Product Description
The complete book about the life of Academy Award nominee River Phoenix, from his parents beginning, his birth, member of a cult religion, to his TV acting, activism, veganism and movie career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

interesting and in-depth
I'm glad I purchased this book. It has been interesting to read the stories that River's friends, family, and co-workers provided.Upon reading the description of the time leading up to and including River's death, I could feel my heart beat faster and I was unable to stop myself from reading. This is a real page-turner. Highly recommended.

This book is really poorly written, and disturbing
Did anyone else find this book disturbing in a way the author probably didn't intend?It may have some interesting information for River fans, but it is compiled in an awful way-- not even basic journalistic information flow.Must be why it looks like it was home-published.
But after about 100 pages, I couldn't pick it up without a sick feeling in my stomach.I mean, the beginning is about the criminally abusive cult that River's parents raised him in until he was 5 or something, which encouraged and forced children to have sex with each other and any adult, in the name of "sharing."Of course that is simply a disturbing fact of River's childhood.But I started to realize there was something in the WAY the author wrote about it, and moreover in the CHOICES of the horrifying cartoons which were distributed among the cult to encourage sexualizing of children...and then it came down to all the pictures of River the author included throughout the book, which are all fairly pedophilic.It really seems to me that the author is sexually obsessed with the terminally adolescent River Phoenix, and this book was his indulgence of that obsession.Ewwww.
It's just really hard to read anyway, it's so poorly written.But it's the constant focus on River's pubescent sex life, sexual development, and pubescent sex-symbol status that makes me cringe.I wouldn't even give it one star, since I couldn't get through it.

One step closer to River Phoenix
River Phoenix was a special guy... And if you miss him, it's meant to be. Right?

"Since his death early on Halloween morning, 1993, something phenomenal has been happening. All over the world, men and women of different persuasions and colors, from different countries, with different religious beliefs and political backgrounds, are experiencing a confounding fascination with River Jude Phoenix."

Yes, one of them is me.
But the strangest thing is... I didn't know Phoenix until 2008, when he appeared in my dream.
(I was very young when he died... and growing up in a small town in The Netherlands: I never paid any attention to what was going on in Hollywood. I didn't even know a place like that existed).

I started reading almost everything that was written about him. And the more I read, the more frustrated I got. Those books were about Phoenix's dwell on his downfall. Pointing fingers: who's to blame?
I don't think Phoenix threw away his life on purpose. And also, I don't think his family is responsible for his death. (Does it matter anymore? He's gone).

That's when I bumped into Barry Lawrence's book on the internet. Barry experienced almost the same thing as I did and he decided to search for the truth behind the myth.
I have read a lot about River and in the meanwhile I watched everything about/with him. 'In Search of River Phoenix: The Truth About The Myth' is the only book that comes close to a comprehensive view about the life of River Phoenix.
But still... No book or no one can give you the ultimate truth. There is only interpretation. And Barry C. Lawrence's interpretation is a good and objective one and he did his best to try to understand a life that was so far away from anything resembling normally.

The book takes you along the journey of River's life through his various movies, charity work and his musical accomplishments. 'In Search of River Phoenix: The Truth About The Myth' is a good read, even if you never heard of Phoenix.

River Phoenix is fantastic .
River's story is haunting and you are always wishing he had a better childhood.His lack of education was 100% his parents fault, not his.I am really enjoying this book.

The Best of River
Few books begin their journey to publication with the foundations of Barry C. Lawrence's IN SEARCH OF RIVER PHOENIX: THE TRUTH BEYOND THE MYTH? with a dream out of nowhere? yet a powerful dream in which the dead actor River Phoenix asked Lawrence to discover the truth about his life led to a years-long,in-depth probe of River's short life and many films: a probe which was to involve Lawrence with River's closest friends, family members, and fellow actors. You don't have to be a River fan to appreciate IN SEARCH OF RIVER PHOENIX: it reads like a novel, with all the drama, action, and yes, even intrigue . Lawrence's goal was to dispel the veil of myths surroundingRiver's short life, and reveal the realities and facts of his controversial short life and career--and Lawrence achieves this and more in an exciting blend of drama and documentary: classic docu-drama translated to print. Highly recommended.
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Product Description
Chapters: River Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Rose Mcgowan, Rain Phoenix, Ricky Rodriguez, Summer Phoenix, Susan Cagle. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 54. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 October 31, 1993) was an Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated American film actor. He was listed on John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38 as one of twelve "promising new actors of 1986", and was hailed as highly talented by such critics as Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Also well known for his animal rights activism, he was a spokesperson for PETA and a strict vegan. On Halloween morning, 1993, Phoenix died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub the Viper Room. He was the oldest sibling of actors Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix. Phoenix was born as River Jude Bottom on August 23, 1970, in Madras, Oregon, the first child of Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. Phoenix's parents named him after the river of life from the Hermann Hesse novel Siddhartha, and he received his middle name from The Beatles' song "Hey Jude". In an interview with People, Phoenix described his parents as "hippieish". His mother was born in The Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Hungary and Russia. His father was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California, and had a daughter from a previous relationship, Jodene, who later changed her name to Trust. In 1968, Phoenix's mother left her family in New York City and travelled across the United States, meeting John Lee Bottom while hitchhiking in northern California. They married on September 13, 1969, less than one year after meeting. In 1973, the family joined a religious cult called the Children of God as missionaries. While living in Crockett, Texas, their seco...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=159268 ... Read more

