Author: Kirk Honeycutt
Publisher:
ISBN: 1631060228
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
John Hughes: A Life in Film is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary mind ehind Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and The Breakfast Club.
John Hughes: A Life in Film
Author: Kirk Honeycutt
Publisher:
ISBN: 1631060228
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
John Hughes: A Life in Film is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary mind ehind Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and The Breakfast Club.
Publisher:
ISBN: 1631060228
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
John Hughes: A Life in Film is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary mind ehind Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and The Breakfast Club.
Searching for John Hughes
Author: Jason Diamond
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006242484X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 199
Book Description
Searching for John Hughes is Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the iconic filmmaker’s movies. From the outrageous, raunchy antics in National Lampoon’s Vacation to the teenage angst in The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink to the insanely clever and unforgettable Home Alone, Jason Diamond could not get enough of John Hughes’ films. So, he set off on a years-long delusional, earnest, and assiduous quest to write a biography of his favorite filmmaker, despite having no qualifications, training, background, platform, or direction. In Searching for John Hughes, Jason tells how a Jewish kid from a broken home in a Chicago suburb—sometimes homeless, always restless—found comfort and connection in the likewise broken lives in the suburban Chicago of John Hughes’ oeuvre. He moved to New York to become a writer of a book he had no business writing. In the meantime, he brewed coffee and guarded cupcake cafes. All the while, he watched John Hughes movies religiously. Though his original biography of Hughes has long since been abandoned, Jason has discovered he is a writer through and through. And the adversity of going for broke has now been transformed into wisdom. Or, at least, a really, really good story. In other words, this is a memoir of growing up. One part big dream, one part big failure, one part John Hughes movies, one part Chicago, and one part New York. It’s a story of what comes after the “Go for it!” part of the command to young creatives to pursue their dreams—no matter how absurd they might seem at first.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006242484X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 199
Book Description
Searching for John Hughes is Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the iconic filmmaker’s movies. From the outrageous, raunchy antics in National Lampoon’s Vacation to the teenage angst in The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink to the insanely clever and unforgettable Home Alone, Jason Diamond could not get enough of John Hughes’ films. So, he set off on a years-long delusional, earnest, and assiduous quest to write a biography of his favorite filmmaker, despite having no qualifications, training, background, platform, or direction. In Searching for John Hughes, Jason tells how a Jewish kid from a broken home in a Chicago suburb—sometimes homeless, always restless—found comfort and connection in the likewise broken lives in the suburban Chicago of John Hughes’ oeuvre. He moved to New York to become a writer of a book he had no business writing. In the meantime, he brewed coffee and guarded cupcake cafes. All the while, he watched John Hughes movies religiously. Though his original biography of Hughes has long since been abandoned, Jason has discovered he is a writer through and through. And the adversity of going for broke has now been transformed into wisdom. Or, at least, a really, really good story. In other words, this is a memoir of growing up. One part big dream, one part big failure, one part John Hughes movies, one part Chicago, and one part New York. It’s a story of what comes after the “Go for it!” part of the command to young creatives to pursue their dreams—no matter how absurd they might seem at first.
