American Dream Machine

Author: Matthew Specktor

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $29.99 AUD
  • : 9780751551624
  • : Little, Brown Book Group
  • : Little, Brown
  • :
  • : 0.594
  • : March 2013
  • : 231mm X 155mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 29.99
  • : July 2013
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  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

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  • :
  • : Matthew Specktor
  • :
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • :
  • :
  • : 813.6
  • : 464
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Barcode 9780751551624
9780751551624

Description

Beau Rosenwald - overweight, not particularly handsome, and improbably charismatic - arrives in Los Angles in 1962 with nothing but an ill-fitting suit and a pair of expensive brogues. By the late 1970s he has helped found the most successful agency in Hollywood. Through the eyes of his son, we watch Beau and his partner go to war, waging a seismic battle that redraws the lines of an entire industry. We watch Beau rise and fall and rise again, in accordance with the cultural transformations that dictate the fickle world of movies. We watch Beau's partner, the enigmatic and cerebral Williams Farquarsen, struggle to contain himself, to control his impulses and consolidate his power. And we watch two generations of men fumble and thrive across the LA landscape, learning for themselves the shadows and costs exacted by success and failure.

Promotion info

A sweeping narrative about fathers and sons, the movie business, and the sundry sea changes that have shaped Hollywood and, by extension, American life

Reviews

The Hollywood novel born anew ... bold and unforgettable Sunday Telegraph Matthew Specktor couldn't be better placed to give a glimpse of the great white sharks of the film industry GQ A protagonist in the spirit of Saul Bellow's Augie March or F Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby ... American Dream Machine skips along easily, which is impressive considering the brilliant and wacky details that Specktor has packed in Observer American Dream Machine is one of the best novels about Los Angeles that I've ever read Bret Easton Ellis

Author description

Matthew Specktor was born and raised in Los Angeles. His father was a talent agent and his mother was a screenwriter. Specktor worked in film development for many years, and has written several screenplays. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Paris Review, The Believer, Tin House, Black Clock, and Salon.com, among other publications. He is a senior editor and founding member of the Los Angeles Review of Books.