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Last Night at the Viper Room
Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind | Gavin Edwards
15 posts | 25 read | 51 to read
Hollywood was built on beautiful and complicated matinee idols: James Dean and Marlon Brando are classic examples, but in the 1990s, the actor who embodied that archetype was River Phoenix. As the brightly colored 1980s wound down, a new crew of leading men began to appear on movie screens. Hailed for their acting prowess and admired for choosing meaty roles, actors such as Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Keanu Reeves, and Brad Pitt were soon rocketing toward stardom while an unknown Leonardo DiCaprio prepared to make his acting debut. River Phoenix, however, stood in front of the pack. Blessed with natural talent and fueled by integrity, Phoenix was admired by his peers and adored by his fans. More than just a pinup on teenage girls' walls, Phoenix was also a fervent defender of the environment and a vocal proponent of a vegan lifestyle--well on his way to becoming a symbol of his generation. At age eighteen, he received his first Oscar nomination. But behind his beautiful public face, there was a young man who had been raised in a cult by nonconformist parents, who was burdened with supporting his family from a young age, and who eventually succumbed to addiction, escaping into a maelstrom of drink and drugs. And then he was gone. After a dozen films, including Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho, and with a seemingly limitless future, River Phoenix died of a drug overdose. He was twenty-three years old. In Last Night at the Viper Room, bestselling author and journalist Gavin Edwards toggles between the tragic events at the Viper Room in West Hollywood on Halloween 1993 and the story of an extraordinary life. Last Night at the Viper Room is part biography, part cultural history of the 1990s, and part celebration of River Phoenix, a Hollywood icon gone too soon. Full of interviews from his fellow actors, directors, friends, and family, Last Night at the Viper Room shows the role he played in creating the place of the actor in our modern culture and the impact his work still makes today.
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Michellesibs
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Pickpick

Like many who die young River fitted a ton into his short life.

I liked how the book would focus in on River for a few chapters then focus out onto Keanu Reeves, Johnny Deep. Christian Slater and Leonardo DiCaprio to put into context what was also happening in Hollywood at the same time.

An extraordinary life, full of light and corners darker than we will ever know. A complicated and contradictory mind. A human, fully flawed and full of love.

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DarkMina
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Pickpick

178 of 2021. I was a teenager when River died. I. learned a lot I didn‘t know about him in this book. His parents and Hollywood destroyed him. ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

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rather_be_reading
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Book 209

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OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

I was only a teenager when River died & remember exactly how I felt hearing about it. I felt I learned a lot from reading this, the chapters are very short & jump around quite a bit but it's not a bad read. There's plenty of information about the central, and some more peripheral, figures in River's life. All so very tragic. 3.5🌟

First book finished during #20in4 @andrew65

Chrissyreadit This was such a loss. I remember too. 3y
OutsmartYourShelf @Chrissyreadit 💔 It was the first celebrity death I remember of someone from my generation. 3y
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 3y
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AudiobookingWithLeah
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Pickpick

I found myself fully engaged in this...Luke Daniels did a phenomenal job with the narration. He can do a wide range of voices really well. Chronically his life from just before he was born up until his death at the age of 23 outside the infamous Viper Room. Filled with both humor and sadness plus little bits of information about the many actors and musicians that he worked with or might have worked with if he wasn't taken too soon.

Megabooks Totally agree! 3y
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Cinfhen
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#AyUpAugust Most of Hollywood‘s young celebrities seem to be a case for #TooMuchTooYoung and( Too Soon) 😬Fame is a double edged sword 😔Out of all the high profile over dose cases, something about River Phoenix dying so visibly and publicly outside on the streets of Hollywood just broke my heart💔This book is on my #TBR

KathyWheeler It broke my heart too. I always thought he had such a bright future. 5y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Very sad. Tragic for Joaquin. I‘m pretty sure I‘ve read he was with him. 5y
Megabooks I enjoyed it, but it was heartbreaking. 5y
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Cinfhen I think you‘re right @JanuarieTimewalker13 River Phoenix and Heath Ledger were the two that really made me sad @KathyWheeler although every loss of life is tragic but those two seemed truly gifted. You did audio right @Megabooks and you said it was a wonky narrator?!!!? Right!?!? 5y
Megabooks @Cinfhen Just double checked, narrator‘s is good. You‘re cleared for audio! 🎧👍🏻 5y
squirrelbrain Sounds like a fascinating read- another one joins the stack! ❤️ 5y
mrp27 One of my favorite bookstores in Hollywood on Sunset, Book Soup, is just a couple doors down from the Viper Room. I think of him every time I go. 5y
Cinfhen It‘s like sacred ground @mrp27 😭😩such a sad ending to such a promising life. I‘m gonna see if Hoopla has any copies @Megabooks 🤞🏽 5y
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LiterRohde
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“River smiled at his tormentors and told them, ‘If you want to kick my ass, go ahead. Just explain to me why you're doing it.‘

After a confused pause, one of the skinheads said, ‘Ah, you wouldn't be worth it.‘

‘We're all worth it, man,‘ River said with a beatific smile. ‘We're all worth millions of planets and stars and galaxies and universes.‘”

#QuotsyJuly19 | 5: #River

📷: Made with Typorama

gradcat This sounds really good. Think I will stack it—thank you! 📚 🙏 ♥️ 5y
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kaysworld1
Pickpick

That was actually a lot better than expected. River's life was a mixture and heartbreaking I just hope his family carried on he left so many people broken and hurting my heart goes out to Joaquin phoenix he was always my favourite.
#readingmyownbooks #reading

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kaysworld1
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Well I'm 60 pages in and it's interesting but has kept me engaged to read it.
I'm in this now!! Before I started this I never new about phoenix River maybe it was before my time.
Do you remember him?

