If you like movies like The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, Moulin Rouge, Moby Dick, The Misfits, Night of the Iguana, and The Man Who Would Be King, you’re probably going to like this book.
When told as a child by his doctor that he would be bedridden for the rest of his life, John Huston jumped into the rapids for a swim. Going for broke and defying the odds was a common theme of his films and of the life of the director who made great films and bad films, who made fortunes and lost them, and who had several marriages and mistresses. A master of the screenplay, direction, and camera work, and who can forget his acting performance in Chinatown? Meyers spends considerable length comparing Huston to Hemingway in the opening chapter. A must read if you like that sort of thing.