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Chapters: People Raised as Children in the Children of God, River Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Rose Mcgowan, Rain Phoenix, Ricky Rodriguez, Summer Phoenix, Susan Cagle. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 58. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 October 31, 1993) was an Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated American film actor. He was listed on John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38 as one of twelve "promising new actors of 1986", and was hailed as highly talented by such critics as Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Also well known for his animal rights activism, he was a spokesperson for PETA and a strict vegan. On Halloween morning, 1993, Phoenix died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub the Viper Room. He was the oldest sibling of actors Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix. Phoenix was born as River Jude Bottom on August 23, 1970, in Madras, Oregon, the first child of Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. Phoenix's parents named him after the river of life from the Hermann Hesse novel Siddhartha, and he received his middle name from The Beatles' song "Hey Jude". In an interview with People, Phoenix described his parents as "hippieish". His mother was born in The Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Hungary and Russia. His father was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California, and had a daughter from a previous relationship, Jodene, who later changed her name to Trust. In 1968, Phoenix's mother left her family in New York City and travelled across the United States, meeting John Lee Bottom while hitchhiking in northern California. They married on September 13, 1969, less than one year after meeting. In 1973, the family joined a religious cult called the Children of God as mission...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=159268 ... Read more

Product Description
Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : José Ferrer, Joaquin Phoenix, Benicio Del Toro, Rita Moreno, Juan González, Sandy Alomar, Jr., Juan Nieves, Ramón Castro, Lou Montañez, Alex Cora, J. C. Romero, Bengie Molina, Joey Cora, Eric Escobar, Omir Santos, Pedro Morales, José Morales, José Molina, Yadier Molina, Candy Maldonado, Iván Rodríguez, José Oquendo, Carlos Beltrán, Felipe López, Jonathan Sánchez, Ramón Vázquez, Pedro Feliciano, Ángel Pagán, José Feliciano, Emiliano Mercado Del Toro, Iván Calderón, Luis Rivera, Ángel Sánchez, Miguel Nido, Carlos Delgado, Charlie Pasarell, Gina Lynn, Jean-Louis Tinaud, Orlando Cepeda, Luis Aquino, Jorge Posada, Andrés Torres, José Pagán, Ramón Troncoso, Lalo Rodríguez, Victor Pellot, José Vidro, Adamari López. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : José Ferrer est un acteur, réalisateur et scénariste portoricain né le 8 janvier 1909 à Santurce (Porto Rico) et mort le 26 janvier 1992 à Coral Gables (Floride). Ferrer est né dans le quartier Santurce de San Juan à Porto Rico de Maria Providencia (née Cintron) et Rafael Ferrer, un avocat et écrivain. En 1933, il est diplômé de l'Université de Princeton. Il fait ses débuts à Broadway en 1935. En 1940, il joue son premier rôle principal dans Charley's Aunt suivi en 1943, du rôle Iago dans Othello. Il joue Cyrano au cinéma dans le film de Michael Gordon en 1950, rôle qu'il reprend à New York sous sa propre direction en 1953, puis en 1964 dans Cyrano et d'Artagnan d'Abel Gance. Il joue également Cyrano dans deux téléfilms qui lui valent des nominations aux Emmy Awards. Avec celles aux Oscars et aux Tony Awards, il est le premier (et jusqu'ici, le seul) acteur à avoir été nommé pour le même rôle dans différentes productions. Ferrer a été marié dix ans avec l'act...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: David Blaine, Geraldo Rivera, Joaquin Phoenix, Jewish Immigration to Puerto Rico, Brenda K. Starr, Hila Levy, Manny Lehman, Raphy Leavitt, Micol Ostow, Rachel Ticotin, Ari Meyers, Raquel Castro, Julio Kaplan, Axel Anderson, Mathias Brugman, Jorge Seijo, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Nina Tassler, Sahaj. Excerpt:Ari Meyers Ari Meyers (born April 6, 1969) is an actress, probably best known for her role as Emma Jane McArdle in the Kate ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Thomson Gale on November 20, 2005. The length of the article is 525 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: "The Man in Black": un fenomeno de la musica.(Joaquín Phoenix, actor)(Walk the Line, película sobre la vida del cantante Johnny Cash)(Entrevista)
Author: Sindy M. Ortega
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 20, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11Issue: 664Page: 25(1)

