I have to fervently echo Johnny Depp’s view when I say “I loved this book!â€. It is absolutely brilliant. I knew nothing about “Fatty†Arbuckle yet found myself utterly engrossed with this story from the very start. Written as though Fatty himself is telling you his story, the character comes to life and his no-holds-barred storytelling style captures you from the word go. He can be heart-wrenchingly touching, pungently witty, darkly sarcastic and downright hilarious. While the book offers a fascinating insight into the 1920s Hollywood scene – the drugs, the parties, the movie politics, the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton – it is ultimately a superbly human and absorbing tribute to the man behind the fat-suit.
Abandoned as a boy in Kansas, Fatty Arbuckle found adulation in Hollywood in the early days of cinema. During his heyday he was more popular than Charlie Chaplin and became the first screen actor to make a million dollars a year. But in 1921 Fatty was accused of the rape and murder of an actress he had met in San Francisco. Although he was later acquitted, the virulent press speculation Arbuckle received destroyed his career.
I Fatty imagines Arbuckle taking centre stage to recount his life story – from humble beginnings to dramatic downfall, and the result is an utterly compelling, highly original and beautifully written novel which deserves the widest possible audience.
‘Finally, the true skinny on Fatty. Jerry Stahl brilliantly gives life, voice, truth, and respect to Roscoe Arbuckle, redeeming the unjustly tarnished memory of a wildly great talent and a great wild man… I LOVE THIS BOOK!’ Johnny Depp
‘Jerry Stahl is the American hipster bard’ James Ellroy
‘Wisecracking, poignant and frequently hilarious, the voice never cracks’ The Independent
‘Stahl’s book bears all the contemporary backdrop of the cases against Phil Spector, Jackson and O.J. Simpson’ The Times
Author
About Jerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl is the author of the best-selling memoir Permanent Midnight and the novels: Pery – A Love Story and Plainclothes Naked. His fiction and non-fiction have been anthologized widely and featured in a variety of magazines from Esquire to Playboy. He has also written extensively for film and television, most recently for the popular TV crime drama CSI. He has one daughter and lives in Los Angeles.
Abandoned as a boy in Kansas, Fatty Arbuckle found adulation in Hollywood in the early days of cinema. During his heyday he was more popular than Charlie Chaplin and became the first screen actor to make a million dollars a year. But in 1921 Fatty was accused of the rape and murder of an actress he had met in San Francisco. Although he was later acquitted, the virulent press speculation Arbuckle received destroyed his career.
I Fatty imagines Arbuckle taking centre stage to recount his life story – from humble beginnings to dramatic downfall, and the result is an utterly compelling, highly original and beautifully written novel which deserves the widest possible audience.
I, Fatty features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Biographies & Autobiographies, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, General Fiction, Recommendations
I, Fatty is available in Paperback (b Format)
I, Fatty was written by Jerry Stahl and published by Allison & Busby
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