Blue Movie (Terry Southern) (Paperback)

by Terry Southern (Author) "Then she says, now dig this, she says ..." and he broke up laughing, a strange, rasping laugh, for maybe the fourth time since he..." (more)
Key Phrases: Angela Sterling, Les Harrison, Helen Vrobel (more...)

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Product Description

A hilarious, wildly erotic, and biting satire of Hollywood, Blue Movie tells the story of King B., an Oscar-winning director who's determined to shoot the dirtiest and most expensive X-rated movie ever made; Sid Krassman, a producer who's made a fortune catering to the tastes of the American public, and Angela Sterling, a misunderstood sex symbol who'd give anything (and everything) for a chance to do something "serious." The set is fraught with monstrous egos and enormous libidos — the kind of situation that could only come from the imagination of the irrepressible Terry Southern.

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Product Details Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Grove Press (June 7, 1996) Language: English ISBN-10: 0802134661 ISBN-13: 978-0802134660 Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #321,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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First Sentence:
"Then she says, now dig this, she says ..." and he broke up laughing, a strange, rasping laugh, for maybe the fourth time since he started what was shaping up as an interminable story, "...she says: 'Listen, who do I have to fuck to get off this picture?!?' " Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Angela Sterling, Les Harrison, Helen Vrobel, Lips Malone, Sid Krassman, Teeny Marie, New York, Pamela Dickensen, Boris Adrian, Lynx Letterman, Tony Sanders, Fred the First, Miss Sterling, Morty Kanowitz, Nicky Sanchez, The Faces of Love, Jesus Christ, Louise Larkin, Metropolitan Pictures, Princess Anne, Scarlett O'Hara, Dad Harrison, Jenny Jeans, Mickey Mouse, Miss Pilgrim

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 1 book:

• The Silver Screen by Maureen Howard on page 201

 

18 books cite this book:

• Stanley Kubrick: A Biography by John Baxter on 6 pages
• Beat Punks by Victor Bockris on page 1 (1), page 1 (2), and page 1 (3)
• I, Goldstein: My Screwed Life by Al Goldstein on page 97, and page 215
• Beyond Suspicion: New American Fiction Since 1960 (Penn Studies in Contemporary American Fiction) by Marc Chenetier on page 177, and Back Matter
• The Modern American Novel: New Revised Edition by Malcolm Bradbury in Back Matter

See all 18 books citing this book

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	55% buy the item featured on this page: Blue Movie (Terry Southern) 4.4 out of 5 stars (16) $12.60
	23% buy Candy 4.0 out of 5 stars (21) $10.40
	10% buy Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes 4.9 out of 5 stars (8) $17.95
	9% buy The Magic Christian (Terry Southern) 3.6 out of 5 stars (22) $10.17

