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John Wight
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Dreams That Die: Misadventures in Hollywood Paperback – 16 Jan. 2013

by John Wight (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
A young man arrives in Hollywood from Scotland looking to scale the heights as a screenwriter. He embarks on a series of adventures and misadventures as he encounters a succession of the weird, wonderful and downright wacky. To get by he works as an extra on sitcoms like Friends and Frasier, dramas such as ER and CSI, and some big budget movies. He then finds himself being selected to work as Ben Affleck's double. In between times he attends celebrity parties, functions and works in some of Hollywood's most exclusive bars and nightclubs. Our narrator joins the antiwar movement after 9/11 and commits himself with his new found comrades to halting Bush's drive to war in Iraq. He throws himself into organising demos, meetings and campaigning to stop the war. Soon he's leading a double life - by day working on a big budget movie as a double for one of Hollywood's biggest stars; by night engrossed in radical politics.
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  1. Print length
    209 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Zero Books
  4. Publication date
    16 Jan. 2013
  5. Dimensions
    14.07 x 1.22 x 21.95 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    184694712X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846947124
  8. See all details
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Product description

About the Author

John Wight writes fiction and non fiction. Most of his non fiction can be found at the Huffington Post and Socialist Unity, where he blogs on everything from domestic and international politics to culture and sport. He also writes regularly for the Morning Star.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zero Books; Reprint edition (16 Jan. 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 209 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184694712X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846947124
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.07 x 1.22 x 21.95 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

About the author

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John Wight

John Wight

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History never really says goodbye, History says, 'See you later.'

Eduardo Galeano

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
21 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Michael Keller
5.0 out of 5 stars you feel like the author is sitting besides you telling story after ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 April 2015
Entertaining and true account of a Scottish screenwriter's foray into Hollywood. When reading, you feel like the author is sitting besides you telling story after story, some funny, some painful. Much of the book is written during the time of Operation Desert Storm, Wight manages to weave his political views and his work with A-list actors in an engaging and amusing way. More depth than most Hollywood tales, more entertaining than most Op-eds. Well done!
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Paul O'Hanlon
4.0 out of 5 stars A very readable book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 April 2017
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A very readable book. It shows how hard it is to make a name for yourself in the cut throat competition that is Hollywood.
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Jack
4.0 out of 5 stars Dreams that die written by John Wight
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2013
An interesting insight into an ambitious man's aspirations to "make it" in Hollywood as a screen writer. A thought provoking novel it highlighted the inequalities and obstacles the writer met as a talented young working man without the wealthy contacts required to succeed in tinsel-town. Just trying to survive the writer had to take jobs and associate with people he would never have contemplated in his native Scotland. This book is a page turner tinged with humour, drama and a good political analysis of the anti-war movement and in particular America's involvement in Iraq.
One person found this helpful
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Ronnie
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for film students and fans
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 April 2013
John Wight's Hollywood dreams may be dead but his writing really comes alive in this memoir, autobiographical, insightful and just a jolly good read. Laughs, descriptive majesty and a severe poke in the unconditioned underbelly of Hollywood. And if Ben Affleck sues John then this will be a bestseller. Highly recommended.
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Steve Osbourne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2013
Really enjoyed this book about the struggles of an essentially normal guy in a crazy world where his sense of values is constantly challenged. He describes brilliantly the tough reality of the glamourous image that is Hollywood and latterly the dilemna of his true beliefs battling against his desire for apparent success. I thoroughly recommend.
One person found this helpful
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Andy
5.0 out of 5 stars A Cracking Book that would make a great film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2013
A cracking book. Well written, with a strong prose style. Wight's skill is evidenced by his ability to make the book both accessible and easily readable, but also satisfying as serious literary work. Wight's descriptions of life in Hollywood will delight, especially as he punctuates with moments of bathos, that illustrate the frail vanity, ruthless ambition, cruelty and delusion that the whole edifice of dreams is built upon.

