The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

by Loren D. Estleman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
From the author of the swashbuckling Billy Gashade comes this curiously fragmented story comprising anecdotal episodes from the pioneer days of Hollywood. The narrative unfolds in a series of long flashbacks to the year 1913 between flickering cuts to the future. Highlights include Valentino's funeral in 1926; a huge 1927 dinner party of luminaries (Louis B. Mayer, Gary Cooper, Gloria Swanson, the Barrymores and GishesAGarbo sent regrets) at Hearst's San Simeon estate; the 1930 premiere of Hell's Angels; and a nostalgic segment reuniting the protagonists in 1948. At the earthbound heart of this intricately detailed story is Dmitri Andreivitch Pulski, an aspiring writer whose pen name is Tom Boston and who hopes to escape his fate as heir to the family ice-cutting business in Northern California. Sent to L.A. in 1913 to investigate the credit of the Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association, a company that has just submitted the largest single order of ice in the company's history, young Dmitri finds himself caught up in the adventures of a fiery young Mexican ex-prostitute and a hardware clerk turned intrepid moviemaker who moved from the East Coast to evade unjust accusations of retainer, Yuri, the ice cutter helps the filmmakers take on crooked politicos and their hired thugs, and all ends well. While not nearly up to his best, Estleman's charming take on Hollywood history, balancing its glitzy and tawdry details, tells a satisfying story.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Estleman, the ace crime writer lately turned historical novelist (Billy Gashade, Forge, 1997) sets his sights on the pre-Hollywood Hollywood of 1913, where the gutsy movie company of the title has fled to grind out silent Westerns, hoping to evade the deadly Edison Trust's East Coast muscle, which they don't for long. The time and typography are woefully well known and the characters are all familiar, but Estleman proves his grit by making his oft-told tale engaging, if ephemeral. This is an excellent writer marking time between excellent books.ADavid Bartholomew, NYPL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (July 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812541545
• ISBN-13: 978-0812541540
• Product Dimensions: 15.7 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,872,708 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, well-plotted tale of Hollywood's past, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association: A Novel (Hardcover)

The historical implications of why the movies went to L.A., and what the days of silent moving pictures were like, is enough to pick up this book. Plus it's a darn good yarn.

4.0 out of 5 stars No-fat dialogue and high-impact plot; no James Michener here!, September 9, 2008

By	Todd Stockslager (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Typically crisp no-fat dialogue and high-impact plot, but a cut below classic because of a much-too-abrupt ending. It feels as if Estleman was writing to a word limit and stopped when he hit it.

Rocky Mountain is the one of the pioneer companies in the fledgling movie industry in the teens of the 20th century, struggling for legal independence from the Thomas Edison patents and financial independence from creditors everywhere. Estleman weaves in historical characters and events without becoming bogged down in either fictionalized history or history-lecture fiction. Rather, he uses the historical touch points as the foundation for a time-worthy plot and fun, memorable characters.

No James Michener here; given a thousand pages, I think Estleman could cover the entire history of the world with the fast-pace of a hard-boiled detective novel.

4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing great, but an enjoyable read nonetheless , May 26, 2007

By	C. Elgin "akitonmyers" (Palo Alto CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Loren Estleman's book 'The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association' misses quite a bit. Estleman gives the reader everything you would expect to find in a quaint mystery/thriller, but the story still left me feeling like it had not delivered the goods.

On the other hand, Estleman obviously enjoyed writing this book. The prose sparkles with a positive glow, and the descriptions of early Hollywood come across as a love letter to the past. Tom Boston is the protagonist here. The book starts off well, describing Boston's journey in finding his earlier self as he travels from his youth and a job at his fathers ice house to his early adult hood and a job writing for the silent films. I would have been very happy just reading this, but Estleman complicates the story by adding flash-forwards every chapter or two, where some character that we assume is Tom, wanders about in the years after the unfolding of the main story. I found these interruptions unneeded and in the way. Also, Towards the end is a Carl Hiaason stylized show down between Tom's picture company and the gang of hired Pinkerton's working for Thomas Eddison.

This book was good in that I never felt the need to skip ahead because the story was lagging. That, the descriptions, and the nice style of writing kept me holding on for the duration. However at the conclusion, I sort of felt let down, feeling that Estleman had left out many more interesting scenes that could have occured.