John Belushi Book:

Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times Of John Belushi Reviews:
Hot Wired
2009-09-28 - Bob Woodward went off the deep end with John Belushi.
We all know John went down Big Time with the drugs,
but there must have been some Good Times, too.Wired The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi

Good product for the price paid
2008-09-06 - Great book...wanted to read it for a while. Nice price and good quality from the seller.

Such a tragic waste
2008-07-18 - Friends and colleagues of the late John Belushi were universally critical of this biography upon its initial release. Their efforts to denigrate Bob Woodward's account of the sudden rise, popular success and early death of Belushi was unsparing in detailing his addiction to drugs and alcohol and far too accurate for their tastes.

Belushi perfected his comedic skills with the Second City troupe and went on to acclaim as one of the original cast members on "Saturday Night Live." A low budget film about a college fraternity proved to be his comedic masterpiece. I recall a professor opining that hordes of unqualified high school seniors all wanted to attend college or university solely on the strength of having seen "Animal House."

Belushi made several more films, but none ever equalled the success of "Animal House." A few were multimillion dollar flops. The actor developed an insatiable appetite for drugs. He died after being injected with a lethal overdose in a Hollywood hotel by another junkie.

This is a thoroughly depressing account of the rapid downward spiral of an addict. To paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer of Faber College, "Fat, drugged and stupid is no way to go through life son."

This is not a sentimental biography. This is Hollywood at its worst.



Fast & Short Run
2008-07-09 - This autobiography of Belushi seemed to focus a lot on his drug use, but it did delve into other aspects of his overall life, personality, and relationships. The politics and inner-workings of the film business are latently and appropriately repeated on a regular basis throughout "Wired." This biography on Belushi seems a bit sullen. The flow of the writing can be difficult to follow for some. (Just my opinion.)

Some additional points noted by Woodward described the seemingly common anxiety and trepidation that inflicts directors and producers when they are about to release a movie, no matter how "big" these movie moguls are. They anonymously attend the screening of their films to test audiences for the first time: focusing on the crowd, watching viewers, listening to responses to the punch lines, and gauging the mood of the audience.

Landis and a colleague anonymously went to the test showing of "Animal House" when it was first shown to a public audience in Denver. Denver was chosen because it was in the "heartland of middle America" and was not New York or Los Angeles. The two sat in the audience, pensive. After the initial seconds of the movie caused an uproar of hysterical laughter with Belushi and the shoes, they knew they had a hit: Bluto was born. Interesting about the making of this movie, were the details of scenes of "Animal House" that were cut out. In addition to details of "animal house," a lot of the book is dedicated to the making of "The Blues Brothers" film and Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Even Steven Spielberg had the common feeling of uncertainty when working on post-production of a film when it was ready to be released. Speilberg felt so uneasy about the film "1941" he directed, that he left Hollywood and went to Hawaii when it was released. At a budget of $26 million, "1941" was one of the most expensive comedies made. The critics trashed the movie, and Belushi even thought it would ruin his career.

When "Blues Brothers" was reviewed the critics bashed it and referred to the movie as "1942," in reference to the previous abysmal bomb, "1941." The LA Times called it a "$30 million dollar wreck, minus laughs." The Blues Brothers movie was below average and frankly, was and is still very over-rated. Just my opinon.

There are several instances of dialogue between people in this book. These are hard to replicate, and are based on reconstructions of people's memories. Recollections get fuzzy over time. Dialogues can be altered and edited, understandabley, for brevity and to make the flow of a book more smooth. Nontetheless, these are hard to replicate, and these dialogues can cause skepticism among readers.

There was occasional mention of the frequent press attention Belushi recieved from mainstream media outlets, primarily magazines.

Details of "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) were also provided. After 4 years and 87 shows Belushi resigned from SNL, because simultaneiously working on the "Blues Brothers" movie SNL was too difficult and time consuming, leading Belushi to burnout.

Some of the fun bits, were Akroyd and Belushi driving across the country and playing jokes on the CB radio, while reading Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." Another trivia, is that Belushi purchased and lived in a house on the Vineyard formerly owned by Robert McNamera and later had an indirect offer from Richard Nixon when he put the house on the market.

Bob Woodward did his homework. In the back of the book Woodward includes an index of the people and the job titles of the people he interviewed. Included in the research were appointments books, diaries, calendars, receipts, tapes, scripts, and personal business documents. A lengthy list of those interviewed, including Executive Producers in the movie business, Belushi's friends, police detectives, the Wheaton high school football coach, and the drug suppliers to Belushi.

Having read other works and bios by Woodward, the take on Belushi in "Wired" was a bit glum and solemn for me.

dont waste your money!
2008-06-18 - there is a reason why Judy and the Belushi family have shunned this author and this book. this is not a true reflection of what John is and as a lifelong fan of John (and James) I will not read this and I suggest you stay away. Read judys books about John those are the true reflection