Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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!

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.

JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone Dec. 24, 2002 By Michael Farkash Eric Hamburg Public Affairs,464 pages As the song goes, "Paranoia strikes deep." That's one of the central experiences of a savvy political aide and speechwriter who went to work for writer-director-producer Oliver Stone. Eric Hamburg's "JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me: An Idealist's Journey From Capitol Hill to Hollywood Hell" is a sharp, well-written book that tunes into some familiar territory, notably the bad, mad geography of film production politics and the decades-old mysteries surrounding the death of John F. Kennedy and the Cuban connection. The book is very accessible, very readable and filled with admiration for professionals like Anthony Hopkins and mixed, mostly angry assessments of Stone and the people surrounding the filmmaker. The dark byways of the film biz should have been no surprise for the bright, politically astute Hamburg, who worked for years on Capitol Hill -- but then, hearing about the nasty, difficult parts of the film production process and living them are two quite different things. Serving as a producer and development executive at Stone's production company, Ixtlan, the author originated and won co-producing credits on the films "Nixon" and "Any Given Sunday." He explores the paranoid, vain, greedy, sometimes drug-fueled aspects of Stone's world of film development, where solid ground can often give way to a quicksand of uncertainty. Using his Washington connections, Stone's name and persistence, Hamburg was able to get key figures from the JFK and Nixon years to meet with him and Stone and persuade them to contribute stories and background to Stone's films. He also shares with us his research trips to places like Cuba and a brief meeting with Fidel Castro. But Hamburg became quickly disenchanted with what he calls the "Oliver Zone" -- suspicions, dark rages, drug use and a habit of playing staff people against one another. It's like royal court intrigue. Writes Hamburg: "Oliver was moody and unpredictable, often irrational and absolutely insane when it came to money. This was a very dangerous subject with him. "However, Hamburg received some good advice -- those three little words that mean everything in negotiations: "Hire a lawyer." In case the reader wonders if film development is a habit-forming occupation -- Hamburg continues working as a producer and writer in Los Angeles.

This book is a riveting, entertaining and insightful look into the parallel universes of Washington and Hollywood, and the love/hate relationship that exists between them. Eric Hamburg has moved between both worlds and seen them from the inside in a way that few have. Hamburg, who started as a speechwriter for current Presidential candidate John Kerry in the Senate, provides fascinating glimpses into the power struggles that go on in Washington and especially on Capitol Hill. He also provides an up close look at the man who may be our next President.

Hamburg also presents a fair and balanced portrait of Oliver Stone as filmmaker and human being, calling him both a genius and a madman at times. The author obviously knows his way around the JFK assassination as well as Watergate, and delves deeply into both. He presents new information about the murder of JFK which he researched in Cuba on Stone's behalf. He presents the most plausible scenario yet of what really happened in Dallas. For this alone, the book is worth buying.

For Hollywood fans, the book also gives an inside look at the making of the movie Nixon, and at the human side of stars such as Anthony Hopkins and James Woods. It follows the process of making a film from start to finish in a way that few books have. Probably the best comparisons would be Jane Hamsher's Killer Instinct, or Julie Salamon's The Devil's Candy. The book is candid, funny and well written. If you're interested in movies, politics or both, read it!

JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone and Me by Eric Hamburg is yet another sickening example of a character assassination book. The author is a former Congressional staffer who was given a chance by Director/Producer Oliver Stone to come to Hollywood and help make what the author hoped were politically interesting movies. Throughout the book the author engages in name-calling and self aggrandizing behavior while never even attempting to get to the root of the film-making process. One is left with the impression that the author needed money and decided to cash in on his relationship with a celebrity.

Even some of Oliver Stone's enemies have admitted that he is a genius in making films and getting his message across to an audience. Whatever you feel about his political beliefs it must be admitted that he is a director of the first order. I had hoped that the book would attempt to give the reader some insight as to the process by which Stone creates his films, especially Nixon, but the author doesn't even attempt to look at Stone the filmmaker. Instead we are treated to 292 pages of what a great person the author is and how shabbily he was treated by the Hollywood community.

The author seems to enjoy descending into name-calling as he continually refers to film producer Daniel Halstead as "Danny the Weasel," and blames everyone around him for problems that occur. At times he seems to contradict himself and even forgets the names of some co-workers at Stone's production company, Ixtlan. The reader is left wondering why Stone put up with this behavior for as long as he did.

