Regards: The Selected Nonfiction

by John Gregory Dunne, Calvin Trillin (Foreword by)

No writer captured the tragic absurdity of late-twentieth-century America better than John Gregory Dunne. For over forty years, he cast an unsparing eye on contemporary America, never flinching from the unpleasant truths he saw around him. Whether novels, screenplays, or nonfiction, his work was marked with a droll wit and a pointed cynicism that often examined buried aspects of public and private life in Hollywood and America at large. Regards is a celebration of Dunne's best nonfiction, from frank observations on the film industry, politics, sports, and popular culture to tender reflections on what it was like to raise an adopted daughter. The collection spans his entire career, including his depictions of Las Vegas and an L.A. film studio, and essays from both of his existing compilations, as well as the essays from the last fifteen years of his life, never before collected. This book is a magnificent gift from one of the finest and most uncompromising writers of a generation.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Film, 20th Century, Literature

350 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 2005

About the author

John Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by observing others. He graduated from Princeton University in 1954 and worked as a journalist for Time magazine. He married novelist Joan Didion on 30 January 1964, and they became collaborators on a series of screenplays, including Panic in Needle Park (1971), A Star Is Born (1976) and True Confessions (1981), an adaptation of his own novel. He is the author of two non-fiction books about Hollywood, The Studio and Monster.

As a literary critic and essayist, he was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. His essays were collected in two books, Quintana & Friends and Crooning.

He wrote several novels, among them True Confessions, based loosely on the Black Dahlia murder, and Dutch Shea, Jr.

He was the writer and narrator of the 1990 PBS documentary L.A. is It with John Gregory Dunne, in which he guided viewers through the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.

He died in Manhattan of a heart attack, in December 2003. His final novel, Nothing Lost, which was in galleys at the time of his death, was published in 2004.

He was father to Quintana Roo Dunne, who died in 2005 after a series of illnesses, and uncle to actors Griffin Dunne (who co-starred in An American Werewolf in London) and Dominique Dunne (who co-starred in Poltergeist).

His wife, Joan Didion, published The Year of Magical Thinking in October 2005 to great critical acclaim, a memoir of the year following his death, during which their daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, was seriously ill. It won the National Book Award.

Reviews

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must confess that John Gregory Dunne was unknown to me. Someone gave me the book thinking I might enjoy reading about the Simpsons. I would have. Only the piece is not about Homer and his family but about O.J. and Nicole Brown. Interesting, but not that interesting. And mostly Dunne writes about people I have never heard of. About a guy who had appeared in 33 Johnny Carson shows. Always as the last guest. Makes him a celebrity. But again, I do not need to know anything about him. And most of the others. Especially some Baseball people. Did I mention that Dunne was a left-fielder for the Dodgers? And he wrote some books, did films worked as a journalist (for Time). Really good is an essay about Pauline Kael (he was not a huge fan) and also one about Natalie Wood. And a personal one about his daughter who was adopted. Also, the interview at the end of the book gives you some nice anecdotes. His writing is competent to quite good. But that is not enough for a good book. He can be nasty, saying about a man he would pronounce the name of the creator of Madame Bovary as "Flow Bert". And some other guy is described as the best premature ejaculator. 5/10

[hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

all of these stories were well-written, and some of them were good, but none of them were really memorable

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this compilation of essays written over the years by John Gregory Dunne, a journalist, novelist, and screen play writer. However, that's because so many of the things he writes about happened at times or in places which I know very well, or are subjects of great interest to me. Even those which were off the beaten track for me were, if not fascinating, at least interesting. As one would expect of articles written between 1965 and 2004, they are dated. However, if one reads them keeping in mind the time in which they were written they come alive and breathe.

I am not now, nor ever have been, interested in Hollywood, actors, or the movies, but I found his essays about the business of screen play writing amazing. I'd never realized how totally crazy the process is, both financially and practically.

I thought that Quebec Zero was one of the most frightening essays I've ever read, not least because I was born and raised about a hundred miles from where it took place.

Having lived in California 40 years I well remember the influence of Caesar Chavez. In fact, in recognition of his contributions, his birthday is a state holiday. Dunne's essay on Chavez was both fascinating and, I think, absolutely correct about Chavez and his legacy. Now I want to read the book he wrote about Chavez.

There are essays about John Kennedy, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Natalie Wood, and others. All are well written, from a different perspective, and gave me a new view of the subject.

