast by government. Democrats, he points out, seem to think language has a talismanic power, that if only they can find the right catch phrase or slogan, they can pull people over to their side. "Liberal" must become "progressive", "family values" must become "valuing families". There's an intellectual cleverness to such stunts, and as a Berkeley linguist, Nunberg must want to believe in them. But he doesn't. The words, he explains, are just a side-effect of the larger political situation. Dewey explained that attempts to change the shadow will have no effect without a change in the substance, and Nunberg heartily agrees.

It's hard to see how it could be otherwise, but Democrats have suffered from a stubborn literalism in political discourse: thinking they can beat the charge of big government by launching programs cutting down on bureaucratic waste, thinking they can reclaim the issue of values by pointing to their love of tolerance and fairness, thinking they can dodge the charge of latte-sipping by donning a hunting cap and rifle. In reality, the issues go much deeper: big government is an attack on the notion that government can do good, values refers to a feeling of national morals run amok, and the latte-sipping charge is an attempt to distract voters from bigger issues of class. Nunberg even chastises his colleague George Lakoff for assuming that the current packages of political positions have any deeper meanings, rather than just being accidents of history.

Nunberg is an essayist--his commentaries for NPR's Fresh Air are a national treasure--and his style, while eminently readable, doesn't translate well to a long book, where his points get lost in a field of anecdotes. But beneath all the stories about how conservatives eat more brie and liberal used to be a mantle claimed by everyone, Nunberg's point is a familiar one: if the Democrats want to win, they must begin telling full-throated populist stories about how the economic elite are capturing the wealth of our country and how we need government to take it back. The point is no less true for being popular, and it's heartening to find that investigation from yet another perspective yields the same conclusions.

Average customer rating:

Not worth the read!
Glamorous and Glossy!
Often imitated, never duplicated....
A Fun Read
Is Jackie Capable Of Writing Anything Else?

Hollywood Wives - The New Generation
Jackie Collins
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743423682
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Book Description

Whatever they don't have, they want -- and whatever these women want, they get. Once, they lived in the shadows of their famous husbands. Now, Hollywood wives will stop at nothing for their chance in the spotlight. Today, there are no limits to their passions -- or their excesses. Today, there are all new rules to the power game. And as megastar Lissa Roman is about to discover, the game itself can exact a deadly price.

Customer Reviews:

Not worth the read!.......2004-08-25

One of the reasons I've found Jackie Collins to be such an enjoyable author is that she creates memorable characters. Her novels, usually are loaded with characters that you'd like to know and those that you'd like to take down a few pegs.
Not so the case with HOLLYWOOD WIVES-THE NEXT GENERATION. The characters are boring, predictable, shallow, and totally not Jackie Collins.
Don't waste your money or your time.

Glamorous and Glossy!.......2004-04-19

It may of been trashy, brainless, tawdry melodrama but I loved this book! Jackie takes all the stereotypes of Hollywood celebrities and throws them together into a glamor-packed soup of gossip and subplots! Like a 500-page tabloid! The characters are all true-to-form spoiled, self-obsessed divas. The goings on are appropriately scandalous. The many talents and many husbands, the wild rich kids, the gay followers, it's all here!

The perfect Hollywood novel it may not have much substance but since that's what's expected of its subjects it's just perfect!

Often imitated, never duplicated...........2003-12-23

As a huge fan of Jackie Collins, I was eagerly awaiting this novel. It was written in her distinctive style, which has been imitated often. I was a tad disappointed that the plot strayed so far from the original Hollywood Wives tome, but was happy to renew my aquaintance with some old friends...er, charcters. Thought the slang was a lttle overdone, however. I'm 22, and swear I don't speak like that! Was a great read for a true Jackie Collins fan, and one I know I'll enjoy reading again.

A Fun Read.......2003-10-23

I had this book in my pile of books waiting to be read, don't know why I didn't get to it sooner. I loved all the characters in this book, I wanted so much for everyone to get what they wanted and the jerks to get what they deserve, the only complaint I have about this book is that the ending was to rushed but all in all a fun read.

Happy Reading
Lisa

Is Jackie Capable Of Writing Anything Else?.......2003-10-22

I read one of her earlier books and then decided to get this one at the library. I am glad I didn't waste my money buying it. Her books are all the same. Beautiful people, beautiful people having affairs, beautiful people in danger, beautiful people living happily ever after. She seriously needs to get out of Hollywood. I couldn't even finish this book it was putting me asleep. I don't think she can write any other type of book, she uses the same formula in all her books. At least other writers change locations and occupations of people. Does she think the rest of America and the world is so wrapped up in Hollywood and what goes on there like she is? If you must read this book get it at the library. Don't waste your money.

