Suspects [*SIGNED*]

Thomson, David

Edité par Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1985

[a tight, unread copy, with both book and jacket in almost perfect condition, the only blemish being a slight age-toning to the jacket flaps]. INSCRIBED to Academy Award-winning screenwriter Daniel Taradash "with all good wishes" and SIGNED by the author on the front endpaper. Thomson, a film critic/historian/biographer, imagines the off-screen lives of characters in dozens of classic movies and weaves them all into a single "plot," an impressive feat of meta-fiction that positively revels in unexpected and sometimes outrageous connections and cross-connections. The book's central characters -- or at least the frequent focal point of what is essentially a kaleidoscopic narrative -- are George and Mary Bailey (the characters played by Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in Frank Capra's over-exposed classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE), but an amazingly far-flung number of characters are woven into the narrative, from Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson in CHINATOWN) and Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in TAXI DRIVER) to more obscure (but no less beloved by movie fans) figures as Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim in SUNSET BLVD.), Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles in TOUCH OF EVIL), Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr, the murderous neighbor of Jimmy Stewart in REAR WINDOW), etc. One of the real kicks of the book is how the author forges links or liaisons between the characters -- such as Noah Cross and Norma Desmond having been lovers in the 1920s, or that the Richard Gere character in AMERICAN GIGOLO was the illegitimate son of Norma and Joe Gillis. In lesser hands, all this contrivance might have seemed terribly forced, but because of Thomson's encyclopedic knowledge of movies and stars (his "Biographical Dictionary of Film" is an indispensible reference work), it all kind of makes sense, although the book is not without its surreal aspects. (But to be honest, if you have to ask who Noah Cross and Norma Desmond are, this book probably isn't for you.) Signed copies are uncommon. Signed by Author. N° de réf. du vendeur 30493

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Suspects [*SIGNED*]
Éditeur : Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date d'édition : 1985
Reliure : Hardcover
Illustrateur : Illustrated by (dj photo) Walker Evans
Etat : Fine
Etat de la jaquette : Near Fine dj
Signé : Signé par l'auteur
Edition : First American Edition.