Lights, Camera, Alcatraz: Hollywood's View of an American Landmark

by Dashka Slater

For more than seventy years, moveigoers have been transfixed by Hollywood's images of Alcatraz. Now one of the Golden Gate National Parks, Alcatraz draws more than 1.4 million visitors annually, and many come expecting to somehow experience for themselves what they've seen in the movies. Answers to their questions about the tunnels, the Birdman, the dungeons, and more demonstrate the many differences between real life and reel life. .

Author Dashka Slater wisely notes, 'Hollywood's Alcatraz is a reflection of our own fears and obsessions, our ambivalent feelings about crime and punishment, and our urge to give evil a permanent address."

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Dashka Slater’s novel, The Wishing Box, was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, which called it “an impish novel, hopeful and full of humor.” She is the author of four acclaimed children's books: Baby Shoes; Firefighters in the Dark; The Sea Serpent and Me and Dangerously Ever After. She has two picture books forthcoming in 2017, as well as the much-anticipated Young Adult non-fiction narrative The 57 Bus.

Slater is also an award-winning journalist who has written for such publications as Newsweek, More, Salon, Mother Jones, Sierra, and The New York Times Magazine. The recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is currently working on new books for both children and adults. Learn more at www.dashkaslater.com.