River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind - Last Night at the Viper Room

I had been looking for a biography on River Phoenix for awhile and this seem to be the best out of a select few. Didn't like the writing style, flip flops back and forth...between River Phoenix, other actors at the time and The Viper Room. About half way through I gave up on reading it, which is extremely rare for me with books.

A poorly written surface biography of a very compelling figure in American cinema, couched in an awkward narrative that unsuccessfully blends the subject's contemporaries in an unsatisfying stew. Avoid.

(nb: I received an Advance Review Copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss)

I remember watching the news on October 31, 1993. I didn't usually watch the evening news--I was always either working or at happy hour--but this was a Sunday, so I was probably doing laundry and nursing a hangover.

I remember watching the news on October 31, 1993 only because the anchor reported that both River Phoenix and Federico Fellini had died. It seemed oddly fitting that two such bookending film personae died the same day.

Fellini was 73, and he'd enjoyed a long, celebrated career, winning five Oscars and creating a style so unique, it spawned its own adjective: Felliniesque.

River Phoenix, though. My God, I thought, he was only 23. He had obvious talent, although most of his films didn't show it, and he could have been one of the greats, if only...

Gavin Edwards's "Last Night at The Viper Room" fills in the "if only" in one of the best biographies I've read this year.

In his day, River Phoenix was portrayed as "The Vegan James Dean," and there was something Dean-like about him. Back in the late 1980's and early 90's, his story was fairly well-known. His parents were hippies who moved to South America as part of some weird cult, and they named their kids things like River, Liberty, Rain, etc. Also, River was a big environmental activist, plus a vegan and animal rights supporter. He spoke out against drug use, and seemed like a nice--if quirky--kid.

The drinking was first. Then came the drugs: weed, at first, then cocaine, then heroin. Between his breakout in 1986's Stand By Me [HD] and his OD just seven years later, River Phoenix spiraled hard into substance abuse. His appearance changed. The once strong, handsome young star showed up for auditions with his skin looking almost gray. His clothes were dirty and worn. Some of his last performances were almost unintelligible. His reputation in Hollywood was tarnished; he had trouble finding good films. Finally, he collapsed and died outside The Viper Room.

"Last Night at The Viper Room" charts River's short life, from his birth to nomadic hippie parents all the way to the bitter end.

That's what biographies do, but the wonder of "Last Night at The Viper Room" is that it does more than provide a truckload of facts. Author Gavin Edwards shows remarkable verve and style, taking this book far beyond the dry tedium of many biographies. Edwards wrote extensively for "Details" and "Rolling Stone" magazines, and his style here shows much of the hip, rock & roll journalism pacing one finds in a good, extended magazine piece.

I was drawn-in to "Last Night at The Viper Room," and before I knew it, I'd read it in one sitting. It is an addictive book.

Edwards draws on dozens of sources and personal interviews for this work, and his documentation is fastidious. He portrays Phoenix's life not only in a recitation of facts, but in anecdotal quotes from those who best knew the actor, those who worked with him, dated him, befriended him, loved him. In all of their stories, they express dismay at what they saw this talented young actor doing to himself.

Make no mistake, this is a very sad book. River Phoenix had a short, tragic life. His family relied upon him to be the breadwinner. His Hollywood stardom was their golden ticket. River wasn't always comfortable as an actor--he mainly just wanted to play his guitar and sing--but the money was too good. In some roles, he found a way to express himself through his art. Other times, he was just going through the motions.

When he died, some people thought River Phoenix would be like James Dean, a handsome young star who died tragically young, but whose fame would live on forever through his work. That didn't happen with River Phoenix. James Dean is still a legend; River Phoenix is an afterthought who died two decades ago.

His life is immortalized, though, in "Last Night at The Viper Room." From birth to death, it's all right here. Even just for the few hours it took me to read this book, Gavin Edwards brought him back, and once again made me wonder what River Phoenix could have been, if only...

Most Highly Recommended

Review also posted at Diamond&Coal Book Reviews ([...]

