The reason that I give this book 5 stars is not because I am enamored of the writing style, but because I am enamored of the author. For whatever reason I have suddenly and inexplicable fallen head over heels in love with Steven Spielberg. I don't know what happened or what moment triggered it, but it had something to do with listening to his voice and seeing his beautiful expressive face as he describes making Jaws and ET in the "bonus features" on those "Collector's Edition" DVDs.
The impetus for reading this book was my complete immersion into the Steven Spielberg biography by Joseph McBride, which I keep pausing in order to do more expansive research (Purchase and re-watch "Duel", Purchase and watch "The Sugarland Express" for the first time, Purchase and Read "The Jaws Log", Purchase and read this book, as well as the DVD sets of "Amazing Stories", almost every other Spielberg movie on DVD - collector's editions when available, etc...) On a side note, I've added "Make Steven Spielberg more wealthy" to my bucket list because it's always nice to be able to check something off and feel accomplished!!!
As I began to read this book, I found some of the writing unintentionally amusing. Some passages read like a writing assignment turned in by a teen boy. Steven was close to 30 years old when this movie came out, and probably 28 when directing it. However, he would've been younger when he "wrote" it, and when you consider that this story is in large part based on "Firelight", a film that he made as a teenager, then some of the writing begins to make a lot of sense. Although there was a "ghost writer", it's difficult to imagine some of these passages being penned by a professional writer, so I think they were largely his own words.
The voice that I heard in my head as I started to read the book, was mostly my own voice, or sometimes the voice of Richard Dreyfuss. But, then one day I watched a long interview of Steven on You Tube (I think it was the Japanese one. Nice and long and really interesting, ...and filled with weird Japanese commercials, so VERY entertaining!) When I picked this book back up to read, I could hear Steven's voice telling me the story. This was SO AMAZING!! So, after that, almost every time I picked the book back up after a lapse of time had occurred, I would go to You Tube and watch an interview with Steven so that I could have his voice fresh in my head. Every time Neary spoke, it would revert to Dreyfuss, sometimes forcing me to stop and listen to Steven again before continuing on.
When Steven's voice is telling this story, you have to slow down and read a little bit more deliberately. He emphasizes words and phrases differently, and you have to allow some space in your mind for that to happen. He also, sometimes, talks too fast and smooshes some phrases together. After listening to interviews with him, your brain begins to grasp and duplicate the cadence of his speech, which is A BEAUTIFUL THING!!!
I wish there was a way that I could listen to Steven tell me stories the way he told bed time stories to his children, or ghost stories around the campfire with his friends. I would spend good money for access to that, because I love his voice, and the expressions on his face, and the sparkle in his eyes when he does... like when he talks about his childhood, or the trauma of making Jaws, or the post-traumatic stress FROM making jaws, or the characteristics he looks for when auditioning actors for his films, or the way he relates to children, or his feelings about family, or the interview he gave after watching the restored "Lawrence of Arabia" with his role model, Director David Lean, by his side providing him with a personal "Director's Commentary", or anything else that excites and animates him.
I do realize that it is a bit selfish of me to want Steven to tell me stories in his own voice. I mean, I have access to all of these movies, some of which were written by him, filled with actors specifically chosen by him, and then directed by him. These movies are quite biographical, containing very specific images from his childhood imagination and emotional or psycho-social experiences from his life.
And these films are amazing and exhilarating and triumphant and thought provoking and tumultuous and heart breaking and glorious... and how can I ask for anything more.
But I do want more... I enjoyed this book because it provided me with something that I desperately need, a story written in young Mr Spielberg's own words (mostly), that I can hear (if I concentrate hard enough) in his own voice.