The Whole Picture: Strategies for Screenwriting Success in the New Hollywood

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Richard Walter on Screenwriting
BY FAR THE BEST SCREENWRITING BOOK YOU CAN GET
I Won't Take Instruction From Anyone Else
More advice than an actual manual
Follow the Suitcases

The Whole Picture: Strategies for Screenwriting Success in the New Hollywood
Richard Walter
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452271797

Customer Reviews:

Richard Walter on Screenwriting.......2004-11-08

I got to see Richard Walter do a seminar at SMU one weekend for our writer's group. I was enthralled. The man is a creative dynamo. And it shows in his books. He puts in his books succinctly what Mckee tries to say in his tombs. I write fiction, not screenplays, yet I recommend Walter to all writers.

BY FAR THE BEST SCREENWRITING BOOK YOU CAN GET.......2004-09-18

This book by far is the best screenwriting book I've read and I've read a lot of them. The tools I learned in this book I've used even in my fiction writing. It deserves all the praise it receives and Professor Walter is a very down to earth, approachable guy. -- Jeff Rivera (Author of Forever My Lady: A Novel) www.JeffRivera.com

I Won't Take Instruction From Anyone Else.......2003-01-25

This book is so complete that, at this point, I won't even consider taking instruction from any other source on the subject. I own both of Mr. Walter's books and have found them to be both inspirational and invaluable during my journey into the screenwriting craft. I am currently working on a screenplay and have two others outlined and waiting. As a novice of the trade with no formal training, I honestly don't beleive I would have grasped some of THE most important aspects of this craft were it not for Mr. Walter. The following principals, which can be found in this book, as well as his first, "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing", are the reasons why:

(In my own words)
(1) Every drop of ink which makes up your screenplay must be properly integrated in order to effectively advance story, plot and character. Simply put, your words should deliciously and tantilizingly seduce your audience from one scene to the next, all the way through to climax and conclusion. If a particular scene or piece of dialog hinders this progression, the audience becomes riders on a proverbial rollercoaster. This rollercoaster promises a great ride and may even get off to a magnificent start but soon begins to stop, start, sputter and chug; the boxcar barely makes it up the big hills, lacks the momentum to properly execute the loops and ultimately poops out to its disaterous end, leaving its "passengers" feeling angry, annoyed and immensely disatisfied. Screenwriters if you want to dazzle your audience take them for the ride of their lives at full throttle and don't you dare interrupt that "ride" with boring settings, dull characters, or uninspired dialog.
(2) Movies utilize TWO SENSES ONLY: Sight and sound. That which cannot be seen or heard must never appear in your screenplay as it cannot be shown on screen. This simple rule should train screenwriters to become more skilled in conveying thoughts and feelings through dialog and action alone.
(3) Movies are for AUDIENCES not WRITERS. Throw in "meaningless prattle" for no reason other than it suits or amuses you personally, and you may as well throw in the towel as this ranks number one on the long list of screenplay (and film) suicide.
(4) To those screenwriters who like to write dialog in keeping with "the way people really talk", Richard Walter reminds us that "the way people really talk is free", but movie-speak costs! Dialog must be crisp, concise, brilliant and poetic yet, somehow, magically come across as natural as one hundred percent cotton. If this principal sounds contradictory, implausible, or downright impossible to you, I sincerely hope you work it out as this principal is the mark of a great screenwriter if not the very definition of screenwriting.
(5) More can (and should) be said with less.
(6) That which is implied is often superior to that which is actually spoken. Strive to craft scenes where, when appropriate, actions speak louder than words.
(7) Respect your audience and give them credit. Don't spell everything out as if for a six year old. Strive to write more subjectively and less leading.
(8) Just WRITE! Do the Hollywood film and television community a favor and don't attempt to "direct" or "act" your screenplay from your trusty word processor. To do so is "not merely unappreciated" but downright "resented".
(9) Conflict and tension are the two most important aspects of a great screenplay. The writer who develops and nutures the ability to use conflict and tension effectively will captivate an audience from the first frame to the end credits no matter what the subject matter, and in doing so hold the key to this craft.
(10) Shock them! Dazzle them! Excite them! Incite them! Frighten them! Sicken them! Touch them! Repulse them! Move them! Anger them! Thrill them! Inspire them! Amaze them! JUST DON"T BORE THEM!!!