Article Type: Entrevista

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Chapters: Puerto Rican Jews, David Blaine, Geraldo Rivera, Joaquin Phoenix, Jewish Immigration to Puerto Rico, Brenda K. Starr, Hila Levy, Manny Lehman, Raphy Leavitt, Micol Ostow, Rachel Ticotin, Ari Meyers, Raquel Castro, Julio Kaplan, Axel Anderson, Mathias Brugman, Jorge Seijo, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Nina Tassler, Sahaj. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 99. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records. Theatre owner James Nederlander as well as The New York Times have referred to Blaine as a modern day Houdini. He has also been called a "Houdini wanna-be" by the New York Daily News. Blaine was born David Blaine White in Brooklyn, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent on his father's side, and Russian Jewish on his mother's. His mother, Patrice Maureen White (19461995), was a school teacher living in New York, and his father William Perez was a Vietnam veteran. When he was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway. This sparked an interest in Blaine. He was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was ten years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo. When he was 17 years old, Blaine moved to Manhattan, New York. On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic aired on the ABC network. According to The New York Daily News, Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=53131 ... Read more

Product Description
Photos on disk of Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall, Mark Wahlberg and more.This is a digital press kit used by movie critics and entertainment writers. THIS IS NOT A DVD OF THE FILM, but it is a nice supplement to fans of the film or the stars! It has a booklet inside with a film synopsis, full credits and stories about the production. The disc has photos, behind the scenes movie stills and other stuff about the movie. Not available to the general public! ... Read more

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Yet in October 2008, during a press interview to promote the critically acclaimed Two Lovers, Phoenix made a shock announcement that he was to retire from acting, declining any future film roles in a bid to reinvent himself as a bona fide hip-hop musician. The resulting documentary, I'm Still Here, turned out to be one of the most extraordinary and memorable pieces of performance art ever committed to film.Born in 1974, Phoenix was a natural performer from an early age, regularly busking on the streets of New York City with his multi-talented siblings. Following in the footsteps of his older brother River, Joaquin decided on a career in acting, and his breakthrough performance alongside Nicole Kidman in To Die For confirmed him as the most intriguing actor of his generation. 13 years later, Phoenix undertook his most challenging role to date: playing a completely reinvented version of himself in Casey Affleck's I'm Still Here.In this in-depth biography, Martin Howden traces the rise of this unique actor, from his early career as a child star, though to his Oscar nominated performance in Walk the Line, and subsequent "reinvention".Fascinating and compelling this is the first biography of one of the most complex actors working in film and the full story behind one of the most intriguing films ever to have come out of Hollywood. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on February 21, 2001. The length of the article is 980 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sade en el cine, las plumas y el teatro.(TT: Sade on the silver screen, plumes and theatre.)(Reseña)
Author: Tomás Pérez Turrent
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: February 21, 2001
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 47Issue: 2488Page: 56

Article Type: Reseña

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This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Thomson Gale on November 2, 2003. The length of the article is 671 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hermano oso.(Brother Bear)(Resena de pelicula)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 2, 2003
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 9Issue: 557Page: 32(1)

Article Type: Resena de pelicula

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This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on October 5, 2007. The length of the article is 1212 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: True grit; Despite his past failures and a limited budget, writer-director James Gray manages to find first-rate cast for New York crime drama.(Movies - Articles)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 5, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: d1

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This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on January 21, 2001. The length of the article is 725 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cine: Letras prohibidas. La leyenda del Marqués de Sade.(TT: Cinema: forbidden writs. The Marquis de Sade legend.)(Reseña)
Author: Javier Betancourt
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 21, 2001
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Page: 66

Article Type: Reseña

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