Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (Book Notes)

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood by Peter Biskind is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of American cinema. This book offers a comprehensive look at the rise of the "New Hollywood" movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and how it revolutionized American filmmaking.

Biskind's book chronicles the careers and personal lives of the major figures of this movement, including directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas, as well as actors like Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Robert De Niro. The book explores the influence of the counterculture movement, and how it helped to shape the films that emerged from this time-period.

The book is well-researched and expertly written. Through interviews with key players in the film industry, Biskind provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of some of the most iconic movies of this time-period, including Chinatown, Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Easy Rider, and Jaws. The interviews provide fascinating insights into the creative process, as well as the drug and alcohol use, sexual exploits, and power struggles that characterized this era of Hollywood filmmaking.

The book does an excellent job of capturing the cultural and social context that shaped this era of filmmaking. It explores how the counterculture movement of the 1960s influenced the films that emerged from this period, and how they reflected the changing attitudes and values of American society.

SUMMARY: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is a compelling and entertaining read that offers a fascinating look at a pivotal moment in American cinema. It is a must-read for anyone interested in film history, and anyone who wants to understand how the movies we know, and love, were made. Highly recommended.

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