This, and much more is, in my opinion, Richard Walter. There is a reason he is Professor and Faculty Chairman of the prestigious UCLA Screenwriting Program. Pick up his books and find out why.

More advice than an actual manual.......2001-02-07

There are many books out there about structure and where to put what plot points where and Richard Walter has made an addition to that field itself with "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing.

However, this is more about advice on issues of screenwritings, arguing such points about all screenplays being personal, which I might add he does so very well. He also gives advice on why writers write, agents and working within the industry. And a look into the process of rewriting a scene of a screenplay (very useful). I would describe it as Adventure's in the Screen Trade without the bitterness of Goldman.

My only criticism being that it makes you so hungry and ravaneous for more advice. The Bibliography is more useful than what you find at the end of most books.

It is a worthy addition to any screenwriter's or movie moguls bookshelf.

Follow the Suitcases.......2000-08-02

Married, harried, and crumpled Herb arrives with his suitcases to take up his assigned post at the Book Fair. He runs into an old flame. In no time at all, he's stashed his suitcases in a locker at the trainstation; finds himself in a hotel tryst with this woman from his past; and after sex and cigarettes, returns from a trip to the bathroom to find the bloodied corpse of his illicit lover, and the aforementioned suitcases at the foot of the bed. From there, we follow the suitcases through the twists and turns in the tale Richard Walter, chairman of the screenwriting dept. at UCLA, has constructed to illustrate the elements of solid, artful storytelling.

Walter's two books, The Whole Picture, and Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing, are among the most practical and helpful a writer will be fortunate enough to come across. For the neophyte, they may not contain enough information on the exasperatingly nit-picking "industry formatting standards" that get scripts past the scanning eyes of a scriptreader, but he shines a bright, clear light on the single most important bit of information a writer must know if s/he is to come to the end of his/her labors with a good screenplay in hand: write well. In addition to making his points by using this clever device of constructing a story right before the reader's very eyes, he reveals a great deal of sound advice about the movie business and what works in a screenplay. If you don't know how to integrate a compelling theme with characters an audience can care about, dialog that rings in the ear, and action structured to keep the story moving forward, learn how before you quit your day job.

Book Description

This book analyzes 116 films distributed throughout the United States over nearly 75 years, to construct a theory, grounded in cultural studies and critical pedagogy, of curriculum in the movies. The portrayal of teachers in popular motion pictures is based on individual, rather than collective, action and relies on codes established by stock characters and predictable plots, precluding meaningful struggle. These conventions ensure the ultimate outcome of the screen narratives and almost always leave the educational institutions—which represent the larger status quo—intact and powerful. In addition to an expanded list of films informing the analysis, this revised edition features two new chapters: one on gay teachers in recent films and another on principals in the movies. To interrogate "the Hollywood curriculum" is to ask what it means as a culture to be responsive to films at both social and personal levels, and to engage these films as both entertaining and potentially transforming.

A Way of Life, Like Any Other (New York Review Books Classics)

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Livestyles of the formerly rich and famous
Amazing Feat of Compression and Eloquence
A Fantastic Novel
A Way of Life
A fine portrait of the artist as a young man

A Way of Life, Like Any Other (New York Review Books Classics)
Darcy O'Brien
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 094032279X
Release Date: 2001-08-31

Book Description

The hero of Darcy O'Brien's A Way of Life, Like Any Other is a child of Hollywood, and once his life was a glittery dream. His father starred in Westerns. His mother was a goddess of the silver screen. The family enjoyed the high life on their estate, Casa Fiesta. But his parents' careers have crashed since then, and their marriage has broken up too.

Lovesick and sex-crazed, the mother sets out on an intercontinental quest for the right—or wrong—man, while her mild-mannered but manipulative former husband clings to his memories in California. And their teenage son? How he struggles both to keep faith with his family and to get by himself, and what in the end he must do to break free, makes for a classic coming-of-age story—a novel that combines keen insight and devastating wit to hilarious and heartbreaking effect.

Customer Reviews:

Livestyles of the formerly rich and famous.......2006-09-12

In his introduction to this reissue of a novel first published in 1977, Seamus Heaney dwells on Darcy O'Brien's Irishness (comparing him to Joyce and Flann O'Brien) and ponders how one might attempt to describe the book: "Autobiographical novel, fictionalized memoir: whether we regard the book as 'cri de coeur' or comic turn..."