The parallel story of Wight's involvment with the anti-war movement after 2011 provides a fascinating contrast to the Hollywood circus, with characters and intrigues equal to anything in the movie industry.
4 people found this helpful
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dougers
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2013
I really enjoyed this book....some thought provoking stuff and a right good few chuckles as well. I could see this being a movie...has that feel...good luck to John Wight..interesting and a bit different..far from the all to common bland material around.
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mike oneill
5.0 out of 5 stars great book. great laughs
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 March 2013
In a town where everyone wants to be a star.the writer tells you what its really like .he captures it brilliantly with some laughs along the way .you won't be disappointed with this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

Joe
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be mandatory reading if you have the same dreams
Reviewed in the United States on 27 November 2023
Verified Purchase
This may be the best book ever written on what it’s like to go to Hollywood and try to make it on your own with no support. Wight moved from Scotland to LA with no agent or manager representing him and tried to do what everyone already there tries to do: sell a screenplay. He wasn’t an actor or director. Just a writer. His story is extremely typical.
So, what is the first thing he does? What everybody does—gets a survival job. Wight gets as job doing security at a hip LA hotel. He makes just enough to afford a fleabag apartment and an old car. His story starts out exactly like everyone else’s.
He gets a series of security jobs and then gets jobs doing extra work. He lucks out and meets the right person and gets to be Ben Affleck’s stand-in on Surviving Christmas, a truly awful movie. He despises Affleck even though he never meets him. The big star has an entourage around him all the time and Wight is told Affleck likes to have a “professional relationship” with his stand-ins. Meaning? He doesn’t want to talk to you. He doesn’t even want to say hello every day.
Wight makes a miscalculation here. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge that in 2003 when this film was being shot, Affleck had already won an Academy Award so…you have to guess he was already full of himself.
The other big star of the film, James Gandolfini? He describes him as a prince of a guy to was friendly and warm to everyone on the set.
But Wight finds all the extra work and standing-in humiliating and soul crushing and, after awhile, he just can’t do it. A little potential interest in a script he wrote keeps him going.
Wight also goes through things that are NOT typical of a novice in Hollywood. A beautiful, rich woman “kidnaps” him for awhile and he stays with her. Al Pacino kicks him off another bad movie for waving at him. And, he has a habit of punching people who disrespect him no matter who they are.
The book makes a left turn for awhile as 9/11 happens while he is here and he becomes a rabid anti-war activist attending and organizing demonstrations and meetings.
Other than that, this book should be mandatory reading for anyone trying to make it in Hollywood. This is what you’re in for.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read.
Reviewed in Canada on 3 September 2017
Verified Purchase
A good read...but I wonder why did he ever decide to go to Hollywood? What did he expect there? The US is a very depressing country and Hollywood is its worst part and that is what he learned.
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Douglas Doepke
5.0 out of 5 stars A Trip Through Dreamland
Reviewed in the United States on 2 June 2015
Verified Purchase
Highly readable account of one man’s struggle for a foothold in field-of-dreams Hollywood. His eyes are on the stars of selling a screenplay, while his feet are stuck in lowly security guard duties. He barely makes a living, even as an extra in film productions. As another reviewer notes, the text reads as if you’re right along with him, from one demeaning job to another. He pulls no punches in relating the blows to self-esteem. And guess what, filmland comes across as a heartlessly cruel ladder where everybody’s out for number one and only number one. In short, Darwin reigns. No wonder the author is drawn to radical politics in what becomes a crisis of conscience that mirrors much of our national dilemma. On the downside is a sometimes repetitive text, especially when taking shots at tinsel town’s downside. Also the text is rather poorly proofread—e.g. using ‘principle’ instead of ‘principal’ as in ‘principle players’. Also some paragraphs are split in a sentence’s middle. But these are minor flaws in what remains a fascinating read. And, oh yes, there is some name-dropping, but don’t expect anything like a gossip fest, just one man’s personal journey down America’s fabled dreamland.
8 people found this helpful
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Michael Keller
5.0 out of 5 stars you feel like the author is sitting besides you telling story after ...
Reviewed in the United States on 20 April 2015
Verified Purchase
Entertaining and true account of a Scottish screenwriter's foray into Hollywood. When reading, you feel like the author is sitting besides you telling story after story, some funny, some painful. Much of the book is written during the time of Operation Desert Storm, Wight manages to weave his political views and his work with A-list actors in an engaging and amusing way. More depth than most Hollywood tales, more entertaining than most Op-eds. Well done!
7 people found this helpful
 Report