John Powers

Hmm.

Hmm.

How the hunt for gangster Al Capone launched the IRS to power.

How the hunt for gangster Al Capone launched the IRS to power.

How the hunt for gangster Al Capone launched the IRS to power.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

I was raised by sensible Midwesterners who believed that no good could come of psychology or introspection. That may be why I get impatient with memoirs that dwell on their writers' inner lives. What I want are memoirs that go beyond the personal, to offer a portrait of something larger, a culture, a historical period, a whole way of living.

I was raised by sensible Midwesterners who believed that no good could come of psychology or introspection. That may be why I get impatient with memoirs that dwell on their writers' inner lives. What I want are memoirs that go beyond the personal, to offer a portrait of something larger, a culture, a historical period, a whole way of living.

I was raised by sensible Midwesterners who believed that no good could come of psychology or introspection. That may be why I get impatient with memoirs that dwell on their writers' inner lives. What I want are memoirs that go beyond the personal, to offer a portrait of something larger, a culture, a historical period, a whole way of living.

You find that in The Golden Hour, a story of family and power in Hollywood, a new book by Matthew Spector, a child of the movies who happens to be a really terrific writer. Spanning more than half a century and speckled with the caviar of famous names, this isn't a tell-all, pity party, or diatribe.

You find that in The Golden Hour, a story of family and power in Hollywood, a new book by Matthew Spector, a child of the movies who happens to be a really terrific writer. Spanning more than half a century and speckled with the caviar of famous names, this isn't a tell-all, pity party, or diatribe.

You find that in The Golden Hour, a story of family and power in Hollywood, a new book by Matthew Spector, a child of the movies who happens to be a really terrific writer. Spanning more than half a century and speckled with the caviar of famous names, this isn't a tell-all, pity party, or diatribe.

Mixing things up with the brio of an expert bartender, Spector serves an invigorating cocktail of family saga, cultural criticism, fictionalized biography, Hollywood history, and lament for a vanishing world. The main action begins in the mid-1960s when his parents meet. His father, Fred Spector, is a low-level agent, eager to make it, but devoted to his clients.

Mixing things up with the brio of an expert bartender, Spector serves an invigorating cocktail of family saga, cultural criticism, fictionalized biography, Hollywood history, and lament for a vanishing world. The main action begins in the mid-1960s when his parents meet. His father, Fred Spector, is a low-level agent, eager to make it, but devoted to his clients.

Mixing things up with the brio of an expert bartender, Spector serves an invigorating cocktail of family saga, cultural criticism, fictionalized biography, Hollywood history, and lament for a vanishing world. The main action begins in the mid-1960s when his parents meet. His father, Fred Spector, is a low-level agent, eager to make it, but devoted to his clients.

His mother, Catherine McGaffey, is one of those beautiful L.A. women who might have been a successful actress or model. But she's short on drive. What she has is high literary taste. When she and Fred meet, a book by James Joyce spills from her purse. Obviously mismatched, the two could be a metaphor for Hollywood's collision between commerce and art.

His mother, Catherine McGaffey, is one of those beautiful L.A. women who might have been a successful actress or model. But she's short on drive. What she has is high literary taste. When she and Fred meet, a book by James Joyce spills from her purse. Obviously mismatched, the two could be a metaphor for Hollywood's collision between commerce and art.

His mother, Catherine McGaffey, is one of those beautiful L.A. women who might have been a successful actress or model. But she's short on drive. What she has is high literary taste. When she and Fred meet, a book by James Joyce spills from her purse. Obviously mismatched, the two could be a metaphor for Hollywood's collision between commerce and art.