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More copies of this ISBNeBook editionsKey Grip: A Memoir of Endless Consequencesby Dustin Beall Smith
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A key grip, Dustin Beall Smith explains in this award-winning debut memoir, is the person on a film set who supervises the rigging of lights, set wall construction, dolly shots, stunt preparation, and more. Smith worked in the film industry throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. For him, “fame by association”—with iconic stars including Sly Stallone, Susan Sarandon, and Robert De Niro—was just one of the seductive drugs fueling his high-octane days on the set. The intertwined stories in Key Grip resurrect memories of how his fathers impossibly ordered life became a goad for Smiths own reckless journey to manhood. Its trajectory includes a stint as a pioneering sport-parachuting instructor in the late 1950s—a young mans dream job that taught Smith how to hide sheer animal fear behind male bravado. Much later, as a committed writer and unredeemed seeker in his fifties, Smith lights out cross-country for what turns out to be a brave, existentially failed—and very funny—attempt at a Lakota vision quest. Beautifully told, reminiscent of both Robert Bly and Ian Frazier, Key Grip is a fascinating record of the fault lines of one mans life. DUSTIN BEALL SMITHs Key Grip won the 2007 Bakeless Prize for nonfiction, awarded by the Middlebury College Bread Loaf Writers Conference and judged by Terry Tempest Williams. Smith has lived in New York City for over forty years and teaches writing at Gettysburg College. Review:"In his uneven first book, Smith presents the reader with scenes from his life, covering his career in the film industry, alcoholism, ego issues and a quest for meaning. Smith provides plenty of flashbacks from his years as a misguided, sky-diving 20-something and also tackles his existential battle at the age of 57 (in the opening chapter, which takes up a full third of the book, Smith treks up a hill to perform Native American meditation practices). Occasionally using vivid, descriptive language and other times passing over important topics in summary (the death of his first child, his second marriage), the author searches for a central theme, and despite the book's title, being a key grip isn't it; Smith doesn't address that topic directly until he's two-thirds of the way through his story. Other chapters, such as brief entries about snapping turtles, are more tangential than metaphorical. At times, Smith jumps from first to second person, with two chapters written from one version of himself to another. This lack of focus leads to patchwork reading, though some will doubtless be seduced by Smith's forthright, rueful voice." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) About the AuthorDustin Beall Smith's Key Grip won the 2007 Bakeless Prize for nonfiction, awarded by the Middlebury College Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and judged by Terry Tempest Williams. Smith teaches at Gettysburg College and lives in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Table of ContentsContents Preface: Augury ix 1. Starting at the Bottom Again 1 2. Just Pears 54 3. Meeting at the Waters Edge 66 4. The Pipe 72 5. One Day 80 6. Leaving the Garden 91 7. When You Finish Your Beer 107 8. Jump 110 9. Grace 113 10. No Feeling of Falling 120 11. The Long Road 142 12. The Second Person 149 Acknowledgments 156 What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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Arts and Entertainment » Film and Television » Production » General
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