An intimate memoir by the controversial and outspoken, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter about his complicated New York childhood, volunteering for combat, and his struggles and triumphs making such films as Platoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface. Before the international success of Platoon in 1986, Oliver Stone had been wounded as an infantryman in Vietnam, and spent years writing unproduced scripts while driving taxis in New York, finally venturing westward to Los Angeles and a new life. Stone, now 73, recounts those formative years with in-the-moment details of the high and low moments: We see meetings with Al Pacino over Stone's scripts for Scarface, Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July; the harrowing demon of cocaine addiction following the failure of his first feature, The Hand (starring Michael Caine); his risky on-the-ground research of Miami drug cartels for Scarface; his stormy relationship with The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino; the breathless hustles to finance the acclaimed and divisive Salvador; and tensions behind the scenes of his first Academy Award-winning film, Midnight Express.Chasing the Light is a true insider's look at Hollywood's years of upheaval in the 1970s and '80s. Narrated by the author.
About the Author :
OLIVER STONE is the multiple Oscar-winning writer and director of Platoon, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Natural Born Killers, Scarface, Midnight Express, and many other films.
Review :
Chasing the Light shows a man who still runs towards the gunfire. This is, you will gather, a tremendous book--readable, funny, and harrowing. It's also full of movie-making gossip, scandal, and fun.
-- "Sunday Times (London)"
Oliver Stone is a giant provocateur in the Hollywood movie system. His autobiography is a fascinating exposure of Stone's inner life and his powerful, all devouring energy and genius that drove him to become one of the world's greatest filmmakers... Oliver Stone is larger than life. Chasing the Light says it all.
-- "Sir Anthony Hopkins, a multiaward-winning film actor, director, and producer"
Oliver, in honest and sometimes brutal fashion, lays it out--what it took for him to get to where he hoped to be...Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.
-- "Spike Lee, Academy Award-winning director and producer"
Raw, savagely honest, as dramatic as any of his movies, Oliver Stone's memoir defies all the Hollywood clichés.
-- "Mail on Sunday (London)"
Stone recalls his life up to his first big success in this surprisingly sober portrait of a rabble-rouser as a young man.
-- "New York Times Book Review"
Very visual and descriptive...Stone might be considered the first veteran content creator of the modern era...well worth the read for anyone interested in the drive it takes to achieve your long-term goals.
-- "InMilitary"
