Ain't It Cool? Hollywood's Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out

by Mark Ebner, Paul Cullum, Quentin Tarantino (Foreword by)

* Ain't it Cool? was published in Warner hardcover (0-446-52597-9) in 3/02. The foreword is written by Quentin Tarantino.
* Knowles' Web site gets over 1,200 emails and 1.5 million hits daily. Quentin Tarantino, Ron Howard, and Bruce Willis are among his many celebrity fans.
* Harry has appeared on Roger Ebert & the Movies and Politically Incorrect, and has been profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Time(R), Parade, US, and Entertainment Weekly. He was featured in Earthlink.com's $15 million ad campaign.
* Internet site books have become instant New York Times bestsellers, including Matt Drudge's Drudge Manifesto (New American Library, 2000) and The Onion's Our Dumb Century (Three Rivers Press, 1999).
* Also available as a Time Warner AudioBook(R).

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Biography, Media Tie In, Memoir

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of fan making good. It interesting to how harry became a mover and shaker by starting a website to deal with temporary paralysis. He has some great ideas on how films can get better. A must read for any movie buff.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a lark; I was a regular reader of Harry Knowles' website in college and I while I never thought he was a very incisive film critic, I appreciated the enthusiasm and personality he injected into his writing. That being said, I don't feel like that translated to this book at all.

This felt like a book of lists... lists of people who contributed to the Ain't It Cool website, lists of movies that the author saw at film festivals. The successes seem overly trumped up to the point where I actually had to laugh; I had NO idea that Knowles had so much to do with the record-breaking success of Titanic back in 1999, but it seems I was living under a rock on that score... at least, according to this book.

There are some interesting bits here and there. I thought the first two chapters in here were interesting, detailing his childhood and life as a seller of comic book and movie memorabilia. Still, two chapters does not a book make.

[Adrian Faulkner · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who ran a successful website for a number of years I found this a really interesting read. There were a lot of parallels to what was going on in my life at the time and it was actually quite a relief to know I wasn't the only person having these weird but wonderful internet experiences.

For me that overshadowed a lot of the movie content, which I still found interesting and engaging but not as much as the whole chapters on Internet fame.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Harry Knowles when my husband asked me to read this book. I found him to be amusing and entertaining, though if you've never visited his website, you'll want to skip the chapter about his spies - I'm not familiar with them and don't care. Wish there was more follow up about his injuries - did he ever get health insurance and go to the doctor? Final diagnosis? How does he get around today? Some interesting glimpses into Hollywood, though.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tons of fun. Knowles gives something of a history of his site, as well as some unexpected side trips into some surprising areas, such as his feud with Matt Drudge.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! He loves movies and relates his life through movies. I enjoyed his candid and funny style.