Rating: Summary: Amazing Biography Review: I wasn't really expecting to like this book very much considering the type of screenplays the author has written in the past. I listened to the book-on-tape, and once I started listening I was hooked.
This is a very interesting story of a Hollywood screenwriter who has had everything, and has known lots of important people. But most of all, it is also a story of complicated and interesting person who tells it like it is.
If you are interested in current Hollywood history, then you would find this book very interesting. But if you want to read an autobiography that really gets your attention, this is it too.
I was really amazed at how much I learned from this autobiography. One of the best autobiographies I have read.
Rating: Summary: prude world Review: If you are a prude you will not like this book. If you are not a prude you will like this book.
Rating: Summary: From immigrant to Hollywood's hottest writer Review: From his childhood moving to and growing up in the land of opportunity, to his behind the scene encounters in Hollywood, Joe does not sugar-coat his life. He is frank about his mistakes and gives plenty of self-critical stories about infidelity and alcohol abuse without offering excuses. Although the Hollywood mega-deals and his stories of screen writing collaborations are entertaining, the most powerful and emotional parts of the book are about his personal family life and an amazing revelation about his father's past. Again he does not make excuses for anything, and perhaps he is confessing his sins so that others can learn from his mistakes.
That being said he accomplished a great deal in his career- a first generation American who became the top man in one of the most competitve fields. And I'm sure some day the world will eventually forgive him for Showgirls.
Rating: Summary: Rebel With A Cause... Review: to destroy himself, but he finally stopped his smoking and drinking. Joe is a one of a kind, rebellious Hungarian who is truly a self-made man. I enjoy his writing immensely. He is good looking in a sinister sort of way. This book covers his life from childhood to the present. His conflict in leaving his first wife for his present wife, Naomi, is a book in itself. The screenplays he has written were excellent movies: Sliver, Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge, Showgirls, Flashdance...how can you beat that. He was an intimate of Sharon Stone and has had his fair share of women. He is now a father of 6 children and a faithful husband. This book reads like fiction it is so good. The stories of his Hollywood escapades and his opinions are worth reading. I loved the book and couldn't put it down. Joe is recovering from throat cancer and so far he has won the battle. I wish him well.
Rating: Summary: Don't Be Intimidated Review: While the size of this book is immense at 700-plus pages, it is a very fast and enjoyable read. Only the last 100 pages seem to drag and slow the pace of the book a bit. All in all, however, it is a completely engrossing read. You'll certainly never look at Sharon Stone the same way again. Great book for the beach.
Rating: Summary: A story of greed Review: Joe Eszterhas had it all, and more, and then blew it in a mysterious way. He found happiness with the woman he calls the sexiest on the planet (Naomi) and seems now to have retired from the business of screenwriting, a business which made him the highest paid screenwriter in the world--not once, but twice. He has left a legacy of interesting films, some good, some bad, but his memoir of writing them (and of his cathartic childhood, the son of Hungarian emigres) is just plain stupendous. It's one book that should have been two, or possibly three.If you wrote, "Jagged Edge," "Flashdance," and or "Basic Instinct," to name only the hits, wouldn't you try to be more discreet about it? And the flops are a true laundry list of disaster. Only in Hollywood could such an auteur not only survive, but thrive. Very few screenwriters can boast of having sex with Sharon Stone, but Joe E. really rubs it in. For all that, his picture of Marty Ransohoff trying to destroy the life and career of Glenn Close is truly a memorable one. I guess Ransohoff won after all, because today one hears as little of Glenn Close as one does of Joe Eszterhas. If you like Hungarian sentiment, add a star. This is almost the Magyar version of Allen Ginsberg's "Kaddish."
Rating: Summary: Run Buy This Review: One of Hollywood's highest paid, record-breaking screenplay writers, Joe Eszterhas recounts his life. An incredible story of a boy that was born into the poverty of WWII refugee camps in Hungary who becomes a multi-millionnaire in America. Joe gives the reader rare insights into how Hollywood operates through his vivid storytelling abilities about his experiences in the Motion Picture Industry: Find out how Jennifer Beals was cast over Demi Moore for Flashdance. Learn how Joe made millions on his movie scripts, even after poor reviews and lack of production. Discover what goes on behind the scenes. Joe was truly a "Hollywood Animal" and this book is all about his journey there and beyond. Although over 700 pages long, a very fast read. You will be glad you got this one... ADDICTIVE.
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