#readmyownbooks #celebritydeaths #currentlyreading

Eggs Definitely remember him. Stand By Me 5y
Lauram River Phoenix was dreamy. When I was younger, loved his movie Running on Empty. 5y
rretzler I remember River. He was fantastic in My Own Private Idaho (1991) with Keanu Reeves 5y
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kaysworld1 @rretzler that's the one I'm planning on watching soon. 5y
rretzler I haven‘t seen it since 1991, but from what I remember it was a very powerful movie. I may have to rewatch it 5y
gradcat I remember him, too...he really was gorgeous—inside and out. 5y
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Boooooks
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Ok so I finished this one a week ago and have tried to write something on here a couple of times but just really struggled with it. It gave an amazing insight into River‘s life and though I rated it 5 stars I can‘t say I really enjoyed it, I can‘t even explain how sad I was during the reading of this and for days after. ⭐️pro tip- if ur sad after reading this don‘t watch My Own Private Idaho straight afterwards unless u enjoy being a crying mess.

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Boooooks
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Can‘t wait to get to this one!!

Megabooks I really liked it. I felt I had a much better understanding of River at the end. 6y
Boooooks @Megabooks yeah I‘m hoping to get the same out of it I just started it 🤞 6y
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Megabooks
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4🌟Story 2🌟Narration There's a lot I didn't know about River Phoenix. This book is detailed, but not long or meandering. The author puts River's life in the context of his contemporaries as well. I didn't realize River had grown up in a cult that encouraged incest and child sex. I also didn't know that he didn't intentionally take what killed him. Definitely worth reading, but the subpar narration bogs down the #audiobook #nonfictionnovember

emilygatlin I've had this in my TBR foreverrrrrrr... 7y
ValerieAndBooks I remember when he was on the cover of Vegetarian Times (my parents gave me a gift subscription that year) and the article that accompanied it -- focusing on how they were a big happy family. Joaquin was going by Leaf at that time. No hint of drugs or cults. Seems like a an interesting book. 7y
LitHousewife I'll be sure to read this in print. 7y
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Megabooks @emilygatlin Pull it out and read it! @ValerieAndBooks It is. There were a lot of parts of him that are hard to reconcile. The author respected him enough to talk about all of his life, including his family's veganism. The author was also respectable enough not to take the easy way and blame all of River's problems on his upbringing. And he called the family by their ever-evolving names, which was interesting too! 7y
Megabooks @LitHousewife I've found that most books are as good or better in audio. This is not one of them. Stay away from the bad celebrity "impersonations". ❤️Meg ?? 7y
LitHousewife @Ebooksandcooks Words to live by!!!! 7y
AudiobookingWithLeah I see that you didn't like the narration...at first, I was put off by it at first but I ended up really liking it. It's crazy how different people's experiences with narration can be. 3y
Megabooks @AUDIOBOOKINGWITHLEAH it must not have been that bad because usually I remember the worst narrations. But the book was really interesting. I was a young teen when River died, and I just remember being so sad. 3y
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Megabooks
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The narration of this book is kind of odd. The narrator talks in a booming voice reading the journalistic parts then does the same strange male and female voices for the quotes. It comes off very unnatural.

Also the sequencing is weird. It's mostly chronological, but there are weird flash forwards and backwards in his life based on his movie roles.

LitHousewife I've not listened to that narrator before. It's unfortunate that the narration doesn't set right for that book. 7y
Megabooks @LitHousewife It's super weird. The celebrity "impersonations" don't sound anything like the actors. And sometimes the volume of the impersonations are so much quieter, the volume control is difficult. 7y
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NatalieR
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Pickpick

Such a tragic loss with the senseless death of River Phoenix. This book honors his life and accomplishments. Lots of interesting information about the celebrities he worked with and socialized. People were lucky to have known him. Such a sweet, giving, and conscientious person.

Gayan I enjoyed this book so much. It really gave a lot of insight on how he grew up. 8y
kristina_with_a_k This book broke my heart. He was a tremendous talent gone too soon. I was very surprised at how "uneducated" he was, yet he was wise eying his years. #RIPRiver 8y
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NatalieR
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#augustphotochallenge In the summer, I love reading and relaxing in the screened porch. The love seat and rocking chair are great for reading and the hammock is perfect for napping. There's also a calming view of the country side.

DebinHawaii What a great spot! 👍 8y
Chessa Lovely! 8y
RealLifeReading A rocking chair and a hammock? How do you choose?! 😍 8y
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LauraBeth This is gorgeous ❤️ 8y
Vblancsbooks Aww so nice! How you liking the book? I felt super like depressed after, what a life wasted.... 8y
britt_brooke Nice!! 8y
NatalieR @RealLifeReading Lots of time alternating! 😄 8y
NatalieR @Vblancsbooks Thanks! I like the book. It is depressing. And interesting to learn about his early years and celebs he worked with. 8y
CherylDeFranceschi So awesome! 8y
Coleen That looks heavenly.... 8y
kristina_with_a_k That was such a sad book. So much potential gone too soon. 8y
NatalieR @Coleen Thank you! 8y
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