Book Description
With the nation at war in the 1940s, twenty-two-year-old Jack Valenti flew fifty-one combat missions as the pilot of a B-25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force based in Italy. In the 1960s, with the nation reeling from the assassination of a beloved president and becoming embroiled in a far different kind of war in Vietnam, he was in that fateful Dallas motorcade in 1963, flew back to Washington with the new president, and for three years worked in the inner circle of the White House as special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson. Then, for the next thirty-eight years, with American society and popular culture undergoing a revolutionary transformation, Valenti was the public face of Hollywood in his capacity as head of the Motion Picture Association of America.
Been there, done that, indeed. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Valenti has led several lives, any one of which could have provided ample material for an unforgettable memoir. As it is, This Time, This Place is the gripping story of a man who saw the terrible face of war while fighting with skill and bravery for his country; who was in the room, listening, participating, and remembering, as political decisions were made that would benefit or devastate countless lives in this country and on the other side of the world; and who championed the interest of the vast and globally influential movie industry with tenacity and vision. The list of boldface names whom Valenti knew and with whom he worked is as varied as it is astonishing in number. Aside
from LBJ, there were Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Robert McNamara, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Roberts, Cary Grant, Lew Wasserman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Warren Beatty, and Bill Clinton, to begin a very long list.
The life of a man who earned both the Distinguished Flying Cross and his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is inherently intriguing, but Valenti’s warm, sometimes rueful, always engaging account gives this memoir a depth of humanity and a taste of life’s unpredictability that will linger long after you turn the final page. From growing up poor but largely oblivious to that fact in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Greek and Italian immigrants in Houston to rising to the highest summits both of national government and Hollywood, This Time, This Place is a candid and clear-eyed reflection of the joys and sorrows, ambitions and disappointments, of a life fully recognizable in its extraordinary variety. It is also a sweeping and important historical record, written by a brilliantly successful man who helped to shape politics and entertainment in the second half of the twentieth century, and who always found himself in the center of the current storm.
Customer Reviews:
Saint Jack.......2007-09-21
One must be a very dedicated movie or Jack Valenti watcher to plough all the way through this tome. Apart from the timing which cannot be faulted - he died shortly after the book was published: the book is more a diary than a literary work. Except for the opening chapter on the assassination of JFK, which is good and compelling writing, the remainder stretched incredulity a little too far.
If we are to believe what Mr Valenti tells us about himself, we should not be surprised that at the books completion, the Almighty whisked him off to heaven to be at his right hand. A more Saintly man never lived beyond the Vatican.
We learn that he started life very poor - not even any shoes. We also learn that his close relatives were very rich. That confused me. I thought these old Sicilian families stuck together. Or is that only in the Mafia? One of these relatives who did not feel able to buy little Jack any shoes, did give him a job however. The salary was not sufficient for the future $1.3 million a year boss of MPAA, so he lied to take the time off to solicit work at Humble Oil which was successful. Little Jack clearly had a talent for ingratiating himself into the affections of those who could help him. First it was the HR lady who gave him his first job at Humble. Then it was the head of the advertising department who put him to work there. Work: I use the word loosely as he seems to have spent his time travelling around the country keeping his boss from being lonely. He must have been a very seductive little chap.
Then the war intervened. Now I thought, this is where it gets interesting. He reminds us frequently that he was a war hero, so I was very keen to learn more. Unfortunately modesty prevented him from sharing with us any daring-do that he was involved in. Other than telling us that the Luftwaffe fighters held no terrors for him - indeed, he actually says that they were no problem to him. Well that's a first. I must have more than 30 books on WWII aerial combat, and I never read that before. Could it be that all the others were spoofing? We do learn at great length his mile by mile journey back to America from Italy. The war was over by this time, but low cloud and rain was more formidable than the Luftwaffe it seems.
Once back to civilian life, he takes advantage of the GI Bill and goes to Harvard. If he goes on about his time at Harvard to his everyday listeners as he does in his book, there can be few American who don't know that Jack Valenti went to Harvard. Upon completion of his course he goes back to Humble Oil. This is the second time they have him back. He learns as much as he can from them, sets up a company with a partner and promptly leaves Humble Oil. Using what he learnt from Humble he solicits business from Humble competitors. This is a life long habit of Jack's. He ingratiates himself with people until they are of no more value; then he drops them. He did that with President Johnson after he learnt that Johnson was not going to seek re-election. He would have done it to MPAA and gone to Columbia Pictures, but his devoted wife of God knows how many years wouldn't go to Los Angeles with him. Washington was more important than Jack it seems. She did offer to let him commute once a week from DC to LA.
It is at this point in the book that one loses the will to live. It becomes a page after page catalogue of the rich and famous who Jack loved deeply, and they him. Pick at random any Name from the A List, and they - and of course their gorgeous spouses, were close personal friends of the Valenti's. There is not an enemy in sight - he even had a good word for the Luftwaffe! But then this is a work more interesting for what it doesn't say than for what it does. He never mentions that he lead a crusade to prevent VCRs being introduced into America. He takes full credit for the `original' introduction of a film rating system. He expects the readers not to notice that the British Board of Film Censors has been rating movies since 1912. It is also interesting that Jack never ever mentions the British film industry. He mentions, and praises British actors and directors, but never identifies them as such. He does every other country that has a film industry. Perhaps under the overcast skies of grey old London lurk a few skeletons that Jack would prefer to keep in the cupboard.
After one has waded through pages and pages of Hollywood's `Who's Who', the book is completed with the unsurprising information that all of his three children are `...movie star beautiful, and they are all outstandingly successful.' No kidding. He even tells us that his grandchildren are perfect.
Jack Valent's life story could have been an enthralling read had it been an `unauthorised version' by Kitty Kelly or similar. Instead, it is a very boring exercise in self aggrandisement. It is said that before one writes a book, one should identify your audience. The only audience for this book is the Hollywood Hoorays who will enjoy what is written about themselves, and think kindly about Jack - and of course his children.
Well done Jack. Not so much a book, more an advertising brochure for the Valenti dynasty.
Good Read but Lacks Bite .......2007-07-15
In a sense this is two books in one. Valenti (apart from his war years) had two very different careers - as a valued aide to President Lyndon Johnson and latterly as President Motion Picture Association of America. He did sterling work in both roles.
Almost anything written about Johnson is fascinating and Valenti keeps that legend going. The author never fails to see good in people and like other Johnson aides such as Joe Califano, seemed to have a genuine love for the towering Texan.
