George Lucas: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series) Paperback – 1 Aug. 1999

Great seller, recommended

This is a collection of interviews with George Lucas, collected by Sally Kline from a variety of sources dating back to the early seventies. I found it extremely useful in writing my dissertation as the material in this book was practically unobtainable everywhere else I tried to look.From these interviews there is the clear perception of a man who is a tortured perfectionist, often having been (as he sees it) persecuted by the Hollywood studio system of the seventies, and how he overcame by escaping the rat trap, fleeing to San Francisco. There are also insights into a man who has evolved through various roles of cameraman, editor, director and producer and how his snowballing industries (ILM, Lucasfilm, Lucasarts Entertainment, Skywalker Ranch) have grown. There is also an interview with a reporter from Playboy, introducing an interesting insight to what some people might consider as a typically asexual personality.What I liked particularly about this book is the sense of awareness that one gets that there is a lot more to George Lucas than meets the eye; his own comments on the value of hard work and perseverance are apt as we learn how this one time teen-racer and drop-out turned out to be a conqueror of the universe!!All in all, this was an intriguing look by other people at the myth that surrounds this enigma, whose films (as the book highlights) shout volumes about his life, and who is much more than just the creator of the Star Wars universe.