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Silver Screen Fiend

Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film

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 The instant New York Times bestseller from author, comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, a “heartfelt and hilarious” (USA TODAY) memoir about coming of age as a performer during the late 1990s while obsessively watching classic films at a legendary theater in Los Angeles. “[Oswalt has] a set of synapses like a pinball machine and a prose style to match” (The New York Times).

Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt lived with an unshakable addiction. It wasn’t drugs, alcohol, or sex: it was film. After moving to Los Angeles, Oswalt became a huge film buff (or as he calls it, a sprocket fiend), absorbing classics, cult hits, and new releases at the famous New Beverly Cinema. Silver screen celluloid became Patton’s life schoolbook, informing his notion of acting, writing, comedy, and relationships.

Set in the nascent days of LA’s alternative comedy scene, Silver Screen Fiend chronicles Oswalt’s journey from fledgling stand-up comedian to self-assured sitcom actor, with the colorful New Beverly collective and a cast of now-notable young comedians supporting him all along the way. “Clever and readable...Oswalt’s encyclopedic knowledge and frothing enthusiasm for films (from sleek noir classics, to gory B movies, to cliché-riddled independents, to big empty blockbusters) is relentlessly present, whirring in the background like a projector” (The Boston Globe). More than a memoir, this is “a love song to the silver screen” (Paste Magazine). Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Performing Arts Social Sciences Celebrity Comedy Entertainment Classics Funny Memoir Biography Addiction Memoirs
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an excellently written, brilliantly read memoir that's funny, moving and wholly enjoyable from start to finish.

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I quite enjoyed spending some time with Patton and know I'd find him and infectious presence in real life. The book is quite slim and at times feels a little overwritten, but his passion for film is something we share and was a joy to feel in good company. His section on the night cafe was a night cafe moment in itself and changed the way I think about my own life and the cause and effect of all things. With moments like this its hard not to forgive any shortcomings. I look f

Pretty solid.

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At first I was confused as to what was going on but soon after I got into the life of Patton and wanted to know what came next.

interesting story told well

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