Thursday 3 November 2011

Swoon Now! Hellraisers

 

Not the Pin-Head kind but loveable rogues Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed.  Billed as 'a Christmas Carol for the wannabe hellraiser', Hellraisers (Self Made Hero) is a biography with a difference.  It begins with your average run-of-the-mill drunk - Martin - who is visited by the ghosts of  those aforementioned actors.  Each one takes a turn at recounting the story of their life with the booze. 

Although I can't help wondering what the subjects of the book would have thought of having their stories turned into a tale of cautionary finger-wagging, the structure turns out to be a great way of tip-toeing in and out of the highlights of their lives and all with a wry, misty-eyed smile.  The art by JAKe has a curious muddy quality to it but the caricatures are all excellent and it's easy to spot the cameos from the likes of Russell Crowe to Steve McQueen.

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