The Burning Typewriter - The Rebels and Other Writers Onscreen Volume 1 (hardback)

Legendary authors are the stars of The Burning Typewriter, the first major book to concern itself with acting appearances by writers, as well as biographical films about writers.

 

From macho epics based on the lives and works of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, and Zane Grey to lighter forgotten fare (like Carol Burnett's surprisingly believable turn as Erma Bombeck in The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank), the book is a wild ride through an amazing array of cinema-literature.

 

Hilarious gonzo portrayals of Hunter S. Thompson by Johnny Depp and Bill Murray. Biographical films. Talk show appearances, from shy Jack Kerouac to outrageous Truman Capote and boisterous Norman Mailer. Horror movies featuring (the real) Stephen King and the Edgar Allan Poe. There's the sad demise of Yukio Mishima, perhaps Japan's greatest post-WWII author, who rehearsed his own real-life suicide by acting it out first in the movies. Plays and other media appearances, all are covered and all are amazing to read about.

 

Did you know that All Quiet on the Western Front author Erich Maria Remarque acted in a romantic war epic alongside fifties heartthrob John Gavin? Or that the prophetess of individualism, Ayn Rand, met her beloved husband while they were working as extras on the silent biblical epic King of Kings? Probably not! And even if you did, The Burning Typewriter is a wild ride through decades of author appearances strange and fascinating.

 

Volume 1 covers the roots of the Romantic Writer tradition, from Christopher Marlowe, Lord Byron and the Brontës all the way to wild men like William S. Burroughs, Bukowski and Harlan Ellison. Volume 2 follows feisty figures from Mark Twain to Gore Vidal, Dorothy Parker, and Kurt Vonnegut. Chances are your favorite writer is in here somewhere.

 

 

Brett Taylor is  the author of Old Roads, which was published by Jim Kacian's Red Moon Press in 2021. He has written for such film journals as  Mexican Film Bulletin, Shock Cinema and Video Watchdog. His work has also appeared in Green Mountains Review, Big Muddy, Redivider, The South Carolina Review, Skeptical Inquirer, and Fortean Times.