O'Brien's Irish heritage seems beside the point (must every Irish American writer be placed against Joyce and Flann O'Brien?), but this is, indeed, a work that skirts the line between fact and fiction. Heaney's literary acumen aside, this is also a very American book--more specifically a highbrow model of that lowest of middlebrow fiction, the Hollywood novel. More germanely to the author, it is a raw, impassioned, and surprisingly tender ode to his parents--a pair of has-been, real-life film stars down on their luck and at odds with each other. Finding humor (both lighthearted and morbid) amid relative misery, "A Way of Life" is far more a precursor to the confessional works by the likes of David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and Jeannette Walls than a successor to early-twentieth-century Irish fiction.

Hollywood has never been shy about laughing at itself; readers will recognize many of the central-casting players depicted here, along with the shallow pretensions of the jet set. But O'Brien's succinct, disarmingly blunt prose places his book a cut above the norm--even his caricatures are fully drawn with the briefest of scenes: the ego-driven producer with an out-of-control gambling addiction, his permissive wife whose major concern is that her own daily horse-racing allowance might suffer as a result, their unrestrained and oversexed adolescent son, a pompous salesman of trendy foodstuffs (in the 1950s, those would include, hilariously, avocadoes), a flighty car dealer who peddles John Birch Society tracts along with his automobiles. Adding to the book's authenticity are cameos by real people, including John Ford, who in life directed O'Brien's father in several movies and who in fiction is portrayed as a gentlemanly mentor who graciously meets with his hapless former leading man.

But the real "stars" of the novel are O'Brien's parents. The unnamed narrator's charmed, pampered early life is ripped apart when his parents split and their finances suffer. His mother flits from one abusive or inappropriate replacement to another; his father refuses to accept their estrangement: "Your Mother and I are still married in the eyes of the Church." Their son first lives with his mother, then with his father, and finds that they both have become uproariously and painfully impossible. Eventually, he moves into a friend's expansive and expensive home and discovers that all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way, but it's to O'Brien's credit that he is able to make this journey both comical and heartrending at the same time.

Amazing Feat of Compression and Eloquence.......2003-01-10

The writing here is so filled with generosity, compassion, and dark humor -- it's a most charming view of life. A coming-of-age novel about a boy who grows up in post-WW II Hollywood, shuffling between unforgettable, screwed-up parents. There's not a dead sentence here. It's short, but O'Brien captures it all. Completely re-readable. Keep it by your bedside to inspire and forgive your own life when you feel like it's trying to beat you down.

A Fantastic Novel.......2002-07-29

This is a MUST. Indeed it is Caulden Houlfield in Hollywood. If you like Catcher in the Rye, most likely you will love this book. It really is a great story with some great humor.

A Way of Life.......2001-12-11

Darcy O'Brien combines the surreal humor of Flann O'Brien and the limpid prose of the young James Joyce and somehow writes a coming of age book which transcends both mentors in some ways. Lean, cool, dry, witty, but in the end, mysteriously poignant. Anthony Powell always argued that seen at close range all human beings, driven as they are at different speeds by the same furies, are equally extraordinary. O'Brien proves Powell's point, in prose reminscent of that master's early comic novels.

A fine portrait of the artist as a young man.......2001-08-28

Darcey O'Brien's fine Bildungsroman is a very funny and lethal depiction of a golden Hollywood childhood which begins to tarnish as his parents' careers do. The narrator's parents--a histrionic former screen beauty obsessed with sex and a former Western star of amiable disposition but sometimes hidden motives--unconsciously (and even sometimes consciously) wreak all kinds of havoic in their son's life, but as he gets older the son begins to fight back in covert ways. This was exactly the kind of book that the NYRB series was created to revive: a funny and poignant novel of sterling quality that somehow slipped through the cracks of readers' attention years ago and deserves a new chance.

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Training the next generation of programmers and engineers.
bloomig adictive
The HARDEST Waldo book
Exceptional book.
My 5 yr old's favorite book.