Valenti's opening chapter on the dreadful events of November 22nd 1963 is compelling reading. The author also writes well on the meetings and decision processes that encouraged LBJ to enlarge the war in Vietnam. For those with rose tinted glasses who believe JFK would have taken the US out of Vietnam before it became a quagmire, Valenti makes it quite clear that the bulk of LBJ's Vietnam advisors were Kennedy people. Overall the section on Johnson and the White House years is enjoyable reading. The same can not be said for his MPAA memoir.
Part of the problem is that Valenti is so gushing in his praise of everyone. The number of "radiantly beautiful" or "dazzling" wives he met with adorable offspring is mind-blowing. This man would have something good to say about the devil! He alludes very gingerly to the excesses of and infatuation with Hollywood, but never provides any depth.
Valenti - who wrote a book on communication - is a wonderful writer with a flowing style that is a joy to read. It is a pity that he did not bring greater depth and I think honesty to his MPAA career.
A Truly American Story.......2007-07-05
Jack Valenti's memoir "This Time, This Place: My Life in War, The White House, and Hollywood" tells an authentically American story. Valenti, the grandson of a Sicilian immigrant, rises from his working class roots to:
* win the Distinguished Flying Cross (WWII)
* attend Harvard Business School (Veterans Bill)
* start his own successful business
* become the aide de camp to a US President (Lyndon Johnson)
* and, become the chief lobbyist and defender of the motion picture industry for four decades.
Valenti's book opens with a flashback to Dallas, Texas on November 23, 1963 as he rode in the fateful Presidential motorcade that passed the Texas Book Depository with Lee Oswald's rifle pointed at President John Kennedy. Before the day was over, he was THE confident and consigliore to a new US President, Lyndon Johnson, overseeing the president's speeches, decided whom he would see and where he would go to speak. His chronicle of his White House years reads like a fast-paced novel and has plenty of detail to satisfy historians.
"This Time, This Place" provides important events in Valenti's early formation which were the underpinnings of a remarkable life. As a working class kid from Houston, he watched his grocer grandfather practice local politics and made his own first speech at the age of 10, advocating the reelection of the Sheriff. He worked as movie usher during high school, and got himself elected class president as a night student at the University of Houston.
In 1943, he joined the Army Air Corps, taking his first solo flight only after nine hours of instruction. He piloted 51 bombing missions over Europe in a B25 winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. His descriptions of these years are among the most vivid in this book. His prose throbs with memories of an experience that was simultaneously exhilarating, terrifying and "brutal."
The section on the Hollywood years is looser. Valenti's good-old-boy Texas story-telling comes out. He is more willing to tell tales, poking fun at some of the pompous behavior and trappings of the Motion Picture Industry's celebrities.
"This Time,This Place" is told straightforwardly, acknowledging debts, sketching people he knew and giving a not entirely flattering view of himself. His self-portrait is one of restlessness, and a strong commitment to advancement.
This is a man that senators, congressman and presidents readily took calls from. His formula was simple, "It is rooted in the ability to engage in courtship, to cosset talent, to understand the human condition and to make decisions fast." He exuded charm and was able to establish relationships by being everyone's pal but he never left empty-handed.
Jack Valenti died two years after his retirement from the Motion Picture Association of America in April, 2007.
Outstanding.......2007-07-04
Jack Valenti was both a witness to, and an instrument of, history and his autobiography presents the fascinating elements of his life and all those that he came across. Written in a very easy to read, yet eloquent, style (you can hear Valenti speaking these words)the book should be read by anyone interested in the Washington, the Great Society, and movie industry scenes.
Valenti's Life.......2007-06-27
A memoir of someone (now deceased) who -- after brave service in World War II -- spent time in two workplaces that most would find very interesting, The White House and Hollywood. While some stories within the book are interesting, especially the historical notes on the Johnson Administration, most are very shallow.
It is the life story of a bright, ambitious man from the hinterlands who happened to be in all the right places and took full advantage of his career opportunities. He is the type of person who always has his eye fixed on the main chance ... and toward the most important person in the room.
The prose drips with sincerity and soars with hyperbole. Mr. Valenti said about his friendship with Don Imus and Bernard McGuirk (whose own careers cratered after this book went to press), he had instant fame from being on Imus In the Morning "...however fleeting!" I think Mr. Valenti's fame indeed will be fleeting since it is primarily derived from the reflection of others.
Average customer rating:
- 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
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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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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.
Amazon.com
Ah, pity poor Mendoza. She's a botanist stuck in dusty southern California in 1862, with a broken heart, bizarre companions, lousy food (frijoles and steak again, anyone?), and no plants to study. On top of all that, she's immortal--a cyborg created and maintained by Dr. Zeus, also known as the Company. From its 24th-century headquarters, the Company sends orders back in time to Mendoza and her fellow cyborgs, who collect stuff from the past and send it ahead through time machines for inscrutable uses. But things go from bad to worse for our heroine when drought and smallpox decimate the region, leaving her with nothing to do but pine for her three-centuries-lost mortal love, the martyred Nicholas Harpole. But what's this? Along comes a British agent--the spitting image of Nicholas--hell-bent on upsetting the Union in its hour of need. Mendoza must decide whether to help him in his plot to ensure British rule of the Americas, thereby directly disobeying her Company mandates. She finds herself in a weird race against time itself in this story of science fiction adventure, mystery, and comedy, with not a few reverential in-jokes about SoCal culture thrown in for good measure.
Kage Baker's style and wit make her novels among the best reads in science fiction today. Mendoza in Hollywood, the third book in the Company series (10 are planned) is simply delightful, with the focus back on dear, tragic Mendoza, and tantalizing hints of mysterious conspiracies aplenty. Lots of questions remain unanswered, but Baker weaves such a delicious tale, it's a pleasure to be teased. The series began with In the Garden of Iden and Sky Coyote. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
This is the third novel in what has become one of the most popular series in contemporary SF, now back in print from Tor. In the twenty-fourth century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of lifefor profit, of course. It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. The death of her lover has been followed by centuries of heartbreak. She spends a period of time in early twentieth-century Hollywood in the days of D. W. Griffith. Then Mendoza, in the midst of the Civil War, and runs into a man disturbingly similar to her lost love. She is about to find love again, and be in more trouble than she could ever have imagined.