I recommend this book as a microcosm of people and parts of the U. S. now gone, but which should not be forgotten.

[Ira friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read this book you better be interested in JGD as he brings himself into pretty much every piece, much as his wife Joan Didion does. Regards is broken down into pieces about Hollywood (Dunne was a part time scriptwriter), Criticism, Sports, Family stuff and a few random articles. I most enjoyed the criticism such as when Dunne rips Pauline Kael apart for not knowing how movies are made. His reviews of Halberstam and Calvin Trillin books are also interesting. As is his review of You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again because Dunne worked at one time with the book's author and clearly had a personal grudge against her. What I really did not like was the bulk of essays on Hollywood. Dunne's book Monster on writing the film Up Close and Personal is a highly entertaining account of getting a script into theaters but his essays here mine the same ore over and over again due to Dunne not having all that much experience writing films since this was a side gig for him and Didion. To his credit, Dunne brings an outsider perspective to this insider universe but I think he tries to have it both ways, announcing he is both insider and outsider. Reading through the lines, I found much of this to be Dunne tooting his own horn.

[John Scherber · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Gregory Dunne was one of the great nonfiction writers on the scene for the second half of the twentieth century. His wife and widow, Joan Didion, shares this status and is also one of my favorite commentators on anything she chooses as a subject. I would read either of them even if the subject was tire repair.
Reading Regards one gets the sense of being at the side of a real insider in the movie and magazine business. He writes freely and insightfully about many familiar people on the scene, and his language is never less than astute and revealing. He names names and analyzes events without flinching. This book is well worth a look for anyone wishing to understand some of the central features of American culture.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong sampler of Dunne's, spanning from his entry into the film business in the late 60s to his years as a leading cultural critic in the mid-90s. While he keeps a cold eye on his pet subjects - Hollywood, sports, the literati - throughout, you can sense Dunne's perverse admiration for the integrity of the despoiled high ground he's mapping. For all of his carpet-calling, it remains obvious he's a workaday journalist-middling novelist flattered to be in bigger company.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book just for Dunnes take on Natalie Wood, Mary Tyler Moore and O.J. Simpson.

[Krista]

I love anthologies!

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good essays

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

While some of the stories were not of interest to me .... like to stories about Hollywood studios...I found his writing totally compelling. His stories about his time writing for Time magazine were informative. He was truly a talented writer. The chapter titled Laying Pipe really explains how a writer can work. Each one has a different way of gathering and arranging information. He seems to know the first line of each book he is going to write followed by the last word and then just lays pipe in between. When he explains how many years it took to write Red, White and Blue you can get a sense of how a writer thinks. This was just so interesting to me. You get insight into his life and how all the experiences helped him develop these tales he just had to tell. Like an artist who just has to paint. I loved this book so much. It matched my reading of A Year of Magical Thinking by his wife Joan Didion...and Slouching Toward Bethlehem. Both of these people were born to write.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was curious about JGD after reading a few of Joan Didion's books which, with reservations, I liked a lot, at the time. Specifically it was the one about JGD's death, 'The Year of Magical Thinking' - itself not one of Didion's best imo.
So here it was, a career-spanning collection of as they put it nonfiction. In a word, it was ok. I might try a novel sometime - haven't read any of Didion's novels either, but probably will sometime. Meanwhile it's safe to say Didion is a better essayist/journalist, more individual, more stylish (to be sure her style can be irritating). Not that it's a competition of course :-). I've satisfied my curiosity, and not come away with an urgent need to read more Dunne. But sure, not bad.
This review is not very informative, sorry, I'm under the weather just now.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming to this book now feels like conducting a pathological examination of an America from a not-so-distant past. The cultural references—mostly drawn from the pop and political scenes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but sometimes reaching as far back as the 20s and 40s—can be a bit tricky to navigate. Yet, they’re well worth the effort, as these essays are entirely readable. Dunne's work is full to the brim with wit and sharp reflection on everything from O.J. Simpson to a studio’s botched attempt to turn Dr. Dolittle into Mary Poppins.

I especially loved when Dunne would get in his bag, shifting his prose from straightforward printing to cursive, from calligraphy to something almost hieroglyphic. This collection invites readers not only to look back but also to savor the interplay between intellect, satire, and insight that defines Dunne’s work.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth re-reading for the use of language alone.