Where's Waldo? In Hollywood (Waldo)

Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0763603112
Release Date: 1997-10-06

Book Description

Hey, Waldo fans! Sharpen your eyes and your wits, because Waldo is taking you on a whole new star-studded adventure. That's right, you're going to Hollywood! Follow Waldo—if you can find him—through a cast of thousands on the bustling streets of the great movie classics. Is he there in the chorus line of that musical in production, or up on the ramparts of that epic war film? Or is our elusive, bespectacled hero right in the middle of the swashbuckling escapades of the Three Musketeers? Waldo and all his lost objects are harder to find than ever in this hilarious new challenge for eager Waldo-hunters everywhere!

Customer Reviews:

Training the next generation of programmers and engineers........2006-03-30

Well, there's a weird title for a review, but if you think about it this can really train a child to pay attention to detail, which is a habit helpful in many professions. So, maybe all that staring at these big busy pictures isn't a waste of time.

This is a big big book. We checked out the original version from the library and my three year old fell in love with it so we had to have our own copy.

bloomig adictive.......2006-01-13

This is a great book for whiling hours away-regardless of how old you are. Remember the old Laurel And Hardy short with the jigsaw puzzle with the missing piece??? That's what looking at one of these books is like!!! You will NOT put the book down untill you find a certain character-and then curse yourself for not noticing where he/she was sooner. Definitely top class entertainment!!

The HARDEST Waldo book.......2003-11-28

If you have never seen a Waldo book before, here's a short overview:
"Where's Waldo" series consists of unique colorful picture books where the illustrations are filled with hundreds of tiny characters doing all kinds of funny things. Your goal as a reader is to find Waldo, a guy in red and white shirt on all those pictures. If finding Waldo gets too easy then you can try to find his companions, his friend Wendy, Wizard Whitebeard, bad guy Odlaw, and dog Woof. And after that you can spend countless hours finding miscellaneous special items unique to each picture.
Mentally, this activity is similar to assembling a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle, only it's more fun.

Each book follows a theme, this particular one is set in Hollywood, and every picture is a movie set. There's a black and white silent movie, some history movies, a musical, a fantasy, a western, and others.

One great thing about Waldo books is that even small children can spot Waldo as well or even better than adults, it doesn't require any skills other than good eyesight and attention to details. This makes it fun to read together and compete with your kids of virtually all ages, not just 4-8 as the Amazon reading level suggests.

"Where's Waldo: In Hollywood" has some particularly hard extra puzzles, harder than any other Waldo book that I've seen. The ultimate problem is in the inside of the back cover: there's a list of 176 character faces, almost all of which appear somewhere among the thousands of figures throughout the book. But ten of them do not, and you have to find out which ten! I don't know anyone that has successfully found all of them yet. So I challenge you to find them! :)

Exceptional book........2001-12-31

I very much enjoyed this edition of "Where's Waldo." The pictures are extremely pleasing and innovative. I particularly enjoyed the last page. What is on the last page? You have to buy it to find out. ::wink::

My 5 yr old's favorite book........1997-03-31

My son just turned 5 and received this book as a birthday present. He sits for _hours_ looking at it. He is a very physically active child and very few things hold his attention very long, but this does

Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business Essentials)

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The Ultimate Study in Greed and Hubris
Domino Effect
Good Coverage of Major Scandal!
Cliff Robertson is the true star of this story.
A fascinating study of the real powers of Tinseltown.

Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business Essentials)
David Mcclintick
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060508159
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Book Description

When the head of Columbia Pictures, David Begelman, got caught forging Cliff Robertson's name on a $10,000 check, it seemed, at first, like a simple case of embezzlement. It wasn't. The incident was the tip of the iceberg, the first hint of a scandal that shook Hollywood and rattled Wall Street. Soon powerful studio executives were engulfed in controversy; careers derailed; reputations died; and a ruthless, take-no-prisoners corporate power struggle for the world-famous Hollywood dream factory began.

First published in 1982, this now classic story of greed and lies in Tinseltown appears here with a stunning final chapter on Begelman's post-Columbia career as he continued to dazzle and defraud . . . until his last hours in a Hollywood hotel room, where his story dramatically and poignantly would end.

Customer Reviews:

The Ultimate Study in Greed and Hubris.......2007-04-05

I bought this book when it first came out and have reread it every year or so. Tends to be a bit long and sometimes slow, but it's great. Buy a used copy, or check at the library.

Being from the Washington D.C. area I kept constantly asking why someone didn't leak this to the press and blow the whole compiristy.