Customer Reviews:
Somebody Get This Book Some Ritalin (tm).......2007-09-02
_____I could've sworn I wrote up a full and decent review of this bland blathering book some time ago... Well, whatever: With some minutes before dinner, I'll just recap my thoughts on this text. It truly was boring for one thing. For another thing, the book was tangental--always and again popping from one branching plot development to another. Top it all off with how this book reads more like an anthology with a short attention span, and it does not even qualify as a novel. Having MENDOZA IN HOLLYWOOD published as a novel is something like labeling oatmeal a sweet and putting it on the candy-store shelf: a deceptive thing to do.
_____The deception begins when we get to meet a truly awesome set of characters--awesome a great selection of ways. The main protatonists are cyborgs. Meaning, they have computer-enhanced brains with access to remote knowledge, have bodies endowed with super powers, and they are immortal. One would expect a mighty assemblage of immortal cyborgs to be put to some amazing and appropriate test of abilties. One would therefore expect rip-roaring science fiction. So you are led to believe, ladies and gentlemen, so you are led to believe...
_____OF COURSE YOU DON'T GET AN AWESOME BOOK. This book, after the first several chapters, degenerates into a haphazard series of events that involve characters alternating between investigating the antics of gun-toting locals and watching movies. That's right: the super-duper immortal cyborgs spend maybe as much time munching popcorn and watching movies as they do in actually DOING something. I'll tell you what: If I was an immortal cyborg with super-powers and was sent back in time on a mission, you would not catch me wasting half of my time eating buttered maize. That, and my attention would focus on ONE PLOT DEVELOPMENT AT A TIME.
_____Yes, in terms of plot development, the book has a hard time getting and keeping a plot. So the protagonist is first sent to collect rare plants. Then the protagonist decides to go help sell some pie-safes. And then the protagonist investigates a time-cave thing (a la Stephen King's DARK TOWER series). This then meanders into the protagonist deciding to part-time it as a prostitute...among other things. Only at the very freaking tail-end of this donkey of a book do we a coherent and finalizing plot development--that which leads to the main protagonist's professional downfall. It was as if this book was just made up as it was being typed with no real sense of direction. By the way, we all know what comes out the tail-end of a donkey, right? That would pretty much match the quality of this book's construction--plotless, meandering, and pointless.
_____By the way, before folks think that I'm just a lone-star madman out to slam random sci-fi novels, have a look at comments posted by other reviewers regarding MENDOZA IN HOLLYWOOD. Was this book boredom-inducing--as claimed by another reviewer? Why, YES it was! "Meandering," somebody else said that. I'll drink to that sentiment as well. Was there a problem with only the best development in the book happening at the VERY END--like say, in the last seventy pages? I see that same problem, and I'll raise you a five-dollar gold-piece to boot. If you don't believe my cinnamon-tinged verbal antics regarding the awfulness of this book's plotlessness, then you are very welcome to browse around at other reviewers' posts. This guy is not alone in slamming this book.
_____Maybe the only saving grace of this book was that it had a coherent writing style. What do I mean by that? Well, there is a problem with a lot of the science fiction novels out of the 1990s. Maybe it is a problem with LSD, because a lot of novels from that decade and beyond have an acid-trip style of writing: writing styles so crazed and incoherent that a person has to pick through the pages like a psychiatrist digging through the dialogue of a serial killer or something. Damien Broderick, Julian May, those are just two authors that come to mind when it comes to mindless madness and senselessness in writing. Kage Baker actually managed to stay coherent for the duration of MENDOZA IN HOLLYWOOD. For that reason, I gave the book two stars instead of one. Now I'm off to get my dinner--not popcorn. And somebody get this book something to make it more focused.
Another Company title.......2007-08-01
I'm working my way through the Company series. The underlying story of the immortals and the "company" of the 24th century that produced them and the time travel involved fascinates and Baker seems to be able to carry it through. Easy reads,well written and hard to put down. A wonderful multi-faceted drama
Wandering Aimlessly.......2007-06-10
In this installment of the Company novels, Mendoza is stationed in the hills of Hollywood, California, during the early 1860's. Her task, as always, is to collect rare and/or valuable plant species that would not survive the centuries without the Company's help.
Beyond Mendoza's task to collect plant species for the Company, the plot in this installment was pretty thin. The characters just did not have much of a purpose...there was no cohesive plot holding everything together. And, while we do end up with a bit more information about the Company at the end than we had at the beginning...there was nothing to move things along to reach the climax of the story.
Overall, Mendoza's jaunt in Hollywood has been the biggest disappointment of the three Company books up to this point. I look forward to things hopefully picking up with the next installment.
Savour it slowly.......2007-02-20
kage Baker's rich and evocative writing makes this haunting tale of haunted "Mendoza in Hollywood" fascinating. Future and past revive in a strange never-never land of the soul, in which Mendoza is living, whilst interacting with her fellow Time Traveler colleagues. You'll feel the strange melancholy of the immortal, the whilst beiing entertained by Oscars' funny antics as he tries to peddle a curious piece of kitchen furniture, and you'll be intrigued and moved as another cyborg develops an attachment to the birds he's studying. A bit slow in climaxing, this book is nonetheless a joy for the reader.
look at Baker's Amazing review of "Intolerance" .......2006-07-15
If you live in Los Angeles, Baker's novel is replete with so many local references. Especially centred on the suburb of Hollywood. The setting in the novel is in the 1860s, while much of Hollywood is still chaparral and dirt. But Baker gives a crazy juxtaposition of that Los Angeles with its 20th century equivalent. So there are many remarks about, say, Hollywood and Vine, or the 710 freeway. Makes one wonder if Baker actually lives in Los Angeles. Either that or she has certainly done her homework.
The book is also distinguished by a very long and hilarious review of D W Griffith's Intolerance. Here I am, writing a review of Baker's book. But I tell you that in some weird fashion, her narrative review of Intolerance is one of the best reviews of a movie that you might ever read, in any context. Baker's descriptions of the plot of Intolerance are given in a fast paced style, reminescent of the idea behind MST3K. Baker uses the characters in her novel to spice up her analysis in a way that she simply could not otherwise do.
Book Description
"I have killed no man in the first place that didn't deserve killing . . . I had no alternative. It was either my life or their life."-Mickey Cohen
A marvelously detailed biography of the mobster who controlled Los Angeles for the Mafia, from Bugsy Siegel to Carlo Gambino and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Mickey Cohen was above all a master blackmailer of stars, and they all are on parade within these pages: from Marilyn Monroe to Lana Turner and Dean Martin to Sammy Davis Jr. A vast portrait of America and organized crime from the 1940s to the 1970s seen through the life of Mickey Cohen.
