Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson

I confess I have abandoned a few biographies because they droned on for 600 pages about a celebrity I was only moderately interested in. But Mr. Sellers knows how to keep our attention! Dividing each chapter by decades instead of by person, he writes about four outlandish actors instead of one then provides only short anecdotes about each actor before moving on to another short anecdote. What a clever literary device to keep us from having our attention start to wander away! He did this previously with four other Hellraisers, perpetually drunk - Burton, Harris, O'Toole, and Reed. This book focusses on another four - Brando, Hopper, Beatty, and Nicholson - who seemed to be having perpetual SEX.There are only so many ways to get drunk but sex offers a wider range of options as presented by these four virile men. If I had to choose the most interesting of the four, I would have to vote for Dennis Hopper whose huge, incomparable psychotic break preceding his over the top portrayal of the evil Frank Booth in BLUE VELVET, is something I feel has never been surpassed. One could say he admitted as he convinced David Lynch "I AM FRANK!" that nobody else could have been more primed or well rehearsed for the manic nutcase role of the century! Sellers describes this whole remarkable regeneration process in truly entertaining and vivid detail. Really great, absorbing book! Let's have another four subjects, Mr. Sellers!

If you are a fan of these actors who enjoys the myths as much as the realities, I highly recommend this book. One second you'll be mesmerized and the next disgusted by these hedonistic, often idiotic geniuses. It also, surprisingly, has some real insights sprinkled throughout. I definitely came away with a much better understanding of not just Brando's insanity, but his genius as well.Note: It was hard for me to believe this book was written in 2010. The crude sense of humor and lack of political correctness was refreshing, and initially fooled me into believing it was a reprint of a book from the 70s or 80s.

If you think you know everything about Brando, Nicholson, Hopper and Beatty, you need to read this book.It is literally a "page-turner" and I cannot imagine how the author uncovered all these "secrets" about these known "playboys."One might say: "We shouldn't read about the 'dirty linen' of celebrities", but I do not believe that celebrities should be held to a different standard than all the rest of us.If I did half of what some of these stars did, "the world" would know about it.Eat your heart out, movie stars! There are no more secrets any more.This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to know the realities of those movie stars they love.

The only shortcoming to this book is that it is dated. It's an in- depth profile of 4 Hollywood leading men. Marlon Brando had died just prior to publication but since then we have lost Dennis Hopper. The two who remain (Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty) are elderly but still making headlines.I would call this book "gossipy," but after checking with other reference sources, find that overall, the stories are accurate.And so, a movie fan can enjoy a "you are there" experience and gain a good understanding of why these four stars gained their reputations, and the genius they brought to their best- known roles.

I'll be honest: part of me wanted to NOT like this book. The snarky, almost tabloid-style of the writing was off-putting at first. However, the fascinating lives of the subjects, combined with the author's obvious fandom (snark aside), made this a really enjoyable read. It was just plain fun, especially for a cinephile like me. I'll be holding on to this one, and I'm sure I'll read it again!

I myself never read it but I got it for my son and he said he read it in less than 2 days. He really liked it. He said he had to keep telling everyone to get away so he could read his book.

Was most interested in jack Nicholson , Dennis hopper and marlon Brando. Learned a few new things about those three.

It’s not true that this is just a gossipy tabloid tale. But it’s sorta true. It was originally published under another title years ago and was not updated for this re-release. you might want to search elsewhere.

I had to stop reading this about 2/3 of the way through as it was too depressing to carry on reading about overgrown schoolboys misbehaving just because they had the fame and money to enable them. Also not keen on the tabloid journalist style of writing.

Bought this after reading A-Z of hellraisers and the reed, burton, o’toole and Harris hellraisers book by the same author, these books were great however this one falls short of the mark. It is written well, however not as funny a read and found I couldn’t get as interested in these actors stories. No regrets in reading it though.

Nice little insight into what was going on in the time; no doubt a little embelished but enjoayble read.

Does what it says on the tin. No new stories but what there are, are entertainingly told. For fans of a different generation of actor and lifestyle.

Great read, very entertaining, great condition, will use again