The only comparable book is "The Great Salad Oil Swindle"

Domino Effect.......2004-04-08

David Begelman, powerful head of a studio thinks he is above the law, until an actor by the name of Cliff Robertson exposes him. This book is a well written tale of immorality in a town known for it's lack of scruples. Hollywood insiders should not be surprised at this tale, but I was. The check Begelman forged was for a small amount. The man made more than that in a month. The book exposes the reasons why a man who had it all, would choose to commit such a crime and fall from grace. I was quite disappointed by Robertson's treatment by Hollywood's hierarchy when he was the victim, not Begelman. But it proves just how far studios will go to protect the bottom line. I read this book when it was first published years ago and I'm reading it again. The list of books I will read more than once is a short one. I highly recommend it.

Good Coverage of Major Scandal!.......2003-11-30

This book gives details of David Begelman the head man at
Columbia Pictures getting caught forging Cliff Robertson's name
on a check. Robertson had won an Oscar for his role in Charly.
As a result of Begelman getting caught Roberetson would suffer
mightily at the hands of the powerful in Hollywood.Cliff Robertson wound up being blacklisted as a result of this scandal.This scandal would send shockwaves from Hollywood to
Wall Street.You are given a complete coverage of this event in
this excellent book.You are given good coverage of some of the
individuals who were involved in this scandal.David Begelman's demise is also given coverage in this book.This is an excellent book on this event. Read it. You will not be dissapointed.

Cliff Robertson is the true star of this story........1998-06-06

David Begelman would never have been exposed as the crook he was without the dogged, principled determination of Cliff Robertson to get to the bottom of corruption at the top levels of Hollywood. This excellent book documents Robertson's heroic efforts to get at the truth -- for which he was blackballed by the Hollywood establishment for years. Cliff once said to me: "Of all the things in my life I'm proud of -- if I'm proud at all -- it's not winning the best actor Oscar or Emmy; it's my part in bringing down that crook Begelman."

But perhaps the book is most valuable for its exposure of the top echelon of Hollywood -- people with lots of money and no taste; people who know nothing whatever about movies. And could care less. I hope this book is reprinted soon. It is timeless.

A fascinating study of the real powers of Tinseltown........1997-11-27

First things first. This book only gets an "8" becuase I realize some people could care less about studio executives in Hollywood(unless their name is Julia Phillips or Steven Speilberg, both of whom make appearences in the book) but it truly is a ten. It is truly an amazing tale: what starts out as a theft of less then a $100, 000 becomes a battle for corporate power. David Begelman, the man behind the scandal, isn't even the main character of the book. It's Alan Hirschfield trying, desperately, to do the responible business decisions he was hired to do and is one of only a few major players in this detailed history to remain a completely sympathetic person by story's end. Indecent Exposure is truly is one of great true life American Dramas I have ever read. (Review by Michael Goodman)

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Shades of Tristram Shandy (Stern) and Tom Jones (Fielding)
another sweeping saga by Boyd fully entertains..
An Outstanding Fictional Memoir
An Old Man's Story
Boyd knows how to make the journey worth while

The New Confessions
William Boyd
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375705031
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Book Description

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.

From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.

Customer Reviews:

Shades of Tristram Shandy (Stern) and Tom Jones (Fielding).......2007-01-14

A wonderful rampage through the twentieth century in the vein of the best eighteenth and nineteenth century chroniclers, Boyd's fictional hero is so well drawn, so detailed and so human that each page produces new fascinations. From the turn of the century until the 1970s when he stands on the wealthy promontory of life, by the Mediterranean, looking back on his journey, Boyd produces a young man desperate to (1) lose his virginity (2) avoid dying in a trench somewhere near Ypres during the Great War and (3) find a purpose.

I was lent a copy of this book by a friend and I have enjoyed it so much that, not having read Boyd before, I have ordered two other Boyds plus this one, so I can return my borrowed copy. It should be compulsory reading for 18 year-olds studying English lit, but I suspect it won't be because it will be deemed 'too long.' Although 476 pages, they are long pages (small letters, 40+ lines) and the book, sized the same as a 'typical' paperback, would weigh in at closer to 700 pages, although the length detracts not a jot from the book's brilliance and it never feels padded, unlike many shorter books.

another sweeping saga by Boyd fully entertains.........2005-09-19

William Boyd is a terrific storyteller. His prose is of high quality, characterizations livid and entertaining. I'm glad to say 'The New Confessions' is standard William Boyd material. It is a faux autobiography of a Scotsman as he reminisces through his full life of the first three quarters of the twentieth century. He experiences the horror of trench warfare in WW I, he becomes a famous silent film director of the Germany avant-garde cinema, and then lives several years in turbulent Hollywood before retiring on an island in the Mediterranian. He is no hero, and not a particularly nice guy. But is life story is very rich; I wish I had a grandfather like him!