Customer Reviews:
Mickey Cohen the Gangster.......2007-07-12
This is a firts bio of Mickey Cohen but it's much more and in fact covers a whole period in Mafia history centered on the West Coast. Made lively by hundreds of anecdotes, this book is very satisfying and fills a huge gap in the known history of the Jewish Mob, its political and business ramifications and the incredible reach of some of its memebers. From Bugsy Siegel to the rat Pack: all the Hollywood "gangs" are shown here and Mickey was almost like a puppet master pulling strings! A must read.
Couldn't Put It Down - Real Page Turner.......2007-07-12
I liked this fascinating story of a criminal who didn't believe he was one. Before this very little was known about Mickey Cohen. I found the design descriptions of the night clubs and Cohen's houses and apartments very interesting. This underwold figure was made real, human, and surprisingly likeable. Each chapter revealed another intriguing facet of his life. Highly recommended. It is unusual for a history/biography to be such a fun read.
Terrific book on the life of Mickey Cohen.......2007-07-10
A comprehensive, thorough expose of the early Mafia days of New York, Hollywood, and Las Vegas. A fascinating read!
Extraordinary Biography Missing From The Lit.......2007-07-10
This book supplies a missing biography of one of the most colorful mobsters from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Gosh, he knew everyone and had the strangest collection of friends. There is some good stuff in here about how the mob worked with the politicians, plus a great history of the Sunset Strip and the old clubs. I really enjoyed it. It should be in everyone's collection. It also tells how it was like to grow up poor in the Jewish communities like Brooklyn and Boyle Heights in California. It's a great read for fans of Las Vegas, too. I never knew how corrupt Los Angeles was, and how the movie people worked with the Jewish mafia and the Italians. Anyone interested in True Crime or historical biographies will really enjoy this.
Informative and very readable.......2007-07-09
The life and times of Mickey Cohen are meticulously covered in this book. Copious notes validate the contents. A historical piece of mid-century Los Angeles.
Amazon.com
William Haines was one of MGM's biggest stars in the late 1920s, playing cocky but sympathetic wise guys in movies such as Brown of Harvard. He was as self-assured in real life: dropped by the studio in 1933 because he refused to hide his homosexuality, Haines became a successful interior decorator. Journalist William J. Mann perceptively links Haines's story to shifting attitudes in the movie industry, the gay community, and America as a whole. He also paints a tender portrait of the actor's love for Jimmie Shields, his companion from 1926 until Haines's death in 1973.
Book Description
In 1930 William Haines was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw--a talented, handsome, romantic lead. Offscreen, he was openly gay. This bestselling biography captures the rich gay subculture of Hollywood before the Production Code--before studio intimidation led to the establishment of the Hollywood closet. Alone among his contemporaries, Billy Haines refused to compromise and was ultimately booted out by Louis B. Mayer. Forced to give up acting, Haines went on to become a top interior designer to the stars and to clients such as Nancy Reagan. By his side through it all was his lover, Jimmie Shields; their fifty-year relationship led their best friend, Joan Crawford, to call them the "happiest married couple in Hollywood." Wisecracker is an astounding piece of newly discovered gay history, a chronicle of high Hollywood, and--at its heart--a great and enduring love story.
Customer Reviews:
A sloppy job.......2004-04-28
This book was a major disappointment. It could have been good. Unfortunately, once you throw out all the regurgitated gossip, conjecture, and seemingly endless repetition, there's not much real information on William Haines. It doesn't help that Mann doesn't seem to know (or care) that he frequently contradicts himself. Potentially interesting topics - that Haines may have been a manic depressive, to name just one - are touched on, but Mann prefers rehashing old publicity to attempting any real insight.
One of the more irritating aspects of this book is the repeated emphasis on how "cultured" Haines was. He quit school at age 14; how and when he acquired the "culture" he was so famous for is never really made clear. It's possible that he educated himself in art, music, literature, etc., which would be laudable as well as interesting, but if this side of Haines existed, Mann does him a huge disservice by ignoring it. Apparently it's enough for Mann that Haines was well-versed in antiques and Emily Post's Etiquette.
As has been pointed out in other reviews, Mann's research leaves a lot to be desired. Take, for example, his reference in Chapter Four to Gloria Swanson's "marriages to European royalty." Supposedly Mann read Swanson's autobiography; of her six husbands -and she discusses each one-only two were Europeans and neither one was a member of a royal family. Sounds like nitpicking, but that's just one of several statements based on slipshod research.
Then there's the question of style. Mann's prose is, on the whole, pedestrian, except when he tries to be imaginative, and then the results are laughable. You may be amused by Barbara La Marr's "extravagant green eyes," but my personal favorite is "Already movies [sic] stars like Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino were building outrageous castles to their absurd fame." Say what?
Overall, I think Haines probably deserved better than this. There may be, buried in all the muck, a truly interesting and even admirable man. Mann tries to tell that there is, but he's too fascinated by the muck to present a clear picture of the man.
Things you can tell just by skimming through it.......2003-06-02
This book is very informative and full of eye-opening photographs. It reflects an issue that needs to be addressed much, much more. I already knew much about this silent star, and have learned more just by simply skimming through Mr. Mann's excellent survey. I definitely recommend it as I also recommend another of the author's books, which I am currently reading as well, "Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910-1969."
AN ALMOST TRUE BOOK.......2003-05-11
For those looking for an introduction to the career of William Haines and for some insights into gay life in the 1920s and 1930s, this book will suffice. But it has as its grounding assumptions several false facts.
1) William Haines was not the biggest moneymaker or the biggest star at MGM in 1930. He was not the Gay Gable. That "fact" is gleaned from one minor poll of distributors and is not reflective of the reality that by 1930 -- even 1929 -- Haines was fading.
2) Haines was fading partly because he was losing his looks -- an odd thing to say about a thirty year old man -- but true. He was getting heavy; he was losing his hair, and he was losing the boyish look that had been the source of his appeal.
3) Anyone who has ever seen a Haines talkie will understand why his career faded. His wiseguy personna did not translate well to the talking screen. He was, in a word, obnoxious. He looked like a big obnoxious stiff.