I honestly can't say I was a fan of River when he was still alive - mostly because I was only three years old when he overdosed. But no matter if you follow someone's career in real time or after the fact, there are some artists, actors, musicians, writers, etc. that just managed to captivate you no matter what. The first time I saw River Phoenix was at the age of eleven when I saw Stand By Me. His performance (the whole movie, really) was so entirely honest that I was hooked on watching him. The air of mystery that shrouded him has only intrigued me even more as an adult. So when I saw that there was going to be a biography published about him, I knew I absolutely had to read it. I had to learn more about River than the almost tangible nothing that I already 'knew.'

Gavin Edwards manages to do something extremely interesting with this book. He strikes a very nearly perfect balance of pop culture biography and personal biography. This book is just as much about River and his troubled youth/death as it also manages to be about his entire generation of fellow actors. Edwards gives us interesting facts about the ways River not dying would have affected the movie industry. Young Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn't have been in Basketball Diaries or The Man In The Iron Mask. Christian Slater wouldn't have been the interviewer in Interview With a Vampire. Would his brother Joaquin still be as famous as he is today? There are definitely some interesting what-ifs that this book presents to the readers.

All of the information about River's nomadic childhood, the sexual abuse he suffered and how he was the family's sole means of support for quite some time was heartbreaking. Add in the slow decline of becoming addicted to drugs, self-sabotage and unhappiness and things become that much worse. Edwards managed to describe the drug abuse without in any way AT ALL romanticizing it and actually managed to make reading about it cause me to feel sick to my stomach. The interviews with friends, family, girlfriends and even just people who barely knew who he was (like Johnny Depp, who only saw him at the club the night of the overdose) all lend to the bigger picture of the book, but also give us detailed information about River himself. We got to learn about his vegan lifestyle, the awkwardness of who he was in general. River wasn't even sure if he wanted to act anymore, actually being more interested in a band that he formed with some friends and one of his sisters, called Aleka's Attic. He was also good friends with lots of musicians (including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers). This read very personal, almost like a story instead of straight, cold hard non-fiction. I was happy about that, because it's how I prefer my biographies/autobiographies to read. I like feeling like I'm being told something with some feeling behind it.

Overall, this book gives us as readers a good window into the life of one interesting young man, full of potential that was wasted by an early death. Also, it gives us insight into an entire generation of young Hollywood and the way it developed into what we're familiar with today. I did like that while River's drug abuse/addiction wasn't romanticized it also wasn't the book's focus. Instead we got to focus on the life leading up to it and the fact that no one even knew he was in that downward spiral. I will always wonder 'what if' he had lived, grown older and made more movies. What would he look like, what career choices would he have made? Obscurity, TV Star or film, movies or music? I guess we'll never really know.

VERDICT: 4.5/5 Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, and imprint of Harper Collins, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published October 22nd, 2013.*

My son and I recently watched "My Own Private Idaho," and we got to talking about River Phoenix and the other movies he made. I couldn't remember all the details about his life, other than that he had an unconventional upbringing and died of an overdose. So, I read this book to refresh my memory.

Gavin Edwards has an engaging, sometimes amusing style. He offers a lot of detail and has clearly done his homework. The picture he paints is a River as interesting as a 23 year old could be: this young man was smart, sensitive and talented. He faced a lot of challenges in his short life: he was dyslexic, had been sexually abused, and his recreational drug use turned into a full-scale addiction.

His parents (with all the little Phoenixes, or Bottomses, as they were called then) were hippies who joined a cult and traipsed around the Americas, which put a damper on any kind of formal education. When River started getting good paying movie opportunities, he became financially responsible for the family, while still in his teens.

I liked the way Edwards weaves accounts of other actors from that era into his narrative. Johnny Depp, Leonardo diCaprio, Keanu Reeves, and several other now-household names were River's contemporaries. It was interesting to read how their parallel career tracks developed.

This is a fast read, and there's no index. Also, an appendix with more specific information about River's filmography would have been helpful.

"Last Night" really puts River's Hollywood into context. I like knowing the stories behind stories, and if you're curious about River's journey, you'll like this book, too.

How sad that such a gifted young man died at the beginning of what should have been a long and fruitful career. I hope River's death has at least served as a warning to other young people who might be tempted to experiment with drugs.

River Phoenix didn’t make a lot of films during his short life, but this lack of quantity is more than offset by the outstanding quality of his work. In “Last Night At The Viper Room,” author Gavin Edwards tells the story of Phoenix’s life, career, and untimely death. Unfortunately, while Edwards’ work is factual and briskly paced, it provides little new insight into the life of one of the best young actors of the 1980s and early ‘90s.

