10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western [Paperback]

Alex Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1842433040 | ISBN-13: 978-1842433041

"40 years ago as a graduate student I wrote a book about Spaghetti Westerns, called 10,000 Ways to Die. It’s an embarrassing tome when I look at it now: full of half-assed semiotics and other attenuated academic nonsense. In the intervening period I have had the interesting experience of being a film director. So now, when I watch these films, I’m looking at them from a different perspective. A professional perspective, maybe . . . I’m thinking about what the filmmakers intended, how they did that shot, how the director felt when his film was recut by the studio, and he was creatively and financially screwed. 10,000 Ways to Die is an entirely new book about an under-studied subject, the Spaghetti Western, from a director’s POV. Not only have these films stood the test of time; some of them are very high art."  —Alex Cox

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A standard reference for film buffs."  —Library Journal

"An exceptionally well-informed and accessible primer on the subject."  —Powells.com

About the Author

Maverick director Alex Cox has directed such acclaimed films as Repo Man, Sid & Nancy, Straight to Hell, Death and the Compass, Walker, and Searchers 2.0. He’s also the author of X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker, and has written on film for publications including Film Comment, Guardian, Independent, and Sight and Sound.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oldcastle Books (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842433040
• ISBN-13: 978-1842433041
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INVALUABLE REFERENCE!!!, July 31, 2009

By 

Richard J. Oravitz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western (Paperback)

Alex Cox's book, along with Howard Hughes' ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE ITALIAN WEST, are absolutely the only two books you need on the subject. Frayling concentrates mostly on Leone, and although I enjoy his commentary, all of his books kind of meld together. Weisser's SPAGHETTI WESTERNS, still my most referenced book, is too full of errors. The 3-vol. WESTERN ALL 'ITALIANA (Bruschini) is fun but loses alot in the translation. Fridlund's THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN...well, you can really get lost in all those charts and diagrams and ellipses.
Cox really gives you an exciting ride down the Spaghetti Trail; informative (a director's take), yet funny/witty as well, pulling no punches, calling a gringo a gringo. If he thinks a certain movie stinks he lets you know. He especially hates annoying cute characters, old timers that are suppose to be funny and bothersome children. His opinions are his own, not some re-hashing of some other critic/writer. A very good read, easy to grasp, hard to put down. And a lot of movies are covered, by many directors. Not just more Leone worship.
AN ESSENTIAL PURCHASE AND READ for Spaghetti Western fans. Buy this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10,000 ways to hate Clint, September 6, 2009

By 

J. Hoppe "Kowlaski the Polack" (Memphis,Egypt) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western (Paperback)

Very good overview of early Spaghettis with a brilliant critique of the overly complex Sartana movies. Lots of overly enthusiastic Sollima stroking and Eastwood bashing. I strongly disagree with many of Cox's assertions and conclusions but it's a fun enlightening read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Filmmaker Alex Cox's distinctive opinions of the Spaghetti Western genre., December 3, 2009

By 

Terry McCarty (Granada Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western (Paperback)

Alex Cox (best known to cineastes as the auteur of REPO MAN, SID AND NANCY and the underappreciated HIGHWAY PATROLMAN)has written an opinionated, informative book analyzing what he considers key films from all stages of the Italian Western's lifespan (roughly the mid-60s to the late 1970s).

Given Cox's leftist political views, he tends to put more emphasis on the works of, say, cult figure Sergio Corbucci (THE GREAT SILENCE is a particular Cox favorite)over the more well-known Sergio Leone. Cox devotes a chapter to a fascinating film from Tonino Valerii called THE PRICE OF POWER (which can be found on Volume 3 of the DVD collection THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN BIBLE). THE PRICE OF POWER is a Western allegory loosely inspired by the JFK assassination, with Van Johnson playing the Kennedy equivalent.

Recommended to both Spaghetti Western newcomers and fans who might welcome a different take on the genre.