Naked in a Cactus Garden

by Jesse L. Lasky Jr.

This highly sensitive, brilliantly constructed story of Rex Godwin skillfully explores the natures of a score of the people whose lives he touched, sometimes with a magic want, sometimes with a poisoned sword. His wife, whom he loved but whom he could not fathom; his son, who disappointed him yet saved him; his mistresses who could not fully gratify him; his blindly loyal followers who could not truly appreciate him; his enemies who sought vainly to quench or destroy him - all are vividly presented as beings only slightly less commanding than Rex Godwin himself.

Here is a gorgeously panoramic picture of a strong man's rise and fall, and through his story the rise and fall of the motion picture industry he raised to its apogee. Set in the afterglow of a dying Rome it encompasses all the causes and effects of a strange and significant way of life and the persons who lived it.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. (September 19, 1910—April 11, 1988) was an American screenwriter, novelist, playwright and poet.

Lasky wrote eight novels, five plays, three books of poetry and more than 50 screenplays.