10,000 Ways to Die
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.40
Trade in 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.40, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"An exceptionally well-informed and accessible primer on the subject." --Powells.com
Product Description
'40 years ago as a graduate student I wrote a book about Spaghetti Westerns, called 10,000 Ways to Die...In the intervening period I have had the interesting experience of being a film director. So now, when I watch these films, I'm looking at them from a different perspective...10,000 Ways to Die is an entirely new book about an under-studied subject, the Spaghetti Western, from a director's point of view.' - Alex Cox
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Help others by sharing your experience with this product.
Write a customer review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have been a fan of Italian Westerns for many years, so I relish any new book that comes out on the market. This one I had mixed feelings about.I was enthusiastic to read about the films, but I kept tutting in annoyance. On the plus side, there's some fine observations about the top directors and films, and at last someone praises the Mexi-Western TEPEPA featuring Orson Welles.However,there are a lot of put-downs and a few errors. The author asks why Clint Eastwood didn't keep the gold at the end of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS? Because he wasn't a thief and didn't want the Mexican Government on his tail. As he said to one of the Rojos: "I don't like to take money unless I've earned it". I wouldn't say that A PROFESSIONAL GUN and DAY OF ANGER were the best ever Spaghettis, but to call them "plodding" is a bit harsh.For years the english-speaking version of THE BIG GUNDOWN has been mutilated, but Cox thinks we can still do WITHOUT the scenes that were cut. An Italian Western fan APPROVING of a key genre film being cut by 20 minutes is a bit hard to swallow! And it isn't Edda Dell'Orso "screeching" on the score, but Christy. Cox thinks he ought to defend a terrible Western called RITA IN THE WEST that has song and dance numbers and bullets colliding in the air,but he dismisses the TRINITY films and refers to a serious (and brilliant) film like FACE TO FACE as "silly" in places.Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but isn't the author's perspective a little peculiar here? Eastwood fans will be disappointed as he is referred to as "lucky" and "uninspired". Fans of the those wonderful scores will be starved of criticism as Mr.Cox admits he is "tone deaf". And those who like film stills will have seen them all before in the slim 8 pages in the middle. All in all, i think I'll stick with authors Howard Hughes and Christopher Frayling.
Format:Paperback
I'm a big fan of Howard Hughes' book "Once Upon A Time in the Italian West", which I think is a must have for any self-respecting fan of the genre.
Using that as my benchmark, I was initially a little underwhelmed and disappointed in "10,00 Ways to Die" on a first read-through. The two authors employ very different approaches. Hughes looks at a core set of films in great detail and uses that framework to comment briefly and in passing on a wider range of related films including sequels. The Cox book, on the other hand, looks at a much wider range of films, including such neglected works as "Arizona Colt", Requiescant", "Johnny Hamlet", "Bandidos" and "The Price Of Power" that Hughes ignores, but generally covers them in less detail.
Hughes is very good on aspects such the inspiration for the films, the actors, the locations and the music. He is also pretty even-handed in his approach. Cox has little to say about the music (he admits he has a tin ear for a good tune) and is much more partisan - which is great as I like opinionated authors. But on the other hand, Cox brings his perspective both as a film maker and also as an enthusiast to the genre and his book is full of fascinating observations that you won't find anywhere else. My only complaint is that the ending of the book seems to me to be rather abrupt, almost as if Cox had a hard page limit imposed by his publishers and he realised that he was fast approaching it!
Conclusion? The more I read "10,000 Ways to Die" the more it grows on me. Cox has great enthusiasm for the genre (as has Hughes) and a quirky yet very readable and informative writing style. Ultimately, I think you need both books and I'm glad I have them.
Using that as my benchmark, I was initially a little underwhelmed and disappointed in "10,00 Ways to Die" on a first read-through. The two authors employ very different approaches. Hughes looks at a core set of films in great detail and uses that framework to comment briefly and in passing on a wider range of related films including sequels. The Cox book, on the other hand, looks at a much wider range of films, including such neglected works as "Arizona Colt", Requiescant", "Johnny Hamlet", "Bandidos" and "The Price Of Power" that Hughes ignores, but generally covers them in less detail.
Hughes is very good on aspects such the inspiration for the films, the actors, the locations and the music. He is also pretty even-handed in his approach. Cox has little to say about the music (he admits he has a tin ear for a good tune) and is much more partisan - which is great as I like opinionated authors. But on the other hand, Cox brings his perspective both as a film maker and also as an enthusiast to the genre and his book is full of fascinating observations that you won't find anywhere else. My only complaint is that the ending of the book seems to me to be rather abrupt, almost as if Cox had a hard page limit imposed by his publishers and he realised that he was fast approaching it!
Conclusion? The more I read "10,000 Ways to Die" the more it grows on me. Cox has great enthusiasm for the genre (as has Hughes) and a quirky yet very readable and informative writing style. Ultimately, I think you need both books and I'm glad I have them.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book. It's insightful and interesting. Now I just have to watch all the films, so that I can re-read the book.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