Don't You Forget About Me
Author: Jaime Clarke
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416950370
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
No one captured the teen portion of the eighties as poignantly as writer-director John Hughes. Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Some Kind of Wonderful are timeless tales of love, angst, longing, and self-discovery that illuminated and assuaged the anxieties of an entire generation. Fondly nostalgic, filled with wit and surprising insights, don't you forget about me contains original essays from a skillfully chosen crop of novelists and essayists on the films' far-reaching effects on their own lives -- an irresistible read for anyone who came of age in the eighties (or just wishes they did). Featuring new writing from: Steve Almond * Julianna Baggott * Lisa Borders * Ryan Boudinot * T Cooper * Quinn Dalton * Emily Franklin * Lisa Gabriele * Tod Goldberg * Nina de Gramont * Tara Ison * Allison Lynn * John McNally * Dan Pope * Lewis Robinson * Ben Schrank * Elizabeth Searle * Mary Sullivan * Rebecca Wolff * Moon Unit Zappa
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416950370
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
No one captured the teen portion of the eighties as poignantly as writer-director John Hughes. Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Some Kind of Wonderful are timeless tales of love, angst, longing, and self-discovery that illuminated and assuaged the anxieties of an entire generation. Fondly nostalgic, filled with wit and surprising insights, don't you forget about me contains original essays from a skillfully chosen crop of novelists and essayists on the films' far-reaching effects on their own lives -- an irresistible read for anyone who came of age in the eighties (or just wishes they did). Featuring new writing from: Steve Almond * Julianna Baggott * Lisa Borders * Ryan Boudinot * T Cooper * Quinn Dalton * Emily Franklin * Lisa Gabriele * Tod Goldberg * Nina de Gramont * Tara Ison * Allison Lynn * John McNally * Dan Pope * Lewis Robinson * Ben Schrank * Elizabeth Searle * Mary Sullivan * Rebecca Wolff * Moon Unit Zappa
You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried
Author: Susannah Gora
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307716600
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
A deep dive into the Brat Pack, John Hughes, and the timeless movies they made together—“a must-have for fans of ’80s teen flicks” (Associated Press) “As readable as it is informative, Susannah Gora’s book sets these influential films into a cultural and cinematic context—and provides compelling behind-the-scenes stories about the people who made them.”—Leonard Maltin From Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire to Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Say Anything, the films of the Brat Pack have influenced an entire generation who still want to believe life always turns out like an eighties movie. You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that golden age of youth cinema, telling for the first time the complete story behind how these films were made. Through original and revealing interviews with scores of key players like Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, John Cusack, Cameron Crowe, and Ally Sheedy, author Susannah Gora has crafted a sweeping tribute to a body of films that stirred an entire generation and a gripping account of the people who brought these films to life.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307716600
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
A deep dive into the Brat Pack, John Hughes, and the timeless movies they made together—“a must-have for fans of ’80s teen flicks” (Associated Press) “As readable as it is informative, Susannah Gora’s book sets these influential films into a cultural and cinematic context—and provides compelling behind-the-scenes stories about the people who made them.”—Leonard Maltin From Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire to Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Say Anything, the films of the Brat Pack have influenced an entire generation who still want to believe life always turns out like an eighties movie. You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that golden age of youth cinema, telling for the first time the complete story behind how these films were made. Through original and revealing interviews with scores of key players like Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, John Cusack, Cameron Crowe, and Ally Sheedy, author Susannah Gora has crafted a sweeping tribute to a body of films that stirred an entire generation and a gripping account of the people who brought these films to life.
Life Moves Pretty Fast
Author: Hadley Freeman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501130668
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
From Vogue contributor and Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, a personalized guide to eighties movies that describes why they changed movie-making forever—featuring exclusive interviews with the producers, directors, writers and stars of the best cult classics. For Hadley Freeman, movies of the 1980s have simply got it all. Comedy in Three Men and a Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future; all a teenager needs to know in Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and Mystic Pizza; the ultimate in action from Top Gun, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; love and sex in 9 1/2 Weeks, Splash, About Last Night, The Big Chill, and Bull Durham; and family fun in The Little Mermaid, ET, Big, Parenthood, and Lean On Me. In Life Moves Pretty Fast, Hadley puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decade’s key players, genres, and tropes. She looks back on a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, where children are always wiser than adults, where science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with giddy excitement. And, she considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about society’s changing expectations of women, young people, and art—and explains why Pretty in Pink should be put on school syllabuses immediately. From how John Hughes discovered Molly Ringwald, to how the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy, and how Eddie Murphy made America believe that race can be transcended, this is a “highly personal, witty love letter to eighties movies, but also an intellectually vigorous, well-researched take on the changing times of the film industry” (The Guardian).
