Current mood:

calm

I wish sometimes that I wasn't as conscious as I am
After having The River Phoenix Biography kicking about for a long time, I had only in the past been able to read small sections, and never got anywhere near to completing the book.  However, after a few weeks of rather intense reading sessions, I finished the book this evening. The book, based on over 60 interviews from those closest to him, is obviously a very well researched and well-written biography. I enjoyed it immensely - a great insight on his parents and siblings, and his life as a child with the involvement with the Children of God cult. 



It covers his life and goes into great detail about him and his family and the constant moving around they did when he was a youngster. It then goes into detail, chronologically, of every film he ever worked on, and towards the end a nice section on his uncompleted last movie, Dark Blood. I found that a very interesting section indeed as I have never seen any proper footage from the film, neither did I have a very clear idea of what it was supposed to be about. It's clear, though, that River immersed himself in the role like he did every other movie he worked on. Another detailed chapter was the My Own Private Idaho one, which discussed the notion that River first began to experiment with drugs and maybe even with other guys to help him fully understand the character of Mike Waters. To be honest, that thought had never crossed my mind. Was River indulging way before 1991? No one really seems to know.

Some of the interviews featured in the book are really, really saddening. One which got to me most was where his dad was discussing how River had promised to go and see him after completing Dark Blood. His dad ended by saying 'he said he would come and see me after completing the movie. And he did. In a box'.

The book has spurred me on to read more, the next probably being Michael J Fox's book, Lucky Man.