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American Dream Machine

American Dream Machine

Author(s): Matthew Specktor

Location(s): Hollywood, Los Angeles

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): 1960s, 1970s

Location

Content

Beau Rosenwald – overweight, not particularly handsome, and improbably charismatic – arrives in Los Angles in 1962 with nothing but an ill-fitting suit and a pair of expensive brogues. By the late 1970s he has helped found the most successful agency in Hollywood.

Through the eyes of his son, we watch Beau and his partner go to war, waging a seismic battle that redraws the lines of an entire industry. We watch Beau rise and fall and rise again, in accordance with the cultural transformations that dictate the fickle world of movies. We watch Beau’s partner, the enigmatic and cerebral Williams Farquarsen, struggle to contain himself, to control his impulses and consolidate his power. And we watch two generations of men fumble and thrive across the LA landscape, learning for themselves the shadows and costs exacted by success and failure.

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Book Reviews

Lead Review

American Dream Machine skips along easily, which is impressive considering the brilliant and wacky details that Specktor has packed in. Most of the movie stars are fictional, but there are cameos from the likes...

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