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501130668
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
From Vogue contributor and Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, a personalized guide to eighties movies that describes why they changed movie-making forever—featuring exclusive interviews with the producers, directors, writers and stars of the best cult classics. For Hadley Freeman, movies of the 1980s have simply got it all. Comedy in Three Men and a Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future; all a teenager needs to know in Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and Mystic Pizza; the ultimate in action from Top Gun, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; love and sex in 9 1/2 Weeks, Splash, About Last Night, The Big Chill, and Bull Durham; and family fun in The Little Mermaid, ET, Big, Parenthood, and Lean On Me. In Life Moves Pretty Fast, Hadley puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decade’s key players, genres, and tropes. She looks back on a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, where children are always wiser than adults, where science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with giddy excitement. And, she considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about society’s changing expectations of women, young people, and art—and explains why Pretty in Pink should be put on school syllabuses immediately. From how John Hughes discovered Molly Ringwald, to how the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy, and how Eddie Murphy made America believe that race can be transcended, this is a “highly personal, witty love letter to eighties movies, but also an intellectually vigorous, well-researched take on the changing times of the film industry” (The Guardian).
John Hughes: A Life In Film
Author: Kirk Honeycutt
Publisher: Race Point Publishing
ISBN: 1627886230
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
"I stumbled into this business, I didn't train for it. I yelled "Action!" on my first two movies before the camera was turned on." - John Hughes John Hughes wrote 46 movies, produced 23, and directed 8. He never went to film school, never spent time studying film and its history, but was unusually adept in three key areas -- writing, directing and producing. Classics like Mr. Mom; Sixteen Candles; The Breakfast Club; European Vacation; Weird Science; Pretty in Pink; Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Uncle Buck; Christmas Vacation; Home Alone; and Beethoven will forever live on in the history of film. Launching the careers of Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and James Spader, and working with greats like John Candy and Chevy Chase, John Hughes's influence can still be felt today. John Hughes: A Life in Film, by Kirk Honeycutt, former chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary writer and director, and includes fresh interviews with Judd Nelson, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Columbus, Steve Martin, and more.
Publisher: Race Point Publishing
ISBN: 1627886230
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
"I stumbled into this business, I didn't train for it. I yelled "Action!" on my first two movies before the camera was turned on." - John Hughes John Hughes wrote 46 movies, produced 23, and directed 8. He never went to film school, never spent time studying film and its history, but was unusually adept in three key areas -- writing, directing and producing. Classics like Mr. Mom; Sixteen Candles; The Breakfast Club; European Vacation; Weird Science; Pretty in Pink; Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Uncle Buck; Christmas Vacation; Home Alone; and Beethoven will forever live on in the history of film. Launching the careers of Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and James Spader, and working with greats like John Candy and Chevy Chase, John Hughes's influence can still be felt today. John Hughes: A Life in Film, by Kirk Honeycutt, former chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary writer and director, and includes fresh interviews with Judd Nelson, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Columbus, Steve Martin, and more.
The Breakfast Club
Author: Elissa H. Nelson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113481447X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 171
Book Description
The Breakfast Club is a quintessential teen film. This book analyzes how multiple factors coalesced to solidify the status of The Breakfast Club as one of the most emblematic films of the 1980s and one of the most definitive teen films of the genre. The film brings together genre-defining elements – the conflicts between generations and peer pressure, archetypical characters and breaking down stereotypes, the celebration and survival of adolescence, and the importance of this time in life on the coming-of-age process – and became a significant moment for John Hughes as an auteur and for teen films in the 1980s. More than just embodying these elements of the genre, filmmaker Hughes and the Brat Pack stars helped introduce and popularize multiple generic features that would come to be expected with the teen film formula. The content of the film combined with its context of production in the middle of a boom in teen filmmaking in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the marketing that focused on contemporary music, peer group dynamics, and oppositions between Generation X and baby boomers, merged with an enthusiastic reception by youth audiences. Its endurance speaks to the way the film’s level of importance as a critical, commercial, and influential film with tremendous impact has grown since its initial debut.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113481447X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 171
Book Description
The Breakfast Club is a quintessential teen film. This book analyzes how multiple factors coalesced to solidify the status of The Breakfast Club as one of the most emblematic films of the 1980s and one of the most definitive teen films of the genre. The film brings together genre-defining elements – the conflicts between generations and peer pressure, archetypical characters and breaking down stereotypes, the celebration and survival of adolescence, and the importance of this time in life on the coming-of-age process – and became a significant moment for John Hughes as an auteur and for teen films in the 1980s. More than just embodying these elements of the genre, filmmaker Hughes and the Brat Pack stars helped introduce and popularize multiple generic features that would come to be expected with the teen film formula. The content of the film combined with its context of production in the middle of a boom in teen filmmaking in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the marketing that focused on contemporary music, peer group dynamics, and oppositions between Generation X and baby boomers, merged with an enthusiastic reception by youth audiences. Its endurance speaks to the way the film’s level of importance as a critical, commercial, and influential film with tremendous impact has grown since its initial debut.