4) Mann says that changing mores in Hollywood, mores that would soon result in the Hays Code, partly brought about Haines's downfall. Wrong. Haines was already finished by 1932, long before the Code was instituted. And in any case the Code wasn't a product of some kind of consensus within Hollywood. And there could have been no moral re-trenchment in Hollywood, in anticipation of the Code, because in 1932, no one saw it coming. And to know that, all one has to do is watch some 1932 movies.
5) Half the people Mann says were gay weren't.
6) Some of the sex stories are specious, undocumented, seventy-year-old gossip.
7) Haines gayness was a nuisance, so far as MGM was concerned, but if his movies were making money the studio would have kept him indefinitely. He was dropped because his movies were tanking.
There was an honest story to tell here. Haines was a fairly major actor (for about three years). He was gay. He was out. He traveled in an interesting circle. That's all here, too. It's just the connections, the conclusions, the assumptions and the assertions that need to be taken with a bucket of salt.
WONDERFUL Biography of a Star!.......2002-04-13
I got much more out of this biography than I expected. I wanted to learn more about Billy Haines, and his struggle to be openly gay in Hollywood, and about his long marriage to Jimmie Shields. But, what I learned was how alot of people in Hollywood were gay, and openly so, but then became closeted later. Stars I never knew were gay, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert and many others. The book was fascinating. Lots of gossip, Hollywood stories, movie star information, but more than all that its a book about the amazing life of Billy Haines, and more than 50 year love affair with his companion Jimmie Shields. The book was well researched and never really left me wanting more. I recommend this book as a source for Hollywood lovers, and for gay men and women. A story all would enjoy, and a life worth reading about.
Badly Researched Book by William J. Mann.......2002-04-06
William J. Mann's book Wisecracker seems at first well written. Also, it appeared well researched and Mr. Mann
wanted to write about FACTS and not sensationalize a not so interesting life as William Haines. The book
centers around William Haines gayness above all.
But I totally lost interest in reading any more of this book when I reached page 116 where Mr. Mann
refers to Virgina Rappe as a "young starlet" when in fact she wasn't young by any means and her profession was
actually "prositute." She did do some modeling (adverts for make up) but never appeared in a film. Also he states that the "lured
details of the Fatty Arbuckle case came out..." The details he lists may have come from some old publicity
rag, but not the facts stated in Arbuckle's court transcripts. Rappe tried to extort money
from Arbuckle and to get back she said he raped her. He was never seen in ripped pajamas, and did not
wear anyone's "smashed hat" since there was no such item in that set of hotel suites in San Francisco.
Arbuckle barely saw Virgina Rappe since she lay sick - in another room with complications from a botched
abortion done a week before. Which was proven and the stories that circulation were just rumors.
THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED THIS BOOK IS JUST A HUGE COLLECTION OF COMPILED PUBLICITY
SHEETS..or rag, more like. Don't bother to read this book if you want to know the truth.
Book Description
Edith Head is widely considered the most important figure in the history of Hollywood costume design. Her career spanned nearly half a century and included such classic films as Rear Window and Sunset Boulevard. Her private life and professional achievements have been the subject of speculation since she rose to the top in the late 1940s. Ruthlessly competitive and intensely secretive, Head had few close friends and many detractors. Her longtime friend, protégé, and confidant David Chierichetti offers a privileged glimpse into the personality behind the famously impenetrable "schoolmarm" façade and a comprehensive account of her creative process.
With more than 150 images –– including family snapshots, sketches, and studio portraits of the stars and roles she helped to create, Edith Head is a fresh and vital portrait of the designer, as well as of the era she epitomizes.
Customer Reviews:
Where are the costumes???.......2007-06-05
Edith Head is the single best-known costume designer Hollywood ever produced (she's such an iconic figure that a character modeled on her appeared in the Disney movie "The Incredibles" a couple of years back) and has probably won more Oscars than anyone else in film history. Given that, you would have expected a pictorial biography of this woman to be chock-full of her best designs. Well, it isn't. As other reviewers have noted, the pictorial selection is disappointing, and the writing is plodding. Considering that the author wrote an excellent book on costume design in film some years ago ("Hollywood Costume Design", which should be available from various Marketplace sellers), it's perplexing that what should have been a tour de force has fallen so flat. I suppose those who want to see an in-depth exploration of Ms. Head's work should look for the book "Edith Head's Hollywood" instead.
A fun, fast read........2006-12-25
This is a breezy, readable, can't-put-it-down bio on the infamous, iconic Edith Head. The real advantage this author has, is one of proximity, having worked with her.
This is not a filling meal... it made me want to find her own book - even though she dismisses it later in her life. It digs few probing holes, perhaps because she herself covered all the holes so well. But there is so much DISH here, we don't miss the meal. I'm giving this as a gift to someone who worked in the textile industry.
The real quibble of this book is that there are so FEW pictures of her finished work. With so many juicy anecdotes about different stars, and backstage stories about films, it would have been really nice to have wardrobe shots. Publishers... it isn't too late to add these!
I'm currently reading a bio of Coco Chanel, and it is interesting to see many paralells between the two women, including the trademark streamlined, simplicity they both shared. Edith Head didn't just look inscrutible. She was. This is a fun, fast read.
Interesting read, but not what I was looking for.......2006-07-13
Edith Head was the Coco Chanel of Hollywood. Mysterious, implacable, and scary good at her job. I enjoyed reading a biography of her life and career. Unfortunately, as a costume designer, what I hoped to learn more about was her creative process and the tricks she used to make the actors look like their characters. This book was more of a love letter, so my search for knowledge continues.
Total Confusion.......2006-04-18
This book was one of the most confusing books I ever read. It was poorly written. I was so lost after Head got her job at Paramount. I knew more of what happened to Charles Head. At Paramount, Chierichetti kept listing jobs that other designers were getting and never revealing Edith's outcome or why. Where was Edith? What about Edith? is all I kept asking. Save your money, this book is not worth it.
Would have been a great article.......2004-04-15
Chierichetti has produced what would have been a fascinating article for Vanity Fair or Vogue, but falls short as a full length biography. His subject spent many celebrated decades as a Hollywood costume designer but we learn little about Edith Head's actual creative process, her interactions with the stars she dressed or even how she felt about her job (other than she seemed monumentally insecure about her success). The book is also missing photographic documentation that would help the reader understand how great her impact really was. In the end, we don't learn much more about Edith Head or her life, but rather we learn the same stuff over and over: she was a champion dissembler, she had a complex emotional life, she was conflicted over her parentage and upbringing. Check, check, check. Anything else?
