John Powers

But like so many others, they get carried away by the intoxications of the movie biz and a 60s culture that's cracking the industry wide open. Early in his career, Hollywood was so square that Fred can't find work for even Jack Nicholson. Too weird, casting directors thought.

But like so many others, they get carried away by the intoxications of the movie biz and a 60s culture that's cracking the industry wide open. Early in his career, Hollywood was so square that Fred can't find work for even Jack Nicholson. Too weird, casting directors thought.

But like so many others, they get carried away by the intoxications of the movie biz and a 60s culture that's cracking the industry wide open. Early in his career, Hollywood was so square that Fred can't find work for even Jack Nicholson. Too weird, casting directors thought.

But after the groundbreaking success of Bonnie and Clyde, the industry suddenly wants the off-center actors that Fred champions. His career takes off. Matthew is born. Catherine thinks of doing screenplays. The golden future shimmers before them. And yet, it's an insidious thing, this industry of theirs, Spector writes. Its illusions are too quick to become one's own.

But after the groundbreaking success of Bonnie and Clyde, the industry suddenly wants the off-center actors that Fred champions. His career takes off. Matthew is born. Catherine thinks of doing screenplays. The golden future shimmers before them. And yet, it's an insidious thing, this industry of theirs, Spector writes. Its illusions are too quick to become one's own.

But after the groundbreaking success of Bonnie and Clyde, the industry suddenly wants the off-center actors that Fred champions. His career takes off. Matthew is born. Catherine thinks of doing screenplays. The golden future shimmers before them. And yet, it's an insidious thing, this industry of theirs, Spector writes. Its illusions are too quick to become one's own.

Fred's last girlfriend was Stella Stevens, who'd co-starred with Elvis. Once you've watched your partner kiss the king on screen and then come home to kiss you, it changes things, redraws the boundaries of your reality. It deforms you and renders you vulnerable to boredom, makes you impatient with a life that is merely human-sized. As Fred rides the crest of 70s movies, the family flounders.

Fred's last girlfriend was Stella Stevens, who'd co-starred with Elvis. Once you've watched your partner kiss the king on screen and then come home to kiss you, it changes things, redraws the boundaries of your reality. It deforms you and renders you vulnerable to boredom, makes you impatient with a life that is merely human-sized. As Fred rides the crest of 70s movies, the family flounders.

Fred's last girlfriend was Stella Stevens, who'd co-starred with Elvis. Once you've watched your partner kiss the king on screen and then come home to kiss you, it changes things, redraws the boundaries of your reality. It deforms you and renders you vulnerable to boredom, makes you impatient with a life that is merely human-sized. As Fred rides the crest of 70s movies, the family flounders.

Catherine is a lost soul, struggling with her identity and sliding under the bottle. Fred, predictably enough, finds a new woman and moves out. As for Matthew, he has long periods of estrangement from a father whose shallowness he can never quite grasp, and from the alcoholic mother whose sensibility he shares, but finds himself forced to look after.

Catherine is a lost soul, struggling with her identity and sliding under the bottle. Fred, predictably enough, finds a new woman and moves out. As for Matthew, he has long periods of estrangement from a father whose shallowness he can never quite grasp, and from the alcoholic mother whose sensibility he shares, but finds himself forced to look after.

Catherine is a lost soul, struggling with her identity and sliding under the bottle. Fred, predictably enough, finds a new woman and moves out. As for Matthew, he has long periods of estrangement from a father whose shallowness he can never quite grasp, and from the alcoholic mother whose sensibility he shares, but finds himself forced to look after.

Eventually he heads east to college, where he takes a writing class from James Baldwin, the book's implicit hero, of whom he writes wonderfully, and he finds work in a corporate-owned movie business that's a far cry from the one that launched his dad.

Eventually he heads east to college, where he takes a writing class from James Baldwin, the book's implicit hero, of whom he writes wonderfully, and he finds work in a corporate-owned movie business that's a far cry from the one that launched his dad.

Eventually he heads east to college, where he takes a writing class from James Baldwin, the book's implicit hero, of whom he writes wonderfully, and he finds work in a corporate-owned movie business that's a far cry from the one that launched his dad.

Now, like any good Hollywood book, The Golden Hour has its share of movie star stories, from being mooned by Bruce Dern to a hilarious phone message from Marlon Brando. David Lynch pops in to do a nifty cameo. Yet much of Spector's best writing deals with two super-agents turned power brokers, MCA's Lou Wasserman and CAA's Mike Ovitz, whose mere names made other industry big shots quake.

Now, like any good Hollywood book, The Golden Hour has its share of movie star stories, from being mooned by Bruce Dern to a hilarious phone message from Marlon Brando. David Lynch pops in to do a nifty cameo. Yet much of Spector's best writing deals with two super-agents turned power brokers, MCA's Lou Wasserman and CAA's Mike Ovitz, whose mere names made other industry big shots quake.

Now, like any good Hollywood book, The Golden Hour has its share of movie star stories, from being mooned by Bruce Dern to a hilarious phone message from Marlon Brando. David Lynch pops in to do a nifty cameo. Yet much of Spector's best writing deals with two super-agents turned power brokers, MCA's Lou Wasserman and CAA's Mike Ovitz, whose mere names made other industry big shots quake.

Fred worked for both. Taking us fictionally inside their heads, Spector captures how their near-visionary brilliance serves soulless values, transforming Hollywood into a place about making deals rather than about making movies. Still, my favorite parts of the book have to do with Fred and Catherine. He finds in them a mythic dimension we often feel in thinking about our own parents.

Fred worked for both. Taking us fictionally inside their heads, Spector captures how their near-visionary brilliance serves soulless values, transforming Hollywood into a place about making deals rather than about making movies. Still, my favorite parts of the book have to do with Fred and Catherine. He finds in them a mythic dimension we often feel in thinking about our own parents.