Clint Redux!

 

"Clint Eastwood Turned Down Gregory Peck Movie Role for a Script 'That Had at Least Some Merit'"

Okay, clearly CONVERSATIONS WITH CLINT is the official go-to source for Showbiz Cheatsheet (cheatsheet.com) when it comes to Clint Eastwood circa the Sixties and Seventies. 

Clint!

 

"Clint Eastwood First Met Oscar-Nominated Director

by Saving His Horses"

Not that I don't appreciate the mention of my book, but... What was this, a slow news day? (This piece is timely, however, as today Turner Classic Movies is in the midst of twenty-four hours of Eastwood films, as part of their "Summer Under the Stars" celebration.)

Conversations with Clint

I finally received my copies of the Chinese translation of Conversations with Clint. One nice surprise was the addition of an array of well-chosen movie stills--not only of Eastwood, but from the non-Eastwood films he discussed with Paul Nelson. Another surprise was, thanks to a friend who is fluent in Chinese, learning that the title of the translation is Aged Ginger Is More Pungent. 

The Chinese translation of Conversations with Clint can be ordered here. 

Clint: 60 Years in Film

To commemorate "Clint Eastwood: 60 years in Film," Friday's Telegraph in the UK quoted Eastwood from Conversations with Clint.

克林特・伊斯特伍德

I received word today that Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson's Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979 to 1983 is going to be translated into Chinese.

*Chair not included. 

Todd McCarthy

Several very talented people took time out of their busy schedules to provide Everything Is an Afterthought and Conversations with Clint with some lovely advance praise. We were able to use all of the blurbs--with the exception of one, which unfortunately arrived just a tad too late.

My apologies to Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who had this to say about Conversations with Clint:

"Paul Nelson's resurrected 'lost' interviews represent deep-dish Clint. Nelson recognized the magnitude of the actor-director's talents earlier than most--Eastwood had only made it up to Sudden Impact in 1983 by the time of the final interview--and they clearly had an easy rapport. The result sees the star opening up on his early struggles, how he learned from observing on Rawhide, his close collaborations with Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, money, politics, celebrity, and why he prefers early Bergman and Kurosawa to their later films. Clint has given many interviews, but this is one of his best, definitely of great interest to anyone who takes his work seriously."

Thanks, Todd.

Book Trailer

Jeff Wong, who's responsible for the terrific illustrations of Paul Nelson that grace the covers of both of my books, demonstrated that he's just as talented in the video medium and put together this nifty book trailer for Conversations with Clint.

Los Angeles Review of Books

Today's lead article in the Los Angeles Review of Books features Jonathan Lethem's foreword to Conversations with Clint, along with two excerpts from Paul Nelson's interviews with Clint Eastwood.

Who could ask for a better shared byline?

Elvis Mitchell

This just in from film critic Elvis Mitchell, host of KCRW's The Treatment:

“I found that Conversations with Clint is invaluable reading, not just because it’s a uniquely in-depth series of interviews with someone who always had a sense of himself as an enduring figure. It also takes us inside the head of Paul Nelson—the interviewer himself—whose states of mind complete the story. The best interviews have always been two-sided—a conversation—and Conversations is just that: a compelling look at an extended eyeball-to-eyeball encounter, complete with blinks and flinches.”

Blurbs

Arguably one of the most enjoyable parts of the publishing process is receiving blurbs for your book. Aside from the contract with the publisher and notes from the editor, these mini-reviews are the first real responses you receive regarding your book's worthiness. And because blurbs (usually) come from individuals whose work you admire, they carry a lot of weight, both emotionally and intellectually.

Beginning with Neil Strauss, Everything Is an Afterthought's blurbers have been very kind. Though they're not all posted yet, you can check them out by clicking first on the book cover at kevinavery.com and then on the "More Praise" link. Conversations with Clint has only one posted blurb thus far, from the great critic Andrew Sarris. To read it, simply click on the book cover and follow the "Praise for Clint" link.

Yesterday we received the book's second blurb. This one came from Paul Nelson's old friend, the singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy, who resides in Paris, France.

It's fitting that this book's first two blurbs should come from Sarris and Murphy. Paul idolized Sarris and often referred to his criticism (especially the book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929 - 1968) in his own work. And in 1973, Paul discovered Murphy and tried to sign him to Mercury Records. His Rolling Stone reviews of Murphy's first two albums are the most glowing notices an artist could ever hope to receive.

Here's what Elliott had to say about Conversations with Clint:

"Paul Nelson was the first serious film aficionado who, way back in the early 70s, turned me on to the importance of Clint Eastwood as an actor, filmmaker and American icon. He showed me the S&W Magnum .44 he kept under a pile of sweaters in his closet. ‘Same as Dirty Harry,’ he said, explaining that if he was going to write about men with guns he had to know how it felt in his hand. We were both devoted to F. Scott Fitzgerald and hoping that Clint Eastwood would play Gatsby in the upcoming film, which, of course, he didn't.

"The repartee between these two straight shooters is more revealing of the inner workings of Hollywood and the creative process of Clint Eastwood than anything I've ever read before."

The Clint Eastwood Archive

Darren Allison over at The Clint Eastwood Archive has been a good friend to the Conversations with Clint project, first getting the word out about it last September, then again today. He even provides a plug for Everything Is an Afterthought. Thanks, Darren.

Welcome to kevinavery.com

In the coming months, this site will count down the publication of my first two books, Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson and Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson's Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood. The first book took me four years to research and write, whereas the second one took a little less than a year. Thanks to the vagaries of publishing, it appears that the second book is going to be published before the first.

Because the fine writer Paul Nelson is at the heart of both of them, he'll undoubtedly be a frequent topic of conversation here. Over thirty-five years have passed since I first read his work, and my goal remains the same as it did from the inception of book one: to reintroduce his writing to the culture and make sure it stays there.

"You can't research to get a book," Robert Penn Warren wrote. "You stumble on it, or hope to. Maybe you will, if you live right."

I must live right because it's happened twice in a row.