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Title: Scandal Sheet
Review: Considering Biskind was, according to his bio, an editor at both Premiere and American Film, this book is disappointingly short on intelligent film analysis and grossly long on sexual histories, drug exploits, and mean gossip. The aesthetic dimension is virtually ignored other than general remarks about critical reception of the various films discussed, but the behavior of the directors (on and off set) is plumbed. Everyone comes out looking very ugly. So what? If you're looking for gossip and a few interesting anecdotes, this is for you. Good film or cultural history it ain't. The chronology is confusing, the narrative very loose, the spirit truly Hollywood scandal sheet. Too bad, because it could have been much more intelligent given the author's obvious access to sources. The author's focus makes him seem every bit as repellent as the directors he sketches.
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