Oliver Stone is a great director and an interesting character in his own write. He should be judges by his films and not by this type of garbage. I would recommend that readers wanting to know the motivation behind Stone and his movies read Oliver Stone's USA, which does give an insight into the director's films. Mr. Hamburg's book, on the other hand, deserves to go into the trash.

I thought this book was revealing about how things really work in Hollywood, and Washington as well. It gives you an inside look into the players and the personalities, through specific examples fromthe author's work with people such as Senator John Kerry, Rep. Lee Hamilton, Oliver Stone, and Anthony Hopkins. Not many people have seen both ends of the spectrum from the inside the way this author has. The book has its share of Hollywood gossip and dirt, but also provides some real insights as well.

This is indeed an interesting, at times fascinating memoir of Hamburg's close and extended association with Oliver Stone. Such personal accounts are by nature selective and subjective. Fair enough. However, what I found disingenuous is Hamburg's ambivalent attitude toward Stone: On frequent occasion, he lavishly praises Stone as a filmmaker and seems almost desperate to ingratiate himself with him, to obtain his approval and even his praise; in other instances, he savages him as a womanizer, dope addict, and egomaniac. Were a film made based on this book, I see Stone playing himself and Hamburg played by an actor such as Tobey Maguire or perhaps Macaulay Culkin. After having read this book, I concluded that Stone is probably neither as admirable nor as corrupt as Hamburg presents him...and that Hamburg is neither as innocent nor as as venal as he (perhaps unknowingly) presents himself. I'm left wondering what Nathaniel West and Evelyn Waugh would have to say if they were to review this book.

I've read a couple of books now about Oliver Stone and his problems and I almost feel sorry for him (the other book I read was Jane Hamsher's KILLER INSTINCT, which demystifies both Stone and Quentin Tarantino).
It kind of reminds of me of Linda Lovelace apologizing to Sammy Davis jr. in her book ORDEAL: Hollywood is filled with plenty of scumbags, Sammy just happened to be the one who did all the nasty stuff with her.
It's just that this book was extremely entertaining and interesting. A quick read filled with some funny scenes of Hollywood absurdity...

JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me

Eric Hamburg

Public Affairs

reviewed by Brent Simon

A deliciously, amazingly illuminating account of Tinseltown excess, Eric Hamburgs JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me recounts an idealists journey from Capitol Hill to Hollywood hell. A terrifically entertaining read disguised with a memoirs overcoat, Hamburgs book details his occupational pilgrimage from legislative assistant under influential House of Representatives member Lee Hamilton to his position at director Stones Ixtlan Films, where he handled legal and business affairs while also initiating the ideas that would in time come to take shape as the films Nixon and Any Given Sunday.

Its a very personal book, and draws almost exclusively from the authors remembrances and journal entries of the time covered. This means first there is some overlap, both thematically and in detail; Hamburg sometimes repeats himself even closely within the text in a manner unacceptable for top-shelf reportage. He even blatantly misidentifies Reese Witherspoon as Brooke Shields at point. Still, these occasional faux pas (was the book even edited?) do not blunt the tomes power or change its bottom line.

For those interested in the ins and outs of high-end cinematic wheeling and dealing, Hamburgs book is chock full of tasty firsthand details about Oliver Stones peccadilloes and a myriad of ever-rotating but always kooky projects he pursued in bits and pieces. Of the latter, most intriguing were planned biopics on J. Edgar Hoover and Manuel Noreiga (Al Pacino graciously refused $10 million from a pay-or-play deal when it fell apart), plus movies on Afghanistan, Stones obsessive hatred of columnist Maureen Dowd (known in various iterations as Media and Power) and even a possible sequel to JFK, which was the project Stone was working on when Hamburg first met him. The details of the directors disastrous personal life are even more vivid and revelatory: Stones ceaseless drug abuse, irrational flare-ups, legendary cheapness, interpersonal abrasiveness and possible shaping youthful sexual encounter(s) with his mother yikes!

Most unnerving, though, are Hamburgs stories of his dealings and interactions with Danny Halsted, a former Disney exec who wormed his way into Stones production company and whom Hamburg refers to here almost exclusively as "Danny the Weasel." To recount the many jaw-dropping instances of Halsteds idiocy, conniving, theft and general disreputable behavior would take too much space here, but suffice to say that it both represents and confirms all the worst youve ever heard or suspected about Hollywood suits masquerading as creative executives. This isnt a horror novel, but at times JFK, Nixon, Oliver Stone & Me ranks right up there with the most unsettling of Stephen Kings works.