To be honest, there’s very little to be learned from “Last Night At The Viper Room” that one won’t learn from watching one of the many television programs that have explored Phoenix’s life. In fact, parts of the book almost feel like the author lifted his content directly from the aforementioned TV shows. While there’s nothing wrong with this approach to fact-gathering, the author owes it to the reader to reveal significant new information about the book’s subject, or at least explore the rehashed subject matter in greater depth. “Last Night At The Viper Room” doesn’t accomplish either of these goals.

Although Edwards provides little new information about Phoenix, I did learn a few interesting facts from “Last Night At The Viper Room.” For instance, I always thought that Phoenix was an intravenous drug user who died of an overdose after shooting up. As “Last Night At The Viper Room” explains, however, Phoenix actually drank the cocaine-and-heroin-laced cocktail that ended his life. Also, while Edwards remains diplomatic throughout the book, he doesn’t pull many punches when describing Phoenix’s dippy parents or the kookiness of Hollywood. Toward the end of the book, Edwards describes the bizarre, self-serving memorial services that were held for Phoenix after his death. According to Edwards, most of the people who attended these memorials were completely lacking in introspection about the tragedy and espoused a c’est-la-vie attitude about a death that was completely preventable. After reading this section of the book, it’s easy to understand how a sensitive, profoundly talented young man ended up dead on a filthy West Hollywood sidewalk at the age of 23.

The bottom line: “Last Night At The Viper Room” isn’t a bad book and it will provide readers with a few hours of escapist entertainment. Nevertheless, the book would’ve been much better if the author had gone into more depth with his stories about Phoenix, spent less time discussing the careers of other actors (many of whom had little or no connection to Phoenix), and explored more thoroughly why a kid who grew up performing on the streets became an international icon.

Way back when, River Phoenix was the object of my massive, teenage crush. Depending on your age, you might be nodding your head in agreement, or you might be asking yourself: “Who in the hell is that?” For those of you in the latter group, you might be more familiar with his younger brother, Joaquin Phoenix. River Phoenix was a child star who grew into a successful, Oscar-nominated actor until he overdosed outside of a Hollywood nightclub in 1993, at the age of twenty-three. My crush was over by that point, but I remember being so surprised, because the story line about Phoenix was that he was a clean-living vegan, and the idea that he died of a drug overdose was unthinkable.

Last Night at the Viper Room examines Phoenix’s brief life, beginning with his upbringing in what could politely be called a commune, but would more accurately be described as a cult. Sexual abuse of children was common and even encouraged, and Phoenix was a victim. In an all-too-familiar theme, Phoenix’s family tried to turn all their children into starts, beginning by forcing them to conduct musical performances on the streets for money. River soon became the family breadwinner when he began to land legitimate acting jobs. Today, we could create an endless list of fallen former child stars, but in the early nineties, before websites like TMZ exposed bad behavior for all to see, Phoenix was able to keep his drug addiction a secret from the public. Even while he wasted away and became more of a liability on film sets, he promoted his supposedly healthy lifestyle in interviews. All around him were the enablers who ignored the problem, because they were dependent on him for income: his family, his manager, his various directors. His death could not have come as a surprise to any of them.

Because Phoenix’s life was so short, Last Night at the Viper Room is equal parts biography and a look at the society in the early nineties among Phoenix and his acting peers, including Johnny Depp, who owned the nightclub where Phoenix overdosed. The book charts the early careers of other young actors at the time, including Depp, Brad Pitt, and Keanu Reeves, and the less successful/more depressing cases like Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. There’s not a a great deal of new information here, although it’s clearly well-researched and well-sourced. Missing are interviews with any of Phonenix’s family members, but that is not terribly surprising. I don’t think this book would be very interesting to people who aren’t already aware of Phoenix, unless they have a particular interest in the young celebrity culture of the early nineties. But for me, it was both an interesting and depressing path down memory lane.

I've always liked River Phoenix. He was a beautiful man and a good actor in the right parts with the right directors, although he didn't live long enough to have the career he could've had. As the primary financial supporter for his family, he took the movies he was offered and quality of script and director didn't always factor in. I like to think that if his career trajectory had been longer he would've truly shined much as his brother, Joaquin Phoenix, has (River thought Joaquin was the most talented in the family). Maybe I have a special fondness for both him and Keanu Reeves because they were in Gus Van Sant's brilliant My Own Private Idaho, one of my all-time favorite movies.

