Customer Reviews

Hunting with Barracudas: My Life in Hollywood with the Legendary Iris Burton

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Like many gay boys who grew up in a small town, Chris Snyder dreamed of being part of the excitement, glitz and fame of Hollywood. As he went through school, he came to the realization that his ideal role would likely be behind the scenes, as an agent, helping to find talent and guide them to their success. After an internship at Warner Brothers, he accepted a job as the assistant to the legendary independent agent, Iris Burton, a Hollywood icon who had guided the career of countless child stars for decades.

Iris warned Chris that she was not easy to work for, an understatement that he would often live to regret for the next thirteen years in the 24/7 personal servitude-like employ of that sarcastic, self-possessed but often brilliant star maker. Chris did get a chance to see Hollywood from a vantage point that nobody else could offer, and to work with up and coming stars such as Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Harnett, Kirsten Dunst, the Olsen twins, and many others, and dealt with a myriad of Hollywood studios, publicists, managers and competing agents. The highlight of his career, and a primary focus of the book, was being witness to one major star's self-destruction: the gradual downfall and drug-related death of River Phoenix, a major event for both Iris and Chris, which signaled a definite shift in the operation of her agency. By this time, Iris was an industry fossil while most agents were half her age, and large, aggressive agencies had already eaten up or destroyed independent agencies like hers. They lost clients, Iris became more and more difficult to work for, and Chris - who had already resigned several times but had been lured back by the needy and persuasive Iris - knew he had to get out of there, for no other reason than what the stress was doing to his health. Chris had no life outside of the agency, other than occasional one-nighters with selfish guys he met at a bar or a bathhouse. Working with Iris had also let him see how the larger agencies worked, stealing clients from each other, making it clear to him that he needed to make some changes in his choice of career.

If you enjoy HBO's "Entourage," you'll absolutely love seeing this look at stars relationships with Hollywood agents, currently and in the not so distant past. This memoir is well written, with genuine heart and soul evident in every detail about his love/hate relationship with Iris, and how it forced him to reassess what he wanted in his own life. I give it four dressing-room-door stars out of five.

I thoughly enjoyed the book. It gave me an insight to Hollywood that I didn't have. The author has certainly lead a fascinating life. How many people have escaped and earthquake in Los Angeles after his client overdoses and ends up running a bed and breakfast in Greece. The book is an amazing journey.

This was a fascinating read. Obvious the author knows his subject and the parties involved. Besides tons of information provided by a Hollywood insider, the humorous excerpts and incidents create an intimate sense of being a part of what happened. It seems to lend an insight not only to what happened to River Phoenix, but perhaps what happens in the industry still today to young actors and actresses caught up in the fast-paced, fickle, malestrom of that business. It makes one wonder why then, as now, people continue to see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and know way too much. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.

A page-turner about the lives of River & Joaquim Phoenix with an in depth analysis of the changing face of Hollywood seen through the eyes of an industry insider. I was engrossed by the piquant 'behind the scenes' facts about some of my favorite movies - 'INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE' 'GLADIATOR' etc. I am an actor myself and I related closely with the topics of Mr. Snyder's subject - a chilling insight into the demands of 'fame'. I recommend this excellent read to compliment your enjoyment of next season of 'ENTOURAGE'

After reading this book, I wonder why the author bothered to write it? There are so many books of this type that operate on hearsay and make it fact....In reading this book, I found it to be self indulgent and inaccurate (from my point of view, having known some of the parties he wrote about). His timelines are wrong, and the information's of parties other than himself are inaccurate and appear to be inconsistent with the actual truth. The good thing is that he waited until this agent passed away to write this book.. I would base this book as fiction not non fiction. I rate it a one in form and content....save your money....

This is a very-badly written book about an interesting subject: the young, innocent person who goes to work for the ungrateful Boss from Hell. Think of Lloyd working for Ari Gold on Enourage. Or having to work for Amanda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. This is about Chris working for Iris Burton and her "boutique talent agency" that handles children and young adults. The problem is they die or they grow up and want to move on to bigger agencies that can make them better deals. He gets to know and deal with River and Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Hartnett, the Duff sisters, and Kristen Dunst. But he also has to deal with Iris, who is a raving, roaring monster. Just about every Iris scene makes her seem like Mommie Dearest chopping down that tree or hitting Tina with that cleanser can. Such vivid scenes should be worth reading.

But this book is almost unreadable because of the atrocious grammar errors. He tells us that he put in a year at graduate school, yet he writes stuff like "between Iris and I," "about Richard and I," "People begged Sue and I to..." "It took Iris and I six months to...." Other clunkers abound: "a shoe in," "last rights, "idol chit-chat," and "I had given her no cause to not to trust me." Add to this the most bizarre and inconsistent use and misuse of the comma that make entire sentences into nonsensical word soup.

About the title, there are references to Hollywood people as sharks, but I never found a reference to barracudas.

A period spent working at a bed and breakfast on a Greek island and frequent descriptions of his homosexual acts are not very interesting, but I read them. They turned out to be a waste of time, as did the entire book.