From
the inside flap
“One
of my dad’s favorite jokes about getting older was ‘I went out for coffee when
I was twenty-one and when I got back I was fifty-eight!’
“I get
what he meant now. Time flies. My first book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions
of a B Movie Actor, was published back in 2001 and it chronicles the
adventures of a ‘mid-grade, kind of hammy actor’ (my words), cutting his teeth
on exploitation movies far removed from Hollywood.
“This
next book, an ‘Act II’ if you will, could be considered my ‘maturing years’ in
show business, when I began to say no more often and gravitated toward
self-generated material. Taking stock of the overall quality of life, I fled
Los Angeles and moved to a remote part of Oregon to renew, regroup and reload.
“If
that sounds tame, the journey from Evil Dead to Spider-Man to Burn Notice was long, with plenty of adventures/mishaps along the way. I never
pictured myself hovering above Baghdad in a Blackhawk helicopter, facing a pack
of wild dogs in Bulgaria, or playing an aging Elvis Presley with cancer on his
penis─how can you predict this stuff? The sheer lunacy of show business is part
of the fun for me and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
“—Bruce
‘Don’t Call Me Ash’ Campbell”
Review
Hail is an interesting, graceful, fun and smart-minded read, a mix of oddball occurrences,
strange and educational encounters (often within Hollywood- or low budget
film-based situations), charming self-deprecation and honest evaluations as
well as the joys of, and contrasts between, Los Angeles and the boonies of
Oregon. This is worth checking out from the library or purchasing for fans of
Campbell and his expanding oeuvre.
No comments:
Post a Comment