George Lucas Books

People seem to write this off as a poor book because it is frequently critical in its view; I appreciate the refreshingly honest approach. Baxter offers a well-researched look at Lucas' life that doesn't shy away from the aspects which cannot be shied away from--the merchandising empire, the self-contradictory nature of the man, his scandolous divorce and his inflated status by the time his new Star Wars films were coming out in 1999. Perhaps Baxter focuses more attention on pointing out the subject's foibles than fans would like (naturally), but for all its flak for being "biased", this is a candid and refreshingly honest account of Lucas' life. Most books are either commissioned by Lucasfilm itself and thus carefully omitt anything even approaching criticism, and most journalists seem to spend all their time gushing over how great everything Lucas did was.

While there is the counter-effect of those who want to expose Lucas as a corrupt, money-driven recluse with a boner for technology, I would not lump Baxter with these people; he obviously has admiration for some of Lucas' accomplishments, and often reveals a much more humanised side of Lucas through his inclusion of the man's many faults.

In the end, its not a great book, but its a good one. True, the negative slant is sometimes unnecessary, however, the book is detailed and well-researched, and also gives decent respresentation to the life of Lucas AFTER 1983, a period that is often ignored or glossed over. While Dale Pollock's Skywalking is much better than this, that book only covers up to 1983, and in all honesty--this is the best alternative. Unless you like self-promotional tripe like The Creative Impulse--I think the more balanced (read: acknowledging the negative) view offered here is in many ways a reaction against superficial pat-on-the-back stuff like that.

This book full of mistakes with facts (i.e. Jim Hanson played Yoda) and he was more interested in writing about the negative things about Lucas.

I started reading this book today and I've only made it through two chapters and the only reason I read two is because I thought I should give the book another chance after reading the first chapter. I'm really not sure where the author is going with this book, it just doesn't seem to make sense to me. I felt he was not writing this book to tell the story of Lucas's life but in stead writing in literary confusion. It did not grab me at all. So I came here to see what other people thought of this book and I'm glad it wasn't just me. This book is a mess. Glad I got it from the library and didn't spend the $27 for it. There are other books that tell of the creative work and business of George Lucas.

This is quite a comprehensive biography of George Lucas' life to 1999, reaching all the way back to his grandfather's time, and then to George Sr.'s time, before starting in on the life of the man who brought you Star Wars and Howard the Duck. Baxter writes with an engaging style and includes interviews with primary and secondary school friends that show the depth of his due diligence. Be warned that this is not a biography that tries to present everything Lucas in a strictly positive light (Baxter gives examples of the Lucas machine's attempts in essence to re-write the legends surrounding its god). As any good biography should, this book includes not only the shining chapters of Lucas' life, but the less glorious ones as well. Still, the chapters that depict Lucas as a cold, asexual, genius do not detract from our admiration of him as a filmmaker, and the epic chapters that describe the underdog success of the first Star Wars film in fact allow us to re-live the moment as if we were back there in '77 cheering for the rebels in their battle against the Galactic Empire, for Lucas in his fight against the Hollywood studios.

Unfortunately, as much great information as this book might have, much of it is made questionable due to some glaring mistakes in the last few chapters. Despite the immense amount of research undertaken to write such a book, it is clear that Baxter has very little "street" knowledge of American popular culture. Ky Huy Huan was not the name of the Vietnamese Chinese boy who played Short Round (and later Data, in the Goonies) in Temple of Doom. No, Tom Ryan is not the name of Harrison Ford's character in the movies based on Tom Clancy's novels. No, Terence Stamp did not play Darth Sidious in Star Wars: Episode I. And no, the Trade Federation did not have an army of C3POs. For Baxter's target audience, a readership that comes from a generation raised on the films of George Lucas, these errors are painfully obvious and completely absurd, and thus cast the entire book in doubt. This is truly a shame because Baxter has put a mighty effort into giving us a very well-rounded look at the 20th century's most influential filmmaker. Four stars for the book's captivating narrative style.

I am a big George Lucas fan and I found a few errors in this book. The one that really bothered me was that the author repeatedly stated that Jim Henson did the puppeteering and voice for Yoda. IT WAS FRANK OZ NOT JIM HENSON! That was soooo annoying! I kept wishing that the author was around so that I could just scream it in his face!

Other than these small details, the book was pretty good. But still, I can't help but wonder what else was inaccurate that I just took as new information.

I enjoyed this one more than the one littered with old storyboard pictures. As much as I love storyboards and original drafts, I don't want them stuck in in with the dialogue. Often the pictures seemed to distract me from the storyline.