Customer Reviews:
Great detail and life!.......2004-02-08
I thought that this book was very well done. It told an enchanting tale of river Phoenix and his very short life. River Phoenix was one going to be a legend in Hollywood because he was a superb actor, was a reall person and tried to act like himself. The book caught my attention right away with telling about the day that Phoenix died and then it went into his mother and fathers life a little bit, then it told Phoenix's life in detail. From his first kiss to his first job to the day that he died. I thought that the book was very well done and deserves all four of the stars that I gave it. It was a quick and fun read for a biography and i would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about River Phoenix.
In the fast attempt to cash in on death, errors fill the pag.......2003-05-16
I suppose when someone dies or is murdered, the number of books published immediately after their demise says something about the infamous nature of the case.
This book "Lost In Hollywood" is one such case. For those of you who are not River Phoenix nutjobs, take it from one. :) This book is filled with errors. Please keep that in mind in your quest for knowledge.
You're probably better off visiting "Rio's Attic" on the internet.
From Birth to Death everything you need to know about River.......1999-02-03
Any River Phoenix fan would be amazed at the River you didnt see when reading this book. It tells all the "what the media didnt tell you". From before being born tohisdeath,learn about friends, family, and the unfortunate life of River that brought it to end. As a River Phoenix fan still, I enjoyed every word. I highly recommend reading it!
It's ok, but not as good as some other books.......1998-07-11
Let's talk about the good stuff first. The book is in depth about River's life. The author did alot of research and wrote a pretty good book. The titles of the chapters kept me going, eventhough I already knew most of the information. The pictures inside were rare and candid, sortta. I found out some new info about River that I didn't know before, but I still have to find out if the book has the facts correct. Now the bad parts. There were huge basic mistakes in the book. First they kept spelling Joaquin Phoenix's name wrong. In the beginning it was Yoaquin, then Toaquin. Second, they left out River's 2nd sister Liberty, she was born July 5, 1976. The do mention her later, but many times they leave her out. There are more mistakes throughout the book, but I'm not going to bother with them....Enjoy the reading P.S. Since this book is out of print, you might want to look for another edition titled: River Phoenix The Biography, it's the same book (by the same author), but with a different title.
A satisfying book on phoenix`s life and times.......1997-12-08
Fans of River Phoenix,and people curious about his life and experiences will find this book very rewarding. Although frequently you will also find your self angary at those around Phoenix who could have helped, but did not, this confused sole, who at a very young age was handed enormous burdons that even the strongest person might not have been able to carry. none the less John glatt gives the reader a clear view as to why this youthful and extreemly talented person, perhaps could not handle the condritictions and dichotomies of life given to him by his parents.the enormous responsibilities he had as a young teen supporting his whole family the,sexual abuse, deslexia, poor education and the pressures of Hollywood all made River Phoenix who he was. this book allows the reader to see around all the hype and sensationalismm created by the media, that followed his tragic death on the streets of Hollywood, a place he loathed, but needed. the book has interesting chapter titles and a complete listing of all his films. the photographs included could have been better,and should have been placed through out the book.
Average customer rating:
- Rod Lurie's LIES on the EMR Case/James Dean Con
- SLANDEROUS
- James Dean's image caused Murders.
- Rod's the fraud
- From The Inside Out...
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: Moviemaking, Con Games, and Murder in Glitter City
Rod Lurie
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0679435220
Release Date: 1995-06-06 |
Customer Reviews:
Rod Lurie's LIES on the EMR Case/James Dean Con.......2005-10-02
I first met Rod Lurie in late 89, he was homeless so he tells me living in his car, he was kicked out of the Army for cause due to what the DOD say's was his LIES, he came to me to write this book on the EMR con's and scam's of the James Dean story and how EMR was a known Con man, well Rod wrote his book and many articles on the subject hoping to get his own movie deal another con, only problem is through out the book he continues to make up lies and fails to tell the truth I guess that is why it is called "Fiction" the book story would have been better had he chose to be truthfull but after all Rod makes his living on LIES,, a Poor book at best-good for the fire place starter.
SLANDEROUS.......2005-06-22
THE MANS NAME IS ROLAND EMR AND NOT JON AND IS SLANDEROUS TO ALL THE JON EMRS IN THE US. ALSO, HE HAD A VALID CONTRACT WITH NBC AND FRIES ENTERTAINMENT THAT WAS NO CON AT ALL. AND SUGGS WAS NOT A BODYGUARD A FRIEND OF HIS GIRLFRIENDS GIRLFRIEND.
ROD LURIE HAS BEEN SUED BEFORE AND WROTE SLANDER ABOUT CLINTON AS WELL. HE MAY WELL FIND HIMSELF BACK IN COURT AGAIN.
James Dean's image caused Murders........2005-05-26
This is a story about conflict. In fact, it starts with the murders of a con man, Roland Jon Emr, and his son Roger (by a disgruntled employee, Robert Suggs) as they drove down Slauson Blvd. in Culver City, California. It shows the sordidness of behind-the-scenes and drugs in the movie industry.
This is a true story based on facts (court records, police reports, personal interviews of more than one hundred possibly involved individuals). The author is a grad of West Point, a talk show host on KMPC radio station in Los Angeles, and the film critic for 'Los Angeles Magazine.'
He admits to putting words in the mouths of some of the characters, and yet maintains "No scenes have been created from my imagination in order to achieve a novelistic effect." He tried to use personal accounts and tape recordings but used "...my own common sense before coming to my own 'educated' conclusion about the truth." Truth is a fallacy, as people see things differently but always think they are telling the truth. There are many variations on the truth of any situation. Most times, it is just opinion. Talk show hosts invariably feel that their opinions are facts, the infinite truth.
Rumor was that the Emurs were killed over their production plans of a film about James Dean. They were originally from New Jersey but found the con business more lucrative in Hollywood. He aspired to be the next Sam Goldwyn in the movie business.
He felt that "once you control a man's dream, his soul would soon be yours." His death represented the "logical resolution to a life of deception and manipulation." Most of all, it represented "the lie of the pipe dream."
A year and a half later, Suggs' remains were found out in the desert. He'd been murdered by persons unknown.
Jon Emr, the con man, had "sullied the image of James Dean. The image of Hollywood." Hollywood is not a real glitter city. It's all "image." Los Angeles, on the other hand, is thriving in the movie business, but their air pollution is as bad as ours here at the foot of the real Smoky Mountains.
