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The Cavalry Charges: Writings on Books, Film and Music
A collection of anecdotal essays is a series of meditations on life and art by the best-selling author of The Stars Above Veracruz and Wild at Heart that considers the books and people who have influenced his film work.
271 pages, Hardcover
First published May 10, 2007
About the author
Barry Gifford
145 books207 followersBarry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 9, 2017
Essays, insights, ruminations and thoughts on Books, Films and Music, plus the full Libretto to an Opera. I came away with a list of several dozen new books and films to look for, and appreciation for a life well lived. Gifford's stories about other authors, musicians and actors and directors are invaluable and illuminating.
November 19, 2023
The books part was the strongest part
March 15, 2011
Gifford takes an elliptical approach to noir tropes in his fiction, a tack that can either please or frustrate the reader, depending. Personally, I think Port Tropique is just about as good as contempo-American Noir gets; The Sinaloa Story, on the other hand, I'm not so crazy for.
Regardless, this approach is what gets Gifford published, and read. No surprise, then, that he takes the indirect route into his chosen subject matter when it comes to essay-writing, too. So we get, when Gifford mentions Don Quixote as a favored text, nothing more or less than an extended appreciation of the late Gabby Hayes. Or, once collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola on his Jack Kerouac picture is 86ed, a brief and telling vignette of what an evening dinner with the director looks like.
If Gifford were a blogger, these would be his posts -- and, in fact, if you check out his website you can read one or two of the short, type-written pieces from The Cavalry Charges and decide for yourself if this collection is more to your taste than it was to mine.
Regardless, this approach is what gets Gifford published, and read. No surprise, then, that he takes the indirect route into his chosen subject matter when it comes to essay-writing, too. So we get, when Gifford mentions Don Quixote as a favored text, nothing more or less than an extended appreciation of the late Gabby Hayes. Or, once collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola on his Jack Kerouac picture is 86ed, a brief and telling vignette of what an evening dinner with the director looks like.
If Gifford were a blogger, these would be his posts -- and, in fact, if you check out his website you can read one or two of the short, type-written pieces from The Cavalry Charges and decide for yourself if this collection is more to your taste than it was to mine.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews