In 1969 Illeana Douglas's parents saw the film Easy Rider and were transformed. Taking Dennis Hopper's words "That's what it's all about man" to heart, they abandoned their comfortable upper-middle-class life and gave Illeana a childhood filled with hippies, goats, free spirits, and free love. Illeana writes, "Since it was all out of my control, I began to think of my life as a movie, with a Dennis Hopper-like father at the center of it."
I Blame Dennis Hopper is a rollicking, funny, at times tender exploration of the way movies can change our lives. With crackling humor and a full heart, Douglas describes how a good Liza Minnelli impression helped her land her first gig and how Rudy Valley taught her the meaning of being a show biz trouper. From her first experience being on set with her grandfather and mentor—two-time Academy Award–winning actor Melvyn Douglas—to the moment she was discovered by Martin Scorsese, to starring in movies alongside Robert DeNiro, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke, to becoming an award-winning writer, director, and producer in her own right, I Blame Dennis Hopper is an irresistible love letter to movies and filmmaking.
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The author's warm portraits and disarming honesty infuse the memoir with an endearing sweetness and charm.
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Kirkus