The Full Burn: On the Set, at the Bar, Behind the Wheel, and Over the Edge with Hollywood Stuntmen

by Kevin Conley

Overview

In The Full Burn, acclaimed journalist Kevin Conley goes inside one of the coolest - and most dangerous - jobs in the world. With bravura storytelling and full access to many of the legends of the field, Conley gives a behind-the-scenes view of the stuntman's life: the history, the culture, and the tricks of the trade, showing how-and why-stuntmen do what they do.
He even subjects himself to the stuntman's rite of passage -- the book's eponymous stunt -- in which he is doused in jellied gasoline and set aflame. This is truly immersion journalism at its finest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608196487
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/15/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	712,887
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Kevin Conley is the author of the national bestseller Stud: Adventures in Breeding. A former editor at The New Yorker, he has written for GQ, Sports Illustrated, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Amy, and their four children.

Table of Contents

Prologue     1
The Art of the Crash     5
Nine on the Balls Meter     18
Is There a Problem, Officer?     36
Gravity and Blondes     51
The Craziest Stuntman in the World     64
Wonder Women and Titty Twisters     90
One Wide, One Tight, Good Luck     130
Skid and Burn     165
I Never Saw This in Hooper     185
Epilogue     207
Acknowledgments     213

Editorial Reviews

In this brisk and entertaining look at Hollywood stuntmen, Conley (Stud: Adventures in Breeding) offers a close look at a daredevil community. Describing the physical skills, exacting preparation, and cinematic challenges, Conley, like his subjects, makes even the glass-smashing, metal-crushing car chases in the Bourne movies (starring Matt Damon) seem easy, as if avoiding certain harm were only a matter of craft and timing. From chapter to engaging chapter, Conley blends film history with his subjects' realistic assessments of athleticism, sexism, death and technological innovations of the mechanical and computerized kind. The most memorable (and humorous) exchanges come, though, from the stuntmen themselves: the seasoned pro who confesses his biggest enemies to be "gravity and blonds" and a stuntwoman who endures a wardrobe malfunction while filming the '70s-era TV series Wonder Woman. In fact, Conley develops such an impressive camaraderie, access and feel for the stunt world that his newfound friends prep him to set himself aflame in an attempt to do "the full burn," the stunt that gives the book its title. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

Conley offers a comprehensive look at the dangerous world of stunt performing, which has rarely been explored from the inside out. He not only illuminates the risks at hand (culminating in his actually performing the title stunt) but also shows the impact of these risks on the performers' marriages, families, and relationships. This is not a study of stunt work, per se, but a contemporary window into the lives of the performers. History is told through their stories, but the text focuses on the physicality involved in today's landscape where computer-generated imagery (CGI) renders traditional stunts either more mundane (as when human participation is used for stock scenes like a person driving fast on a closed set) or more extreme (in competition with CGI effects). Conley's experience as a journalist for the likes of GQ and Sports Illustrated shines through; the interviews read like live audio clips, though they do contain some questionable language. This lively and entertaining look into a specialized world is highly recommended for all academic and public libraries.
—Peter Thornell

Library Journal

Adult/High School- Conley visited the sets of action films to talk with Hollywood stuntmen and -women and to report on the elaborate preparations and precautions that allow heart-stopping feats to be done safely. Performers talk about their lives on and off film sets and recall some of the best, the worst, and the craziest stunts they and their colleagues have enacted. They provide insider tips on how to break into the business and how spectacular falls, car crashes, and other stunts are planned and executed. While the book's format could seem repetitious (another chapter, another stuntman, another set of reminiscences), the stories are so interesting that it's difficult to stop reading. The author transmits his fascination for the profession, and readers come away with knowledge and respect for those actors for whom tumbling head over heels down a staircase or falling off a galloping horse is all in a day's work. Movie buffs will enjoy the inside information and thrill-a-minute tales.-Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

With the panache of a seasoned sportswriter, former New Yorker editor Conley (Stud: Adventures in Breeding, 2002) takes readers through the action sequences and behind the scenes into the lives of the world's legendary stunt professionals. Most viewers have seen only their backs as they flip cars, screech brakes, fall from bridges or bolt through walls of flame. Conley shows us their faces, fears, flubs and passions. Gone are the Keystone Kops days when Hollywood's rowdy gag masters (a "gag" is what they call the dangerous stuff) were recruited from rodeos and the circus, winged it on the set and paid the price with frequent trips to the hospital. Generations later, in the age of extreme sports, high-tech action and professional stunt elitism, the grandsons and daughters of the originals carry on. Hanging out with well-known stuntpeople like Ronnie Rondell, Jeff Galpin, Mike Kirton and Debbie Evans, among many others, Conley extracts the stories behind Hollywood's most celebrated gags from the industry's most prominent adrenaline addicts. On the sets of The Bourne Supremacy, Tarantino's Death Proof and The Dukes of Hazzard movie, he tracks down trends and learns how old-school players adjust to the times. In breezy, conversational prose, the author casually fuses a good measure of history with after-shoot barstool shoptalk from the legends. He even includes a hands-on chapter with a step-by-step lesson in how to perform spinouts a la The Italian Job in the comfort of one's own cul-de-sac. Not content with mere observation or interviews with directors, actors, coordinators and career stuntmen, Conley goes for active participation. At one point, he gets himself soaked head-to-toe withgasoline and set aflame just to earn the book's title, giving an all-new meaning to the term "immersion journalism." Despite the temptation to glorify, his account remains levelheaded and evenhanded. An exhaustive survey that glows with insider/outsider appeal. Agent: Tina Bennett/Janklow & Nesbit

Kirkus Reviews