No one captured the teen portion of the eighties as poignantly as writer-director John Hughes. "Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science,...
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Jun 15, 2011
lovelyandliterate
rated it: 
If I had to sum up my feelings of this book in one word, it would be disappointment.
Let me preface this by saying I adore John Hughes. I love all of his films (Sixteen Candles tops my favorite movies list) – I love the characters, the banter, the plots… Basically, whenever I start to talk about John Hughes, its a whole lot of love love love and ignoring anything that could be considered “wrong” with the films. I suspend my disbelief every time I watch the movies and get sucked in, be More...
Let me preface this by saying I adore John Hughes. I love all of his films (Sixteen Candles tops my favorite movies list) – I love the characters, the banter, the plots… Basically, whenever I start to talk about John Hughes, its a whole lot of love love love and ignoring anything that could be considered “wrong” with the films. I suspend my disbelief every time I watch the movies and get sucked in, be More...
Sep 03, 2009
Coffeeboss
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This is a collection of essays by writers who came of age with John Hughes movies. In other words: I'm exactly the target audience! Most of the writers I've never heard of, and admittedly some are better than others, but they are always interesting. Revisit your own feelings towards movies like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, etc. Probably the funniest essay was the last: Moon Unit Zappa (most famous for her "gag me with a spoon" rap on her dad's "
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Nov 19, 2007
Lauren
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I picked up this book on a whim, not really expecting much in terms of content, but was pleasantly surprised to discover a complex series of essays that take John Hughes films seriously. I have always loved Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club and Some Kind of Wonderful, so it was a joy to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of their most poignant and funny moments. The contributing writers are diverse - you hear both from folks who worship and loath JH, from the former nerds and the
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Aug 15, 2007
Annie
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What a great, nostalgic, intelligent collection of essays by contemporary authors! These essays discuss and explicate the more known John Hughes films like: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I remember thinking when I was younger, "Wow, I can't wait to get older just so I can be a teen and see teen movies with my friends." When the time came, Hughes had digressed and was doing movies like Home Alone
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Jul 15, 2009
Amy
rated it: 
This is a collection of essays written over the John Hughes' movies from the 80s: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Some Kind Of Wonderful. I thought it was a nice change of pace for me to read this and I took a lot away from the majority of the essys. In fact, it inspired me to write a piece from that time era as well. I din't write about any of the above movies but I centered on the year 1984. Good coffee table book.
Dec 16, 2009
cathy
rated it:
If you ever had an unrequited crush on Molly Ringwald, or wondered what ever happened to that guy from Weird Science—no, not Anthony Michael Hall, the other guy--then this book is for you. It's not simply a rehash of John Hughes highlights or yeah-wasn't-that-great quotations, but a collection of funny and touching essays on the trials of adolescence from the vantage point of 30-something writers. These authors reflect on teen angst via Hughes’ plots and related parallels to their own lives. Th
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Aug 17, 2011
Lord
rated it:
Quite a nice collection of essays on the influence of John Hughes' work. Moon Unit Zappa's essay is a particular stand-out. Also, a succint meditation of being a teenager in general. I would have preferred if there had been a few less essays about the Cult of Molly Ringwald (she is amazing, but at times it felt quite repetitive), and focused more on side characters as well (who are very worthy of reflection). People touched on the racism centered around Long Duck Dong, but I would have really ap
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Jan 19, 2009
Meg
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I like this book simply because it exists. I'm a bit obsessive about the John Hughes teen movies (TBC, PiP, SKoW, SC, FBDO), and I'm glad to see the obsession morphed into a collection of essays. While elated that someone had the notion to publish this book, the actual essays are not all that insightful. For the most part, I've put more thought into the movies than the authors of these essays. Quite a few stated that they watched the movies again after not seeing them for a number of years, whil
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Dec 17, 2009
Ben
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I feel like John Hughes is too easy of a target for the kind of autobiographical essays contained in this book. The book contains few surprising insights (although they are there) and many "Well, obviously." moments. Even a book about John Hughes could have led to less predictable essays (for example, the author list is entirely composed of former Anthony Michael Halls, Molly Ringwalds in SIXTEEN CANDLES, and Ally Sheedys in THE BREAKFAST CLUB...I'd be interested to read an essay abo
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Oct 14, 2009
Gary
rated it:
For anyone and everyone who can recite -- on command -- from Hughes' early movies, this one is a must read.
If you've never seen any of the Hughes teen films that form the entire basis for this collection of essays, or came into them too late, you probably won't appreciate most of this book.
If you've never seen any of the Hughes teen films that form the entire basis for this collection of essays, or came into them too late, you probably won't appreciate most of this book.
Apr 02, 2011
Jana
rated it:
Not bad, but not great either. My tastes don't typically run to the personal essay form, and much of the writing felt self-indulgent. Given the subject matter, though, I'm not sure that's a fair critique. Just OK.
Jan 16, 2011
Lucy
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This book doesn't really tell you anything about John Hughes movies at all. It is mainly just personal stories from the writers. If you're nostalgic about life in the 80s you might like it.
Dec 25, 2008
Erin
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It was very entertaining to read about how these films influenced others, since last face it, if you were young in the '80's, these movies were real life! I learned some interesting details also, such as the original ending to Pretty In Pink was different and that Molly Ringwald turned down such bigtime films as Pretty Woman.... I think what a lot of people don't realize though is that the reason why we are all so nostalgic for the 80's is that it was the last decade when this country was truly
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May 10, 2009
Laura
rated it:
Given to me for my birthday and was the perfect pick-it-up-and-put-it-back-down read for my roadtrip from GA to Chicago to DC and back again.
Feb 03, 2012
Gina
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An amazing reflection on an amazing director, producer and writer. The stories are great!!
Dec 29, 2008
Heather
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This one was OK for me. I am a huge fan of most of the movies which are talked about in this book, but I did not feel I could relate to a lot of them. I am not sure, but it could be the age gap between me and many of the authors. These movies were huge in the 80's and I did not experience them till the late 90s. Perhaps this was part of it. I would recommend this for people who experienced these movies during the 80s (as tweens or teens).
Oct 24, 2010
Molly
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I liked it because of the subject matter (John Hughes' teen movies), and I started wondering why I don't read more collections of essays. But the more I read, the more I remembered: Oh Yeah. Writers think too much and essays are self-indulgent navel gazing about crap that doesn't really matter.
What I learned: I still want to be Ferris Bueller.
What I learned: I still want to be Ferris Bueller.
Mar 24, 2008
Npaw
rated it:
This is now my Bible. If anyone is curious to why I am the way I am, this book pretty much spells it out. There's a couple essays in here that didn't work for me, but the rest of them are truly amazing. This book made me think about characters and the value each one brings to a story.
Dec 14, 2009
Kate
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Fantastic. I learned so much about a generation. Well-written, tons of good insight.
Jan 28, 2012
Jan 11, 2012