Last Night at the Viper Room is a decent celebrity biography, exploring River Phoenix's brief life and untimely death with stops along the way to visit other people with whom his life was intertwined. More than a biography of Mr. Phoenix, this is really about the times - the glorious nineties when more was more. Mr. Edwards does justice to Mr. Phoenix's childhood, touching on the family's ties to the Children of God cult and the damage that was done to their children because of their involvement. It's a sad and cautionary tale about choices and the context within which they are made. I wish Mr. Edwards had been better able to piece together the last day of Mr. Phoenix's life, but since I read this in tandem with Bob Forrest's Running with Monsters I already knew what happened. How sad for a life to end seizing on the sidewalk in front of friends and family with the terror of bad publicity and the paparazzi hanging over the entire event. I'm glad I read this book, but I'll remember River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho, falling asleep by the side of the road, helpless and sad but still fighting on.

I really enjoyed this book. Like another poster said, I enjoyed the parts about other celebrities at the time because it took me back and I knew exactly where I was in my own life because of remembering exactly what was happening in pop culture with all of these celebs I grew up with. It's been 21 years since River died and when I started the book I couldn't have told you whether it happened in the 80's or 90's. I always believe a book is only good if you come away feeling like you had just spent a good deal of time with the subject when you put the book down. This book did that for me. I felt like I had just lost a friend at the end and had the urge to find some of his movies and watched them. Such a sad and short life. He was destined to be one of the greats when the lights went out. A waste of wonderful talent.

I was always interested in the bio of River Phoenix, I am glad I purchased this on my kindle. I saw many of Rivers movies and enjoyed most of them, thinking "now there is a good looking kid" kind of quirky acting, but with his looks will probably go far in Hollywood. Shame, all his good looks and talent landed in the hands of drugs.

The chronology, format, quotes, and analysis of River's life in this book verges on plagiarism of this other work:

Lost Hollywood Times Short Phoenix

It may be because there is a limited amount of material that any book about Phoenix can make use of, but this work doesn't seem to add much to our understanding of the actor and his life. The author's premise, that River's life was emblematic of the period's boyish/rebel/idealistic pinup hunks, and that he intersected with many growing movements and great hollywood and music industry figures (the environmental movement, grunge, Curt Cobain, Leonardo DiCaprio), is a very interesting one, but it seems undeveloped by the end of the book. This is probably because despite being in the spotlight, Phoenix lived in a time when paparazzi and media were less intrusive, and because he was ultimately very mercurial, thus making it hard to pin his story and identity down. One thing the author does well is avoid the otherwise ubiquitous apologizing for his friends and family who failed to intervene when it was clear that drugs were a problem that other writers have engaged in. The folks Phoenix was close with often claim that he was such a good actor it was impossible to see the addictions. They also tried to paint his death as a beautiful, predetermined thing (his mother in particular tried to make him a martyr, arguing that he died Christ-like so that the world could be saved by seeing all of the missions Phoenix felt deeply about). The final chapters do a good job of identifying all the places where someone should have intervened instead of continuing to use his fame, money and friendship while turning a blind eye to his severe problems.

Last Night in the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards is a Harper Collins Publication and was released in October 2013. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

IF THE SKY THAT WE LOOK UPON SHOULD TUMBLE AND FALL

"Chris Chambers was the leader of our gang, and my best friend. He came from a bad family, and everybody knew he'd turn out bad- including Chris."

That was Richard Dreyfuss, narrating as the adult Gordie Lachance, described the character in Stand by Me that made River Phoenix a star.

Last Night at the Viper Room is the story of River Phoenix. His unconventional upbringing, his real passion for music, and then fame and fortune, and death at the age of 23.

River was actually his given name. His parents were in a hippie religious cult and their kids were totally cut off from society as most people knew it. River was eight years old and still had never attended school. He never did really attend a regular school. He didn't watch television or have the experiences most of us have growing up. He adhered to his parent's strict vegan diet and was an animal rights activist.