I prefer it in the original size, with similar print font to what it would have professionally. No distractions, nothing to cloud my view of it. Just me and the story I love!

Why buy this version of the Episode I screenplay? Far from a facsimile, this is an edited version of the shooting script, modified to fit the action exactly. I DON'T recommend it. If you want a copy of the script, I recommend the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Illustrated Screenplay, which has storyboards of all the action and is the original shooting script, with scenes not appearing in the finished version. Only buy this if you want a version that fits the movie exactly.

Now you can have the all the stilted dialog with none of the special effects to distract you from the great writing. Oops, also included is a 16 page color photo gallery. Trust me. Jar Jar Binks is even more annoying in print. Phantom Menace...great name for it.

It's one thing to chronicle a man's life clearly (and a biographer of any notable subject ought to have the professional courtesy to address the notions out there about his subject, then dispassionately analyze and either support or reject them) and another to set out to prove a set of pre-conceived notions. Baxter, much as he did with his Kubrick biography, already decided that Lucas was a cold-hearted [...] who took credit for everyone else's work and from a few cliche'd ideas, made a fortune.

Notwithstanding that this is precisely what a producer's job is, Baxter focuses on every negative aspect of Lucas, Coppola and Spielberg's lives. There is more than a sense of professional jealousy/envy at work here. It seems as if Baxter has decided that he is going to "out" the hack that is Lucas and prove that his wife, his producer and his special effects technicians should all be given credit over Lucas for Star Wars' conception.

As another review has cited here, the book is crisply written and entertaining, but one does weary of Baxter's negative view after awhile.

This book is the antithesis of the usual sycophantic, revering style biographies of living people is written in. Clocking in at 406 pages, it includes history and facts, but also much to my chagrin, frequent analysises of the subject's character, almost all of them devastatingly negative. The authors view on whether Lucas created the blockbuster mentality or not, should have been included in a book of its own. Baxter seems to have gone in writing with the presupposition that Lucas is a cold-hearted money-hound and written the book from there. No chapter fails to mention either his greed, antisocial traits or lack of emotion. I have no trouble with honest biographies, but this one seemed a little bit much.

For all its faults, though, it's an intriguing read, with lots of gossip, industry insider information and explanations of special effects. There are many pictures, most of them good, and they really flesh out the book.

As someone who has watched and re-watched the movie many times, it was interesting to see a brief version in book form. But only for a short time, there are over 60 color photos in the 96 pages of the book. Since many take up most or the entire page, this leaves little room for text. Therefore, the book is mostly a collection of stills from the movie, which made me quickly lose interest. When I was done, I considered it a weak marketing takeoff from the movie and was glad I bought the book for a dime at a garage sale. It is really not worth much more than that.

I say OK because the work in finding the right info and company can be rather tedious. I wrote alot of the companies and check out some on the internet also. However, I did find a handful of companies that are very useful in starting and maintaining a business. I am using 2 companies now out of the book and have made some profits doing so! I was serious about doing it so I remained consistent in my search and it is slowly paying off!

This book can be useful if you are serious about the drop-ship business. You must be patient and persistent and you will find some excellent companies. It will take alot of writing and searching but it will pay off!

I recommend this book!

I am very disappointed with this publication. I wish I had found these comments 5 days ago. I am looking for a drop shipper and wholesaler for Pet Supplies. Anyone out there that knows of such a publication or drop shipper PLEASE let me know. I'll be watching for comments concerning such publication or drop shipper.

I really wish I had listened to the reviews before I had bought this, I thought it was the most unhelpful piece of absolute junk I have ever bought in my life. It was uninformative and had nothing I needed, I need to find a dropshipper for computer hardware, can anyone recommend anywhere, and if anyone is looking for such a drop-shipper, don't buy this book

This publication does not even deserve one star. One star is too generous. The publication has an attractive title. This causes wishful thinkers such as myself to purchase it hoping that somehow we will find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow despite the fact that others have given it horrible reviews. ...
SAVE YOUR MONEY. DONT BUY THIS BOOK.
This newsprint publication (not really a book) is full of advertisements for all sorts of services geared toward the individual who wants to get rich quick or get paid big to do very little, with very little info on the business of dropshipping.

I had too much of hopes pinned on this book for my startup. All were shattered...I had particularly disgusting experience with one of the drop-shipper listed in this book...Anyways...I was too scared to try any other shipper mentioned in the book...Please refrain from buying this book. You will only repent !! _ Like I did ...

this book was a crude attempt to make fun of star wars. if you want a good one see "space balls" the movie.