Rod's the fraud.......2004-08-27
A serious disappointment. Not worth even the few dollars it costs to obtain a copy of this now out of print novel. The con game is Mr. Lurie attempting to cash in on the life of a valuable man who is no longer living and who's life ended in tragedy. He seems to attempt to convince the reader that the information told in the pathetic work of fiction comes from reliable sources, I think not. Who's the real fraud?
From The Inside Out..........1998-05-25
As one of the "characters" in this book, I want to applaud Rod Lurie for his integrity and seeking, finding and writing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about a real life mystery and true tragedy. Jon Emr could have been one of the biggest wheeler dealers in Hollywood history, but the paradigm that was instilled in him with his mother's milk was deceit, larceny and the pure joy of putting something over on someone, led him to what hindsight now tells me was his only possible end. Hurrah for Rod Lurie and the publishers for having the courage to tell this story when just about everyone else wanted to sweep it under the rug. I understand the film rights have been sold, but don't hold your breath waiting for the movie! No one in Tinsel Town wants this true story to become common knowledge.
Average customer rating:
- One of the Best Stuart Woods Books!
- Wow...Vinnie (Michael) could have had everything, but.....
- Hello? Has anyone seen Get Shorty?
- ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD
- One of Woods' best non-recurring character books
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L.A. Times
Stuart Woods
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
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Binding: Hardcover
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Dead Eyes
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Imperfect Strangers
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Heat
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Santa Fe Rules
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Choke
ASIN: 0060177144 |
Book Description
Deadly Ambition
After turning a film student's directorial debut into a hit movie, New York mobster and movie fanatic Vinnie Callabrese takes off for the bright lights of Hollywood, where he begins a new life as Michael Vincent, Producer. A natural born wheeler-dealer, he lands not only a major studio deal, but also a gorgeous actress girlfriend.
It isn't long before Michael Vincent is one of the most successful producers in town, given his knack for bringing in films under budget -- not too difficult when you're willing to lie, seduce, intimidate, and even kill to get what you want. But some of the people from his past have long memories and a far reach, and now it's Michael's turn to watch his back. Because even in the land of make-believe certain enemies -- and their bullets -- are very real.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Best Stuart Woods Books!.......2007-07-31
Easily one of the very best Stuart Woods books. This is an excellent read and well worth the price.
Wow...Vinnie (Michael) could have had everything, but............2006-07-23
Really the story of greed, power and control and put in an excellent genre to understand what happens in Hollywood. It's rather a sad story because you can't help liking Michael Vincent, and you see his every mistake wishing he hadn't chosen that direction. But what a story! I enjoyed this book and the story of a brilliant man with no morals.
Hello? Has anyone seen Get Shorty?.......2006-03-18
This book and the movie are the same story. I wonder if its the book that was used for the flic.
ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD.......2005-03-17
Credit must be given to the prolific Stuart Woods for pulling off a novel in which the entire cast is heinous and unlikeable. L.A. TIMES pulls it off beautifully. One can't help but get involved in Michael Vincent's rise to the top of Hollywood cream and his fall from grace too. Michael will stop at nothing to get what he wants and a lot of bodies pile up on his rise to the top. He's incapable of really loving anyone, only he loves his movies. Filled with glitz and a knowledge of both the Mafia and the mechanisms of Hollywood movie-making, LA TIMES is a quick read, and its ending, although somewhat unexpected leaves an impact. Would make a great movie!
One of Woods' best non-recurring character books.......2005-02-18
In my opinion, LA Times is one of the best Stuart Woods books. I spent the night at a friend's house several years ago and the book was on the bedside table. I stayed up all night reading it. What a thrill!
I guess it's not always the highest compliment in the literary world to say that a book would make a great movie, BUT...this book reads like a fantastic movie. It maintains a fast pace, surprising twists, and enjoyable character development via dialogue and actions as opposed narrative interpretation. It also focuses on the primary story line more than most thriller/mystery books, which is part of what keeps it moving so well. Sure, the book does have a few gimmicky twists, but you're supposed to enjoy the irony and surprise in a way that you do when you read Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiaasen.
Stuart Woods is a masterful storyteller, although his books don't all sound like they're from the same storyteller. The Stone Barrington books (New York Dead, Dirt, Dead in the Water, Swimming to Catalina, Worst Fears Realized, LA Dead, Cold Paradise, The Short Forever, Dirty Work, and Reckless Abandon) are the most popular because of the memorable characters Stone and Dino. I admit that the Barrington novels are my favorites. The Will Lee books (Chiefs, Run Before the Wind, Grass Roots, The Run, Capital Crimes) are very different from the rest-more political and Southern. The Holly Barker books (Orchid Beach, Orchid Blues, Blood Orchid, Reckless Abandon), in my opinion, are the least compelling, until Reckless Abandon when Woods partners Barker with Stone Barrington. The remaining 11 books have different themes and characters (Deep Lie, Under the Lake, White Cargo, Palindrome, Santa Fe Rules, LA Times, Dead Eyes, Heat, Imperfect Strangers, Choke, The Prince of Beverly Hills).
I wondered when I saw the Sopranos episodes where Christopher (the mob boss' cousin) wanted to be a screen writer if that might not be homage to Stuart Woods. Well, if you wanted to see what might have happened to Christopher if he had made it to Hollywood, read this book.
If you like Stuart Woods because of the Stone Barrington novels and you like the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen, I think you'll like the tone and storyline of LA Times. In my personal experience of encouraging my friends and family to read the book, because it's on my shelf of my 10 favorite books, I've noticed that males tend to like it more than females--but don't let that stop you from trying it out!
Average customer rating:
- Starring John Wayne As Genghis Khan
- At least it wasn't Starring Shirley Temple as Norma Desmond!
- very entertaining!
- Interesting, informative and witty
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Starring John Wayne As Genghis Khan: Hollywood's All-Time Worst Casting Blunders
Damien Bona
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0806517972 |
Customer Reviews:
Starring John Wayne As Genghis Khan.......2005-09-04
Damien Bona's `Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan!' (which seems to be the same book as the alternatively titled `Starring Demi Moore As Hester Prynne') is a disposable celebration of the notorious - and some not-so-notorious - instances of miscasting. Like other `best of,' `worst of,' and `100 biggest' listings `Starring John Wayne...' is highly personal and idiosyncratic. Even though Bona says in his introduction "(t)o be miscast, an actor has to have spent the bulk of his or her career well cast - he can't really be wrong for a role until he has established a personality strong enough to mark him as ill suited for it," these type of books are never complete or immune from charges of omission. That's part of their charm, in fact.
