“What if they Lived?” is written with such an impression of profundity and grace that it’s hard to imagine it being anything other then such an eloquent piece of speculative non-fiction. “What if They Lived?” is a lengthy tome of work that could have very well been exploitative nonsense as if drummed by the hackiest writers South of TMZ, but with two genuine movie lovers at the helm, “What if they Lived?” results in a four hundred page oath to the rising talent and quickly destroyed stars that were taken from us much too soon. From Jean Harlow, to James Dean, right down to Brandon and Bruce Lee, “What if they Lived?” speaks with experts and historians and examines a life had these talented thespians and ingénues been given just a little more time to shine on and explore their career options rather than fade away in to a sad and often tragic demise.
One of the chapters I skipped to immediately was Brandon Lee a man capable of hitting all of the high notes his father Bruce Lee once did, and while the one real caveat within this chapter is not exactly pin pointing all of the roles he had impending (including a role in “Mortal Kombat” and an inevitable running for a key role in “The Matrix”), we’re able to see much of what he had optioned and what he was capable of.
I was most elated when I was able to get my hands on author Shade Rupe’s lengthy compendium of peeks in to the sub-cultural icons we know as cult figures today. Though all of the individuals in Rupe’s book are prolific and iconic, they don’t nearly garner as much attention as they deserve to. While many would be quick to pass this off as a book filled with interviews, the truth is “Dark Stars Rising” is a compilation of mini-biographies for stars, or people we consider stars, that deserve a spotlight. While author Rupe could have easily passed off lazy articles for a non-fiction book, all of the chapters profiling Rupe’s subjects are comprehensive to a startling degree, painfully honest and blunt, and stand as mini-biographical in-depth explorations in to the many cult stars Rupe is lucky and determined enough to interview and admire with professionalism.
I wish “Archetypes for Writers” could have been a much better book, instructive it may be. For all its interesting tidbits about getting to understand your character, and stripping down their personalities, it also manages to truly delve into endless exposition into Arkelogy, and archetypes, and constructing practices about archetypes, and the like.