John Hughes and Eighties Cinema
Author: Thomas A. Christie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781861713988
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
JOHN HUGHES AND EIGHTIES CINEMA John Hughes is the acclaimed writer and director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink and many other classic movies of the 1980s. This book is the first full-length analysis of all of John Hughes's films throughout the 1980s; not only the features that he directed, but also those for which he provided the screenplay. By analysing these pictures and discussing their social and cultural significance in the wider context of the decade, Hughes's importance as a filmmaker will be considered, and his prominent contribution to cinema assessed. The book concludes with a detailed analysis of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a film which is considered to be among Hughes's most critically successful works and also one of his most structurally refined. REVIEW ON AMAZON If like me, you were fortunate enough to live through and grow up during the 80's and early 90's, you'll remember just how rich comedy was back then. This book on it's own puts most comedies of the modern era to shame as it is a homage to one of the most talented minds in the game. I am of course speaking of none other than the late great John Hughes. This is a great book for getting into the details of how a master of his art came about and created such cinematic gems. Hughes will be sorely missed which is why books like this keep his spirit and work alive I'd say this book is for people who are nostalgic 20-somethings or cinema buffs, but all-round a good book for just about anyone who would like to know what made one of the funniest minds of Hollywood tick. EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION Today John Hughes is just as well known for the scripts he created for hugely popular family films throughout the 1990s, including Chris Columbus's blockbuster Home Alone (1990), Brian Levant's Beethoven (1992) and Nick Castle's Dennis the Menace (1993), written under his pen-name of Edmond Dantes. But even these accomplishments couldn't compare to the artistic diversity of his output throughout the eighties. Although it is easy to remember Hughes for his meteorically successful teen movies right the way through the including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day (1986), he was every bit as adroit in his handling of suburban satires such as Mr Mom (1983) and Uncle Buck (1989), his wry observations of the great American holiday in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and The Great Outdoors (1988), the trials of an exasperated everyman commuter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and the expectation of anxious new parents in She's Having a Baby (1988). Throughout the course of Hughes's career, there has rarely been a lack of variety in his choice of subject matter.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781861713988
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
JOHN HUGHES AND EIGHTIES CINEMA John Hughes is the acclaimed writer and director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink and many other classic movies of the 1980s. This book is the first full-length analysis of all of John Hughes's films throughout the 1980s; not only the features that he directed, but also those for which he provided the screenplay. By analysing these pictures and discussing their social and cultural significance in the wider context of the decade, Hughes's importance as a filmmaker will be considered, and his prominent contribution to cinema assessed. The book concludes with a detailed analysis of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a film which is considered to be among Hughes's most critically successful works and also one of his most structurally refined. REVIEW ON AMAZON If like me, you were fortunate enough to live through and grow up during the 80's and early 90's, you'll remember just how rich comedy was back then. This book on it's own puts most comedies of the modern era to shame as it is a homage to one of the most talented minds in the game. I am of course speaking of none other than the late great John Hughes. This is a great book for getting into the details of how a master of his art came about and created such cinematic gems. Hughes will be sorely missed which is why books like this keep his spirit and work alive I'd say this book is for people who are nostalgic 20-somethings or cinema buffs, but all-round a good book for just about anyone who would like to know what made one of the funniest minds of Hollywood tick. EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION Today John Hughes is just as well known for the scripts he created for hugely popular family films throughout the 1990s, including Chris Columbus's blockbuster Home Alone (1990), Brian Levant's Beethoven (1992) and Nick Castle's Dennis the Menace (1993), written under his pen-name of Edmond Dantes. But even these accomplishments couldn't compare to the artistic diversity of his output throughout the eighties. Although it is easy to remember Hughes for his meteorically successful teen movies right the way through the including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day (1986), he was every bit as adroit in his handling of suburban satires such as Mr Mom (1983) and Uncle Buck (1989), his wry observations of the great American holiday in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and The Great Outdoors (1988), the trials of an exasperated everyman commuter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and the expectation of anxious new parents in She's Having a Baby (1988). Throughout the course of Hughes's career, there has rarely been a lack of variety in his choice of subject matter.
