Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever
<b>The behind-the-scenes story of the iconic funnymen who ruled '80s Hollywood—Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Eddie Murphy—and the beloved films that made them stars, including <i>Animal House, Caddyshack, </i>and <i>Ghostbusters</i></b><br /><br /><b>NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY <i>NEW YORK</i></b><br /><br /><b>“An enjoyable romp that vividly captures the manic ups and downs of the remarkable group of funny folk who gave us a golden age of small and big screen comedy, from <i>SNL </i>to <i>Groundhog Day</i>.”<i>—</i>Peter Biskind, author of<i> Easy Riders, Raging Bulls</i></b><br /><br /><i>Wild and Crazy Guys</i> opens in 1978 with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray taking bad-tempered swings at each other backstage at <i>Saturday Night Live,</i> and closes 21 years later with the two doing a skit in the same venue, poking fun at each other, their illustrious careers, triumphs and prat falls. In between, Nick de Semlyen takes us on a trip through the tumultuous '80s, delving behind the scenes of movies such as <i>National Lampoon's Vacation, Beverly Hills Cop, The Blues Brothers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,</i> and dozens more. Chronicling the off-screen, larger-than-life antics of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, John Candy, and Rick Moranis, it's got drugs, sex, punch-ups, webbed toes, and Bill Murray being pushed into a swimming pool by Hunter S. Thompson while tied to a lawn chair. What's not to like?<br /><br />Based on candid interviews from many of the stars themselves, as well as those in their immediate orbit, including directors John Landis, Carl Reiner, and Amy Heckerling, <i>Wild and Crazy Guys</i> is a fantastic insider account of the friendships, feuds, triumphs, and disasters experienced by these beloved comedians. Hilarious and revealing, it is both a hidden history of the most fertile period ever for screen comedy and a celebration of some of the most popular films of all time.<br /><br /><b>Praise for <i>Wild and Crazy Guys</i></b><br /><br />“Eminently readable . . . Children of the 1980s, take note: this is a fond, engrossing look back at the making of movies that became cultural touchstones.”<b>—<i>Booklist</i> (starred review)</b><br /><br /> “Nick de Semlyen smartly charts the pinballing career paths of the stars of this new comic wave. . . . His punchy, nonstop narrative . . . tells a [story] where art and commerce smash hard against each other, sometimes causing destruction, but sometimes making sparks fly.”<b>—<i>The Sunday Times </i>(UK)</b>