Biskind’s editorial point of view is inextricable from his passion for certain films, his deep engagement with the works described, his *taste*—at every turn, he champions the art he loves best. No better approach to the subject matter, actually.

So when he (comparatively) hand-waves Coppola’s entire management style on Apocalypse Now and casts Friedkin as a scrappy goofball and even has nice things to say about the demonic Dennis Hopper but spends whole chapters denigrating innocent schoolboys Spielberg and Lucas for being *nerd losers*…I’m on his side. They won the culture war. Let us have this.

I don't know how to rate this. On one hand, it's an incredibly comprehensive, well-researched history of 70s cinema aka a bunch of coked-up dorks who tripped into power and happened to make some great movies. On the other hand, the way this book talks about women made me sick to my stomach. Guess what: you're gonna know if every woman wears a bra, if her tits were huge, if she was just BITTER she didn't get credit, if she was a slut, or, worst of all, if she was tragically flat-chested.

I understand that the men Biskind is writing about held these views about women, and he doesn't spare a detail about what ginormous nerds these guys were, but there is no editorial distance from the misogyny. The way the book dismisses Dorothy Stratten's murder and casually describes what happens to her corpse made me want to take 15 showers. How it portrays "both sides" of Dennis Hopper's horrifying abuse of Brooke Heyward. I am thankful that I've read and listened to many other well-rounded sources on Hollywood history, and I can't help but side-eye every man in this industry who recommended this book to me as a starry-eyed tribute to the golden age of cinema.

This book is billed as a biography, but it's a work of horror.

So good. Here’s a ranking of the directors referenced in this book from least evil to most evil:

George Lucas
Hal Ashby
Martin Scorsese
Warren Beatty
Robert Towne
Robert Altman
Francis Ford Coppola
Paul Schrader
William Friedkin
Dennis Hopper

Това е книга за най-великото десетилетие на Холивуд – 70-те години. Време, в което изгряват режисьори като Франсис Форд Копола, Мартин Скорсезе, Стивън Спилбърг, Брайън де Палма, Джордж Лукас и актьори като Джак Никълсън, Робърт де Ниро и Ал Пачино.
Време, в което се създават шедьоври като „Кръстникът“, „Шофьор на такси“, „Разяреният бик“, „Полет над кукувичето гнездо“, „Челюсти“, „Междузвездни войни“.
Бискинд е филмов журналист, който разказва изключително увлекателно живота на Холивуд по онова време – възторзите и паденията на великите артисти, раждането на филмите, които всички носим в сърцата си.
Книгата му е основана на стотици интервюта с продуценти, сценаристи, режисьори, актьори, съпругите им и любовниците им, и хвърля светлина както върху професионалния им път, така и върху противоречивия им личен живот.
„Волни ездачи, разярени бикове“ е хроника на една изумителна епоха в киното, която няма да се повтори.