However 'The New Confessions is not perfect. The ending is a bit of a disappointment, and overall the book seems too much like his 'Any Human Heart' (..which he wrote later but I read earlier). I do wish William Boyd would return to the stellar form he demonstrated with 'Brazzaville Beach', a less ambitious but much more powerful novel.

Bottom line: thoroughly competent but Boyd can do better. Still, any average effort by Boyd is worthy read.

An Outstanding Fictional Memoir.......2003-12-25

This fictional memoir displays Boyd's consummate skill and style to full effect, ranging across time an place to create a vivid tale. Jean Jacques Rousseau's Confessions is (perhaps arguably) first tell-all memoir, and here Boyd updates it through the reminisces of James Todd. The story unfolds chronologically from his birth in 1899 and upbringing in Edinburgh to the 1970s, when he sits incognito on a quiet island writing his memoirs. The years between are a picaresque journey through the first half of the last century and one man's attempt to create meaning in his life.

The early years in his domineering father's household document an unhappy child yearning for love and approval. His father's quest to perfect and patent medicines provides an uncommonly interesting background for this. When a family friend introduces him to photography, the die is cast. As a teenager, like so many British men of his age, he is swallowed by the first World War, where he is wounded at Ypres. Here, Boyd's descriptions manage to breath fresh life into carnage whose horror has been well-documented. Fortuitously, he is then transferred to a propaganda unit, where his talent in photography is applied to the new realm of film. Captured by the Germans, he languishes in prison, where a guard befriends him and gives him a copy of Rousseau's Confessions to pass the time. The work insinuates itself into him, and it percolates in him in the postwar years as he works in the London silent film industry. Despite marrying and fathering several children, his ambitions remain thwarted and he moves to Berlin to pursue his pet project of making an epic version of Rousseau's book.

In Weimar Berlin he embraces the vibrant (if pfenningless) art community and reconnects with his former guard, who is now an actor. Working together, and with Armenian producers, their careers start to take off and Todd becomes embroiled in a lifelong love affair with an actress. Boyd's description of the inter-war Berlin film scene is so vivid, and the discussion of Todd's career so convincing that one is tempted to put the book down and rush to the video store to see his films. With the juice to get his pet Rousseau project made, Todd throws himself full-tilt into the project, only to see the emergence of "talkies" scuttle it. This propels him to Hollywood, where makes some quiet B-Westerns embedded with subtle social messages until t he next war finds him scrambling around as a war correspondent for third-tier U.S. newspapers.

Following WWII, he falls afoul of the McCarthy witch hunts for communist in the entertainment industry and appears before HUAC. Here, is perhaps the book's one flaw. The HUAC hearings provide Todd with an opportunity to both stay afloat by naming names (some of whom have already named him), and exact revenge on his longtime archnemesis-but he doesn't take it. Although he's presented as variously idealistic and honorable, it's the one time in the book where the character doesn't hold true. And from here, the book bogs down a little, as Todd's current situation as apparent exile starts to loom over the proceedings. Despite a somewhat unsatisiying ending, the story's overall quality is head and shoulders above the pack. Once again Boyd has researched a plethora of subjects and places, and recreates them perfectly. At the same time he occasionally deploys a light comic touch to lighten this story of the search for meaning and the role of chance in life.

An Old Man's Story.......2003-08-01

I'm a sucker for books that chronicle a man's life. I found it very enjoyable as J.J. Todd's life moves in parallel to his obsession, Roussou's CONFESSIONS.

This book reminded me of Mark Helprin's SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR.

Boyd knows how to make the journey worth while.......2002-05-12

You know you have read a bad book when you sit through it, sneering in disgust until you reach the end, when you throw it across the room or hide it in shame. The wonderful thing with William Boyd is he is so magical with the subtlety of his messages. Reading Confessions I knew I was in the hands of a good writer, and that I would not be let down. True to form, the ending wrapped Confessions up neatly and fittingly. Reading books like Boyd's are a relief - there is so much [junk] out there and we must all thank God there are published writers who actually have true gifts of literacy (and I challenge anyone to beat Boyd at his game, he is a true master of the english lexicon). All in all, I love this book and if you, like me, feel good books are few and far between, read this for a good dose of refreshment.

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