The book is divided into seven sections. Each section contains a number of short essays, 5000 words or so, on the offending star and movie. The first section is entitled "Waxworks: The most unconvincing portrayals of historical figures ever captured on film" and begins with an essay on William Bendix in `The Babe Ruth Story.' Bendix "plays the character as a wide-eyed dope," Bona observes, which is hard to argue with. Bendix may have been miscast, but Bona is silent about John Goodman's portrayal of The Babe in the movie of the same name. `The Babe' was released in 1992, four years before `Starring John Wayne...' was published, and is every inch a classically miscast movie as the Bendix movie. This isn't to say Bona is wrong or even inaccurate, but books of this type are never the last word on a subject. Bona has some selections that I disagree with. He doesn't like Jack Lemmon in `Cowboy' ("Not an actor who fits comfortably into a period film, Lemmon isn't very convincing at any of this.") and I think Lemmon was very effective as a hotel clerk, a greenhorn, who wants to go on a cattle drive. Perhaps the most astonishing instance of miscasting, in Bona's view, is Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in `Rain Man.' Age differences and physical dissimilarities are the culprits. "Look at their body frames, " Bona writes, "their sizes, their eyes. No way did they have the same parents. And although each boasts a prominent nose, they are differently shaped - Hoffman's wide and long, Cruise's more classically Roman." Er... okay. Perhaps, but I'd rather have seen mentioned Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in `Inchon', an uncomfortable looking Clint Eastwood as a singing cowboy in `Paint Your Wagon,' or Kevin Costner as a decidedly un-British Robin Hood. Or Donald O'Connor as Buster Keaton, or James Cagney as Lon Chaney. None of these guys are in the book, although any of them belong there.
Still, `Starring John Wayne...' contains interesting tidbits about each miscast movie and star. I was delighted to see that Gregory Peck, along with Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis, made it into the three-man Miscasting Hall of Fame. Although I'm a fan of some of Peck's movies, I think Bona gets it just right when he notes, after a nod to some of Peck's greater movies, that "(w)hen his material is not... strong, ..., or when he's trying to play someone whose sense of moral rectitude is less than impeccable, Peck's disinclination to sound like anyone other than Gregory Peck is jarring." As these things go `Starring John Wayne...' is a good book and a fun read, particularly suited for those who are fans of older movies.
At least it wasn't Starring Shirley Temple as Norma Desmond!.......2004-06-05
What makes a good movie "good" or a great movie "great"?
The answer, of course, is, "many things." You have to have a good story, a well-written script (ideally with memorable lines and lots of linear logic!), a director with a fine eye for detail and organizational skills that rival Ike's before D-Day, a well-trained crew, a well-versed composer, a top-notch special-effects team, and a visionary producer with a dream in his mind and a deep pocket to match (but at the same time have better fiscal discipline than some Presidents).
Have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah. And you gotta have a good cast.
Let's face it. Until the late 1960s, we did not go to see the latest Michael Curtiz or Victor Fleming picture like we go watch the new one from Spielberg or, God forbid, the latest Michael Bay offering. No, we (or our parents and grandparents) went to see the new Gable and Lombard flick at the Bijou or Rialto. If you went to a John Wayne picture -- as millions of Americans did from 1939 until 1976 -- you knew he'd be either a stalwart cowboy or Marine sergeant or even a colonel in the 82nd Airborne. And, by gum, you believed him in those roles, even when he seemed (as he does in The Longest Day) a bit too old for the role.
So, casting is important, and many great movies are great because the casting decisions were inspired and sound.
Yet, as Damien Bona illustrates in "Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan: Hollywood's All-Time Casting Blunders," sometimes inspiration took a left turn at Sunset Boulevard and ended up in the pool with Joe Gillis' corpse. Whoever thought up the idea of casting the Duke as Temujin, the Mongol warlord better known as Genghis Khan (or Susan Hayward as a Tartar woman named Bortai) in 1956's The Conqueror must have been smoking something other than tobacco cigarettes. The sight and sound of John Wayne dressed up in Mongol warrior garb and spouting lines originally intended for Marlon Brando make one shudder. Suffice it to say that this picture was not a big hit.
Bona aims his acidly-witty verbal darts at such casting blunders as:
Marlon Brando as an Okinawan in Teahouse of the August Moon
June Allyson as a sapphic murderer in They Only Kill Their Masters
Tony Bennett in The Oscar
Robert Redford as a British aristocrat who, in real life, was also bald in Out of Africa
Michael Keaton as Batman
My personal favorite chapter is devoted to Gregory Peck, who was extremely talented but was also miscast in quite a few movies, including Moby Dick and The Boys from Brazil. Boma points out that most of Peck's miscasts did not come from his acting but from his voice and persona. In Days of Glory, a 1944 movie about Russian partisans fighting off German invaders, he speaks in a distinctly American accent. The one time where he does use a heavy German accent is in The Boys from Brazil, a 1978 flick about Josef Mengele and his plot to create some 90 or so clones of Adolf Hitler to create a Fourth Reich. Not only is the makeup overly done, Bona says, but Peck overacts, much to the detriment of the film.
Bona's style is both informative -- I had never even heard of Tony Bennett acting in a movie --- and irreverent. His chapters are brief (averaging at no more than four pages) and have clever tag lines (the one for John Wayne's The Conqueror is "Mongol Cowboy") that sum up the miscasting's overall effect. Biting yet never overly mean, Boma makes the reader laugh out loud while at the same time wondering what some of those casting directors were indeed, thinking...or smoking.
Alex Diaz-Granados
very entertaining!.......1998-11-14
A cynical and hilarious look at actors and actresses who were miscast. Lucille Ball, Donna Reed, Marlon Brando, Richard Gere, Demi Moore--a real variety of performers who for various reasons ended up in roles that were all wrong for them! This book also includes the story-behind-the-story, as in, *why* John Wayne ended up playing Genghis Khan. An interesting and enjoyable book!
Interesting, informative and witty.......1998-03-21
An almost exhaustive guide to those truly bad-casting decisions that are so bad, they're good. Many a film noir has been reduced to slapstick because of the decision by the casting agent.
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