Monday, January 30, 2017

Last Night At The Viper Room: River Phoenix And The Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards

Last Night At The Viper Room: River Phoenix And The Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards, 273 pages

I liked the previous book I had read by Gavin Edwards so I looked in to other books he had written and was surprised that he had written this biography on River Phoenix.  I had heard of this book before and thought it had received good reviews.  Having only seen a few of his movies, I decided to read more about the troubled life of River Phoenix and what may have lead to that tragic overdose in front of that favorite celebrity hangout, The Viper Room, which at the time was owned by Johnny Depp.

What I read was the life of a troubled child born to hippy parents in the early 1970s.  River's parents traveled throughout the west coast of the United States and Florida, even ending up in Venezuela with his family working as missionaries.  The family eventually ended up back in Florida.  River was active in the music seen as well as becoming a young movie star.  One of his break out rolls was in the coming of age movie Stand By Me.  River went on to make many movies.  Many I had not heard of before.  I had seen the movie Sneakers with River Phoenix and Robert Redford.  River was a lost soul who was never able to find himself fitting into the early 1990s Hollywood seen.  River Phoenix died outside the Viper Room on October 31st, 1993, at the age of only 23.


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