An A–Z of Hellraisers: A Comprehensive Compendium of Outrageous Insobriety

by Robert Sellers

An A-Z of Hellraisers is the last word on inebriated misbehaviour, and the miscreant mob in this whopper of a book constitute the most amazing grouping to see print: from Alexander the Great, whose drunken revelries once ended with the destruction of an entire city; to W. C. Fields, who passed critical judgement on a brass band by urinating over them from a hotel balcony; Dylan Thomas, who drove a sports car onto Charlie Chaplin's private tennis court; to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, suffocating on his own vomit after consuming forty measures of vodka - what a night out that was!

This hilarious volume makes for an ideal bedside companion or pub reading fodder, as it scrutinises and salutes these glorious individuals, from Winston Churchill to Keith Moon, George Best to Ernest Hemingway, Wild Bill Hickok to Sam Peckinpah, Ozzy Osbourne to Errol Flynn. Just thank God we didn't have to live next door to any of them.

Genres: Biography

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting A to Z guide of some of the hellraisers that have lived from Alexander the Great to Mickey Rourke. Found out about some people I never knew about but also there was the typical selection of Richard Harris, Richard Burton and Peter O Toole. It's really interesting that this type of behaviour was very much of its time and only really exists in today's society in people that once were big stars that have ended up being reduced to lesser figures due to personal lives that reassemble a train wreck which sort of quite similar to some of the people contained within this book.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an eye-opener. I appreciated the author's leaving out the more sordid details and bad language. I think the stories themselves were a lesson to anyone who succumbs to an addiction. The repetition in each account is sad and each should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone foolish enough to think he or she can control alcohol intake. Perhaps a person can, but the simple fact is the ultimate outcome is an unknown.

[Richard Luck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering reminder of the high cost of having too good a time.

[Brian Slevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the book dedicated to Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton but good to dip in and out of none the less.

[Ben Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent Read
Good Mini Stories

[Mark Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Hellraisers and thoroughly enjoyed it(if you haven't read it get thee to a bookshop now) but been dissapointed by the sequel(hollywood hellraisers)I approached this with high expectation but some level of trepidation. Thankfully Sellers has returned to form with the book which charts the lives(and for the most part deaths) of the worlds greatest drinkers. Much like the original book which charted the rise of the british hellraisers Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed the book works by offering a fairly light hearted look at the outrageous lives of the subjects in question. Where Hollywood Hellraisers fell flat(with the exception of Dennis Hopper the subjects were far less interesting) this sticks with the simple formula rather than trying to eke a wider story out of slim details as was the case with Nicholson, Beatty and Brando(interresting to note while 3 out 4 from the original book feature only one makes it from HH).Here Sellers offers a few pages on each of the Hellraisers(mostly actors) highlighting their battles with alcohol and the oh too frequent fallouts these created. It's not all fun but Sellers light hearted take on their at times outrageous behaviour(some of this stuff has to be read to be believed) demonstrates that for the most part these were people who made a choice to live by their own rules and damn the consequences. If you are looking for a straight biogaphy of the people in question then this is not the book for you, but if you are looking for something to amuse yourself and get some choice anecdotes from then this is the book for you. What I enjoyed about the first book was that it was an easy holiday read and great to recount with others and I am glad to see that this volume shares the same style. If their is any criticism I could offer up it would be that some of the subjects are so obscure that reading about their antics seems a bit chorish given the lack of context. Still nonetheless it is a worthy read especially if you liked the original Hellraisers which is by far the best of the bunch.

[Chuck White · Rating 4 out of 5]

An often quite funny, and also quite tragic, look at famous drunks in history, for lack of a better phrase.

Actors, writers, singers, sportsmen (and women) poets, politicians and even a pirate are featured in this ode to overindulgence to alcohol (and drugs, and in some cases, anything at hand).

Best to read in small doses, one or two entries at a time, as it can all start to run together and one may feel they are in the middle of their own bender.

Now, time to treat myself to a beer (or two, or...).

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read with some laugh out loud moments (see Paul Gascoigne and Norway). No thinking involved in reading this and I'd take most of it with a pinch of salt.