Mainstream Maverick
Author: Holly Chard
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477321292
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
The first scholarly book on John Hughes examines Hollywood's complex relationship with genre, the role of the auteur in commercial cinema, and the legacy of favorites such as Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477321292
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
The first scholarly book on John Hughes examines Hollywood's complex relationship with genre, the role of the auteur in commercial cinema, and the legacy of favorites such as Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Dagger John
Author: John Loughery
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501711075
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 521
Book Description
Acclaimed biographer John Loughery tells the story of John Hughes, son of Ireland, friend of William Seward and James Buchanan, founder of St. John’s College (now Fordham University), builder of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, pioneer of parochial-school education, and American diplomat. As archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York in the 1840 and 1850s and the most famous Roman Catholic in America, Hughes defended Catholic institutions in a time of nativist bigotry and church burnings and worked tirelessly to help Irish Catholic immigrants find acceptance in their new homeland. His galvanizing and protecting work and pugnacious style earned him the epithet Dagger John. When the interests of his church and ethnic community were at stake, Hughes acted with purpose and clarity. In Dagger John, Loughery reveals Hughes’s life as it unfolded amid turbulent times for the religious and ethnic minority he represented. Hughes the public figure comes to the fore, illuminated by Loughery’s retelling of his interactions with, and responses to, every major figure of his era, including his critics (Walt Whitman, James Gordon Bennett, and Horace Greeley) and his admirers (Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln). Loughery peels back the layers of the public life of this complicated man, showing how he reveled in the controversies he provoked and believed he had lived to see many of his goals achieved until his dreams came crashing down during the Draft Riots of 1863 when violence set Manhattan ablaze. To know "Dagger" John Hughes is to understand the United States during a painful period of growth as the nation headed toward civil war. Dagger John’s successes and failures, his public relationships and private trials, and his legacy in the Irish Catholic community and beyond provide context and layers of detail for the larger history of a modern culture unfolding in his wake.
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501711075
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 521
Book Description
Acclaimed biographer John Loughery tells the story of John Hughes, son of Ireland, friend of William Seward and James Buchanan, founder of St. John’s College (now Fordham University), builder of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, pioneer of parochial-school education, and American diplomat. As archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York in the 1840 and 1850s and the most famous Roman Catholic in America, Hughes defended Catholic institutions in a time of nativist bigotry and church burnings and worked tirelessly to help Irish Catholic immigrants find acceptance in their new homeland. His galvanizing and protecting work and pugnacious style earned him the epithet Dagger John. When the interests of his church and ethnic community were at stake, Hughes acted with purpose and clarity. In Dagger John, Loughery reveals Hughes’s life as it unfolded amid turbulent times for the religious and ethnic minority he represented. Hughes the public figure comes to the fore, illuminated by Loughery’s retelling of his interactions with, and responses to, every major figure of his era, including his critics (Walt Whitman, James Gordon Bennett, and Horace Greeley) and his admirers (Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln). Loughery peels back the layers of the public life of this complicated man, showing how he reveled in the controversies he provoked and believed he had lived to see many of his goals achieved until his dreams came crashing down during the Draft Riots of 1863 when violence set Manhattan ablaze. To know "Dagger" John Hughes is to understand the United States during a painful period of growth as the nation headed toward civil war. Dagger John’s successes and failures, his public relationships and private trials, and his legacy in the Irish Catholic community and beyond provide context and layers of detail for the larger history of a modern culture unfolding in his wake.