8.2 /10 1 Votes
Publication date 1998 Originally published 1998 Genre Reference | 4.1/5 Goodreads ISBN 978-0684857084 Publisher Simon & Schuster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Adaptations Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (2003) Similar Peter Biskind books, Film books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Easy riders raging bulls 2003
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood is a book written by Peter Biskind and published by Simon & Schuster in 1998. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is about the 1970s Hollywood, a period of American film known for the production of such films such as The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist, and The Last Picture Show. The title is taken from films which bookend the era: Easy Rider (1969) and Raging Bull (1980). The book follows Hollywood on the brink of the Vietnam War, when a group of young Hollywood film directors known as the "movie brats" are making their names. It begins in the 1960s and ends in the 1980s.
Contents
The book was the basis of a 2003 documentary film of the same name directed by Kenneth Bowser and narrated by actor William H. Macy. It was screened out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 100% based on reviews from 8 critics.
Controversy
Several of the film-makers profiled in the book have criticized Biskind. Robert Altman denounced both the book and Biskind's methods, saying "It was hate mail. We were all lured into talking to this guy because people thought he was a straight guy but he was filling a commission from the publisher for a hatchet job. He's the worst kind of human being I know."
Francis Ford Coppola was similarly critical, noting that Biskind interviewed only people who had a negative view of him and that Biskind caricatured Coppola's work and life.
Critic Roger Ebert noted that Steven Spielberg said of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls that, ""Every single word in that book about me is either erroneous, or a lie." Ebert himself notes that, "Biskind has a way of massaging his stories to suit his agenda." When asked about Biskind's portrayal of him as "a womanizer, a tyrant, and a bully," William Friedkin said, "I've actually never read the book, but I've talked to some of my friends who are portrayed in it, and we all share the opinion that it is partial truth, partial myth and partial out-and-out lies by mostly rejected girlfriends and wives." Peter Bogdanovich was reportedly furious, saying that Biskind did not interview him extensively for the book. Bogdanovich considers the entire work to be spurious as scholarship.