A review by trilbynorton
Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops by Tim Robey

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

A great little book that charts the history of Hollywood, not through the masterpieces we all know, but the bombs we often don't. Starts right at the beginning with D. W. Griffith's unwieldly Intolerance (1916) and goes all the way up to the nightmare that is Cats (2019). They're not all duds; along the way, Robey looks at some of my favourites, including Sorcerer (1977), Synecdoche, New York (2008), and Speed Racer (2008). The pace is breakneck, with sections being short and snappy. For the most part it works - who wants to read more than a few pages about Gigli (2003)? - but it would have been nice to have some more detail on some of the films mentioned.