CROSSBEARER

A former "new journalist" and Hollywood screenwriter—he wrote the screenplay for BASIC INSTINCT—Joe Eszterhas took a new lease on life when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Although he was an unrepentant atheist and "an extremely cynical man," like a lot of people faced with bad news, he found himself looking towards the heavens. Grainger Hines's baritone gives the narrative the touch of pessimism it needs, and his voice rumbles like a late-night DJ or talk show host sitting comfortably in an easy chair smoking a cigar while coolly interviewing somebody. With provocative language that fits the author's background as a screenwriter, the book poses an interesting question about how we all deal with our mortality. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2009]