Still one of the best ever Hollywood memoirs, even if a lot of the material is over familiar now because Eszterhas keeps rehashing it in interviews and repurposing it for his other books. Epic sweep - Hungarian background, being a refugee, some (thought surprisingly not a lot) tales of journalism, breaking into movies, becoming a scripting superstar, then crashing, fleeing to Cleveland, fighting cancer and finding God... and then getting no more credits.
Eszterhas comes across as completely appalling a person - as does his second wife. Their behaviour on that Hawaiian holiday is particularly obnoxious. But to give him his due he is warts and all - and he has some self awareness here, which is lacking in his later books. Best segments are the ones on FIST, Flashdance, Jagged Edge, the fight with Ovitz, Basic Instinct and the cancer struggle. He can write a good tale for a rampaging narcissist. Colourful cameos by people like Bob Evans, Don Simpson, Sharon Stone, Richard Marquand, etc
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