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (5) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Can a porno flick be art?, August 29, 1996 By A Customer For those familiar with Southern's screenplay for "Dr Strangelove" and his famously raunchy novel "Candy," "Blue Movie" will be a delightful pousse-cafe. Hot on the heels of his historic collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, Southern explores a simple thesis: what if a great film director decides to make a movie with explicit sex scenes involving A-list actors? (Far-fetched, you say? At one point Mike Nichols was set to direct Julie Andrews in the film version of this book.) But Southern is less interested in making grand statements on cinema and sex than in exploding their myths, preferably with a great gas cloud of black humor. "Blue Movie" is not for the feminist or the easily-shocked; but for the reader in search of the hipster's guide to porno filmmaking, it is indispensable. 11 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Raunchy & hilarious, April 10, 2001 By  John Salonia Jr. (New Jersey) - See all my reviews Easily Southern's best novel. I must admit I was disappointedwith CANDY and THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, which I read before this book,.... but BLUE MOVIE delivers the goods with an ourageously sleazy andunfailingly funny portrait of Hollywood power brokers and their sexualhangups. All of the Big Players get their lumps: the Big Studio Head,the Pretentious Director, the Stoned Writer, the Ambitious Starlet,etc. The real strength of the novel is that Southern manages tohumanize his caricatures, thus rendering his satiric bite even morevicious. (Ya gotta love Sid Krassman --- truly a crass man.) Those whobelieve in the V-chip and warning labels on rock albums should stayaway, but for those who like a read on the wild side, BLUE MOVIE willleave you in more stitches than DeNiro as Frankenstein's monster. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Outrageous, Irreverent Fun, March 15, 2002 By  Craig Clarke (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)       This was my third trip through Terry Southern's version of Hollywood, and I rarely reread. This is one hilarious novel. Funny, erotic, surreal, offensive, all the things a good book should be. The main premise of the book is simple: what if Hollywood's greatest director decided to make a high-budget porn film. Good actors, good lighting, good writer, good director (of course), everything missing from garden-variety smut. They are able to secure funding and Southern takes us through every step of the filming process. Casting, all the behind the scenes politics, rewrites, and especially the shooting. Southern writes explicitly of all the action that is to take place on screen. So, if you are offended by explicit descriptions of varied sex acts, then this book is not for you. Everyone on this film is obsessed by sex, and there is as much going on off screen as there is on. If that were all this book had to offer, I would say skip it, but Terry Southern is a man who can write. This may be smut on the surface, but underneath, it's literature. He knows when euphemism will work better than directness, and when to "cut away" from a scene--when enough is enough. So, if you are interested in what happens during the making of a film--of any kind--then read this book. If you are interested in good writing, then read this book. And, especially, if you want to have a good, rollicking time, then read this book.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Empty bladder before reading If you have a high threshhold for raunch, you may find this the funniest novel you have ever read. I know I did. Read more Published 15 months ago by D. Sturm 5.0 out of 5 stars The story behind King B's best movie What if a stag film, one of those cheaply made, low-grade film quality adult boff movies, were made with a big budget, with big name stars, at feature film length? Read more Published on March 20, 2004 by Daniel J. Hamlow 5.0 out of 5 stars A dark and raunchy satire! Terry Southern floored me with Candy, and I couldn't wait to read another one of his comic -- albeit raunchy -- satires. Blue Movie did not disappoint me. Read more Published on September 25, 2003 by CoffeeGurl 5.0 out of 5 stars Old Fashioned Raunchy Fun Terry Southern was one of the 60's bad boys, politically to the Left, not quite avant garde, a "dirty" writer. Read more Published on August 29, 2003 by Avid Reader 4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable... light satire about the making of a 'Blue Movie." The world's most accomplished filmmaker decides to make a dirty movie using top-notch actors, excellent production values, and a... Read more Published on September 19, 2002 by Jasbir S Virdi 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 of the most hilarious books ever ! quite simply a perverted joy,from begining to end..with some of the most hideous and realistic,hollywood characters.. Read more Published on April 23, 2002 by alan doyle 4.0 out of 5 stars More interesting for its 1970s mindset than anything else. X-rated movies could be respectable. That was the thinking of the late, legendary director Stanley Kubrick when he went to work on the last movie before his death, the R-rated... Read more Published on February 2, 2002 by Matthew Weaver 5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Comic Novel Terry Southern is a vastly underrated deadpan chronicler of the absurd and this novel is a scabrous classic, satirising the attempts of a celebrated director to make the first... Read more Published on November 17, 2000 by J. L. Owen 4.0 out of 5 stars Funny? Does Dolly have bosoms??? This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. At the time of my first reading--more than 30 years ago--I picked it up for the possibility of a little prurience. Read more Published on November 14, 2000 4.0 out of 5 stars Stanley K. Southern dedicates this book to Stanley K., for whom he wrote the Dr. Strangelove screenplay. It would have been GREAT to see Kubrick do an on-screen version of this wonderfully... Read more Published on July 24, 2000 by Bradley Beth Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (June 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802134661
• ISBN-13: 978-0802134660
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #321,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can a porno flick be art?, August 29, 1996

By A Customer

For those familiar with Southern's screenplay for "Dr Strangelove" and his famously raunchy novel "Candy," "Blue Movie" will be a delightful pousse-cafe. Hot on the heels of his historic collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, Southern explores a simple thesis: what if a great film director decides to make a movie with explicit sex scenes involving A-list actors? (Far-fetched, you say? At one point Mike Nichols was set to direct Julie Andrews in the film version of this book.) But Southern is less interested in making grand statements on cinema and sex than in exploding their myths, preferably with a great gas cloud of black humor. "Blue Movie" is not for the feminist or the easily-shocked; but for the reader in search of the hipster's guide to porno filmmaking, it is indispensable.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raunchy & hilarious, April 10, 2001

By	John Salonia Jr. (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Easily Southern's best novel. I must admit I was disappointedwith CANDY and THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, which I read before this book,.... but BLUE MOVIE delivers the goods with an ourageously sleazy andunfailingly funny portrait of Hollywood power brokers and their sexualhangups. All of the Big Players get their lumps: the Big Studio Head,the Pretentious Director, the Stoned Writer, the Ambitious Starlet,etc. The real strength of the novel is that Southern manages tohumanize his caricatures, thus rendering his satiric bite even morevicious. (Ya gotta love Sid Krassman --- truly a crass man.) Those whobelieve in the V-chip and warning labels on rock albums should stayaway, but for those who like a read on the wild side, BLUE MOVIE willleave you in more stitches than DeNiro as Frankenstein's monster.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outrageous, Irreverent Fun, March 15, 2002

By	Craig Clarke (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This was my third trip through Terry Southern's version of Hollywood, and I rarely reread. This is one hilarious novel. Funny, erotic, surreal, offensive, all the things a good book should be.

The main premise of the book is simple: what if Hollywood's greatest director decided to make a high-budget porn film. Good actors, good lighting, good writer, good director (of course), everything missing from garden-variety smut.

They are able to secure funding and Southern takes us through every step of the filming process. Casting, all the behind the scenes politics, rewrites, and especially the shooting.

Southern writes explicitly of all the action that is to take place on screen. So, if you are offended by explicit descriptions of varied sex acts, then this book is not for you. Everyone on this film is obsessed by sex, and there is as much going on off screen as there is on.

If that were all this book had to offer, I would say skip it, but Terry Southern is a man who can write. This may be smut on the surface, but underneath, it's literature. He knows when euphemism will work better than directness, and when to "cut away" from a scene--when enough is enough.

So, if you are interested in what happens during the making of a film--of any kind--then read this book. If you are interested in good writing, then read this book. And, especially, if you want to have a good, rollicking time, then read this book.