Music was always River's first love and passion. Acting came along and he didn't take it all that seriously at first. He was his family's bread winner and acting was just a means to an end.
River always had a band going and had even carried his guitar with him to the Viper Room the night he died.

As his acting skills developed and he became more famous, it went without saying that River was heading for big things in his acting career. He really did have a natural ability as an actor. At the time of his death he was just on the cusp of really breaking loose.
But, the more money he made and the more people in the entertainment business he rubbed elbows with, the more access to drugs became available. River had maintained his clean living lifestyle up to a point. Once he started using drugs he had no control over his indulgence.

The Viper Room was a famous club on Sunset. It had weathered many changes over the years. The actor, Johnny Depp had a part ownership in the club and basically used it as a VIP club for all his famous friends. The place had a reputation for always having a full house. On any given night you could find Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, or Timothy Leary, or members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, models, actresses, and other entertainment personalities.

On the night in question, River was out with his brother and sister. He was given a drink by a guitarist friend and he swallowed in one gulp. He overdosed on a what is known as a speedball, the same deadly combination of cocaine and heroin that killed comedian John Belushi.

The story is a old one. Young, rich, and independent. The moneymaker for the family, and too many people looking the other way. I don't know if his upbringing or the people he knew through fame and acting were to blame for his downfall into drugs. The shocking allegations regarding the cult his parents were members of would be enough to cause severe damage in anyone. His isolation from society and constant relocation would also make it hard for someone to fit in. Having no real parental supervision, River stayed with other families, looked for a father figure on every job, and longed to be a part of something. Once people surrounding him began to suspect he had a real substance abuse problem, no one wanted to approach him about it, not even his own mother, who appeared more interested in being his manager than his parent.
The night he died, people kept saying someone should call 911. But, they were all assured River was alright, while he was have seizures every twenty seconds and banging his head against the pavement.

This young, beautiful man was just so incredibly talented and had so much promise. Despite his lack of formal education, he was so smart and caught onto things that others couldn't comprehend. Deep down in his soul, he was a good person or wanted to be. His thoughtfulness shone through even when he was out of his mind on drugs.

Anytime I finish reading a book like this, I'm left feeling not only sad, but angry and frustrated. This was a person that people should have been watching. Someone that should never have fallen through the cracks. But, no one had the courage to step up to the plate. Yes, it is said that there were some attempts at interventions, but no one really took those hard steps that you have to with a drug addict, and on the night he died, people basically stood around and watched him die, more worried about saving his reputation as an actor than saving his life.

The layout the author used to tell the story was really unique. I liked that fact that we went chronologically through River's life. It's just easier to see how things evolved that way. But, it was also interesting that the author set the stage for each chapter in River's life by reminding us of what was happening in that time in Hollywood with other young actors. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, and Iona Skye. Also, the music scene was explained since River was often playing music and had a group he played with, and he was friends with Michael Stipe and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
River's association with Johnny Depp was minor and the two didn't know each other all that well. The media played up Depp's association with the club when River died on the scene.

The author did fine job of telling this story. Again, it is always important when you take it upon yourself to write this kind of book, to not only do the research and interviews etc. But, also to keep yourself from leaning toward a certain view point. The author kept his own personal viewpoint out of the book and told the story of this young man's tragic life as it should be told.

A very compelling read, and one I recommend to all who like performance arts books, non- fiction, biographies, or are a fan of this era of entertainment or if you would just like to remember River Phoenix.

Overall this one is an A.

Last Night in the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards is a Harper Collins Publication and was released in October 2013. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I was a bit dubious about another biography on River, having read a few over the years. But this is a little different, exploring not just his life and death but other lives of up and coming stars at the time. The insights into River's world are very interesting; it doesn't sugar coat his life like other biographies have - it appears to be a very honest book that's very well written.

The story itself is very interesting, and I like how the author tied in bits and pieces of the lives of River's contemporaries. Some of it, however, just seemed like page filler, not really relevant or interesting. Still, a good read and a tragic story.

Interesting, but doesn't necessarily paint him in the best light as an actor. I actually respect him less as an actor after reading this. Also, too many meaningless details about other actor that had nothing to do with River.

This book is the equivalent of standing in line for a movie you've been dying to see and having a person walk by while loudly discussing the end of the film. It's an ok read, River led an interesting life, but the spoiler alerts annoyed me so much I could not finishing it.