Synopses & Reviews
When the low-budget biker movie andlt;Iandgt;Easy Riderandlt;/Iandgt; shocked Hollywood with its success in 1969, a new Hollywood era was born. This was an age when talented young filmmakers such as Scorsese, Coppola, and Spielberg, along with a new breed of actors, including De Niro, Pacino, and Nicholson, became the powerful figures who would make such modern classics as andlt;Iandgt;The Godfather, Chinatown, Taxi Driver,andlt;/Iandgt; and andlt;Iandgt;Jaws. Easy Riders, Raging Bullsandlt;/Iandgt; follows the wild ride that was Hollywood in the '70s -- an unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (both onscreen and off) and a climate where innovation and experimentation reigned supreme. Based on hundreds of interviews with the directors themselves, producers, stars, agents, writers, studio executives, spouses, and ex-spouses, this is the full, candid story of Hollywood's last golden age. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;MARTIN SCORSESE ON DRUGS:andlt;/Bandgt; "I did a lot of drugs because I wanted to do a lot, I wanted to push all the way to the very very end, and see if I could die." andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;DENNIS HOPPER ON andlt;Iandgt;EASY RIDER:andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt; "The cocaine problem in the United States is really because of me. There was no cocaine before andlt;Iandgt;Easy Riderandlt;/Iandgt; on the street. After andlt;Iandgt;Easy Rider,andlt;/Iandgt; it was everywhere." andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;GEORGE LUCAS ON andlt;Iandgt;STAR WARS:andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt; "Popcorn pictures have always ruled. Why do people go see them? Why is the public so stupid? That's not my fault."
Review
"Biskind...knows where the bodies are buried...and his eye for telling detail turns up enough fresh insights to keep the book engrossing." Joseph McBride, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[Biskind's] research is so scrupulous and instructive and his passion for movies so unquestionable that his clear contempt for the excesses of the men he writes about makes sense after all, they trashed their own gifts. But the signal achievement of this archaeological dig of a book is that Biskind also cares about what went right the movies." Mark Harris, Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[A] calm, encyclopedic and compulsively readable dish on Hollywood heroes....This book plays like a bestseller, a perfect, gruesome sitcom in which Hollywood figures sit and ponder their reputations. If anything, I dare say that nervous libel lawyers have made Biskind take a moderate line....[I]t is essential dish, and Biskind has done his job well." David Thomson, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review
Review
"Mr. Biskind's book is like the best of Robert Altman: His central narrative is pretty incoherent, but the ensemble cast and colorful vignettes are irresistible." Mark Steyn, The Wall Street Journal
Review
"Thouthful, gossipy, and altogether mesmerizing." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is by turns exhilarating, astonishing, depressing, and hilarious. While Biskind's dramatic instincts lead him to focus on the more out-of-control films, leaving a false impression that every production was a runaway train lucky to pull into the station in one piece, the context of the work gives it a greater significance than salacious gossip. Biskind vividly captures the hopes, dreams, and highs and yes, the follies of the first truly independent film generation." Chris Bolton, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
About the Author
Peter Biskind is the former executive editor of
Premiere and former editor in chief of
American Film. He is the author of two previous books,
Seeing Is Believing: How Hollywood Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties and
The Godfather Companion. His work has appeared in
The New York Times, the
Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and
Rolling Stone, among other publications. He is a contributing editor at
Vanity Fair. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Introduction: Knockin' on Heaven's Doorandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;One: Before the Revolutionandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Two: "Who Made Us Right?"andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Three: Exile on Main Streetandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Four: The Moviegoerandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Five: The Man Who Would Be Kingandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Six: Like a Rolling Stoneandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Seven: Sympathy for the Devilandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Eight: The Gospel According to St. Martinandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Nine: The Revenge of the Nerdandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Ten: Citizen Cainandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Eleven: Star Bucksandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Twelve: Coming Apartandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Thirteen: The Eve of Destructionandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Fourteen: "We Blew It"andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Cast of Charactersandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Selected Filmography of Directors (1967-1982)andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Notesandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Indexandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Photo Creditsandlt;/Iandgt;