JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me: An Idealist's Journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell [Hardcover]

Eric Hamburg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2002

A revealing insider's look at one of Hollywood's most prominent, private, and notoriously difficult directors; at the way the film business works; and at the Washington/Hollywood connection. JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me is the funny, thoughtful memoir of an accomplished former Congressional staffer who left D.C. for Hollywood and a job with Oliver Stone, hoping to help make politically engaged films and a difference, and found himself instead in a wildly dysfunctional universe ruled by greed, paranoia, narcissism, competition, alcohol and drugs.After finishing law school, Eric Hamburg became an unusually effective young staffer on Capitol Hill-convincing his boss, Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, to submit a bill that would release the House's closely held files on the John F. Kennedy assassination investigation, one of Hamburg's own pet obsessions. This led to his meeting Oliver Stone and soon-much to his own surprise-Hamburg found swimming amongst the sneakiest of Hollywood sharks. Hamburg describes his fascinating experiences working on the films Nixon and Any Given Sunday while navigating the arcane politics of Stone's studio, Ixtlan. Pursuing film projects (and Kennedy assassination leads), he also muses on the ways and means of the movie biz; on the strange symbiotic Washington/Hollywood relationship; on the meaning of success and the price of power. His story is a contemporary Mr. Smith Goes to Hollywood, told by a narrator of wit, intelligence, and a singular set of experiences.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eric Hamburg originated and co-produ ced the films Nixon and Any Given Sunday with Oliv er Stone. He is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and th e University of San Francisco School of Law, and i s a visiting fellow at UCLA in the Burkle Center f or International Relations. He is producing a mini -series for television on the Pentagon Papers case with John Dean and Alec Baldwin. He lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1st edition (September 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586480294
• ISBN-13: 978-1586480295
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,094,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, but reads like a tabloid., December 26, 2005

By 

Ken Kardash (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me: An Idealist's Journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell (Hardcover)

I bought this book at an inventory clearance, which proved an accurate guide to my expectations. It is the story of a lawyer working as a congressional aide who parlayed his interest in the JFK assassination to become a production assistant to Oliver Stone. The title refers to films of the latter, not JFK and Nixon themselves.

The idea of an intelligent, idealistic outsider learning firsthand about the machinations of Hollywood is certainly intriguing, and this is what the subtitle suggests the theme will be. However, this theme becomes subverted to two parallel, personal agendas of the author: 1. a forum for his own speculations about the "truth" regarding the JFK assassination and Watergate, and 2. a catharsis for the estrangement he suffered from Stone in the wake of their collaboration. Towards the end, it reads like an open letter to Stone, pleading for his rehabilitation from a self-destructive lifestyle. For those who like conspiracy theories and juicy gossip about celebrities, this will be a bonus. Personally, I was hoping to learn more about the process by which Oliver Stone gets his movies made, and less about the shortcomings of the man without whom, I think it is fair to say, there would be no market for this book.

At one point, Hamburg writes that he came to Hollywood to "learn how to make political films, not do business deals." Perhaps this was meant to be ironic, since after finishing reading his story, it appears to me that film-making is all about business deals. In fact, it would have been interesting to learn how Oliver Stone arranges the funding to realize his creative vision (and hedonistic lifestyle). Here, there are only a few dismissive comments about seedy-sounding "money men".

One of the useful aspects of this book is its overview of contemporary published opinion on the JFK assassination and Watergate. A bibliography listing the works mentioned throughout the text would have been helpful.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hollywod hell at its best!, October 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me: An Idealist's Journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell (Hardcover)

I read this book in one sitting. A hilarious and revealing account by a Hollywood insider of the mad, mad world of Oliver Stone and the decadent culture of Hollywood. Also contains fascinating anecdotes about Washington and life on Capitol Hill, as well as the author's trips to Cuba and close encounters with Fidel Castro. This is a very unique and very funny book. I recommend it highly to anyone who is interested in Hollywood, Washington, politics or showbiz. They're all the same thing anyway!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Overwrought and a bit pretentious, November 29, 2005

By 

Ben Wetmore (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me: An Idealist's Journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell (Hardcover)

Hamburg obviously writes for a different genre, allegedly screenwriting. And while ascribing himself much credit, his prose falls largely flat. Many of the sentences read on a basic level, a recitation of his accomplishments, marginal people he met, and esoteric details that are painful to dig through. For the Stone fan, an interesting read, for the average person, it has its moments. But its material, and its potential, is so much greater than what Hamburg delivers. For all the material possible, the book delivers flat. It's not worth the money and not really worth the time. It often reads as Hamburg's diary entries, with most chapters being a scant three or four pages, rather than a real story about great opportunities and fascinating characters. Hamburg is also a constant name-dropper, for almost no discernable reason. It seemed as though Hamburg's insights were immature, overwrought, and full of snide commentary and self promotion. It's no coincidence that his career centers on the two parts of the country that hype both: Hollywood and Washington.