Strange As It Seems
The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Paralyzed from the neck down, Gordon Zahler rose from his deathbed to a fast-talking, Hollywood entrepreneur/idea man who traveled the world, lived hard, married, fantasized about water-skiing and chased his dreams to create one of the largest independent postproduction shops in Hollywood. While this is Jacobs' story about his coming to grips with his deformed uncle, himself and his mother, the silent victim to Gordon's recklessness, Strange As It Seems is also a tip of the hat to the man who turned his back on the notion of I can't.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Jacobs (The People's Republic of Chemicals) is an exceptional storyteller, and his lively look at the extraordinary career of Gordon Zahler (1926 1975) is a peculiar page-turner. Zahler, the author's uncle, achieved success on the margins of show business despite a spinal injury that left him using a wheelchair from age 14. Jacobs uses his investigative skills (while giving himself artistic license to invent dialogue and streamline the narrative) to craft an imaginative biography about this unusual figure, who carved out a distinct place in post-WWII Hollywood by repurposing the music of his father, Lee Zahler, a prolific film composer. Along the way, readers meet a colorful cast of characters, including animator Walter Lantz, actor Burt Lancaster, and fringe film directors Ed Wood Jr. and Samuel Fuller. Zahler's life was filled with difficulties, but Jacob refuses to frame his cantankerous uncle as a tragic figure and cleverly uses his story to expound on the larger history of his family. This fast-paced account of a life lived to its fullest is a triumphant tribute to Zahler as well as those who helped him through good times and bad.
