A Good Book

You don’t get much of a chance to read for pleasure these days if you live in Cairo, but I turned off the TV and the political cackle for awhile. I let the newspapers pile up at the front door and burrowed into the woodwork , so to speak, with what turned out to be a good book.

An Agoraphobic’s Guide to Hollywood: How Michael Jackson Got Me Out of the House by Darlene Craviotto is a memoir published as an E-book on Amazon Kindle. It is as fast paced as a thriller and delivers surprises worthy of a Knut Hamsun novel.

Another name for the book could be “Courage.” Think of it: you spend years working towards a career goal and then, just as you are about to arrive, it vanishes. What do you do?

The author, was about to co-star in a Hollywood movie when her driver crashed her car. Her face was so badly injured she couldn’t keep her first appointment with the cameras. The surgeons did a fine job restoring her looks. But then she found the accident had left her with a terror of the outdoors. Panic struck at the thought of leaving home.

Ever tried arguing yourself out of an irrational fear? For me, a futile exercise. “Avoid embarrassment and spare me possible cardiac arrest,” I now tell friends and tour guides. “Don’t try to entice me to the top of that tower. I don’t want a panoramic view of the city.” You can avoid towers. But how can you get to work with agoraphobia?

The young actress turned herself into a successful screen writer, managing to hide her “little issue,” as her agent called her agoraphobia, from a heartless, opportunistic Hollywood society. For, had it become known, it might have harmed her chances of being hired by the studios. Fortunately, a writer’s work is mostly done at home and she eventually became practised at finding ways to avoid non-essential meetings beyond the safety of home.

The story is about the author’s efforts to overcome her disability and write a script based on J.M. Barrie’s story of Peter Pan for a film directed by the demanding Steven Spielberg. Part of her brief was to consult Michael Jackson, who would be playing Peter, and make sure he was happy with her approach to the film. That, on its own, required an excruciating effort on her part. First, she had to get to him, which meant a nerve-jangling ride in a car there and back. Then she had to meld in with his mood and draw him out on his ideas for the film.

One suspects Michael—who performed with such panache before thousands but was extremely bashful in the company of a few--would have foiled the efforts of countless psychobabble merchants. But Darlene, with her own troubles to keep on a tight rein, somehow managed to work with him.

They were lucky. They had both been fond of Barrie’s story in their childhood. Michael, indeed, was so passionate about it that he had created his own millionaire’s interpretation of Barrie’s Neverland round him at his ranch of that name.

Darlene’s memoir is an inspiring story written by someone with grit. What happens in the end? The author calls it “A Surprise Ending.” I shan’t say what and spoil the story. But if what happened to Darlene had happened to me in my younger days, I’m sure I’d have been up before a judge over some volcanic public demo.

Darlene Craviotto deserves a medal for forbearance. Her book is that medal. I look forward to reading more by this author.