Midway between the satire of Spinal Tap and the pathos of American Beauty lies the schizophrenic state of mind known as hog fever. On the surface this is the story of a man, a motorcycle, and a teetering bank balance. But lurking beneath, occasionally visible like threads through faded denim, is the story of a man in search of freedom—or at least a last stab at it.
Motivated by the emasculating success of his British screenwriter wife and a love of Easy Rider and The Wild One, Robert Lourdes, a struggling American author on the cusp of forty, finds solace in the Harley-Davidson legend. Robert’s last-ditch effort to become part of his wife’s world ends in disaster when she blatantly co-opts his idea for a screenplay during a dinner party for a hideous Hollywood producer.
The arrival of Gabriella, a beautiful Italian production assistant with a Harley of her own, stirs in Robert the first tremors of a long-dormant passion. Confused and lacking the confidence to shed the marital skin, he takes further refuge in shiny accessories, rallies, and bigger Harleys, culminating in a 1,700-mile pilgrimage to the major biker rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Hog Fever is Robert’s comedy of errors as he embarks on a tattoo-and-testosterone-fueled quest to find himself.
In this enchanting memoir, Terence Stamp takes listeners with him on his unlikely journey from prewar London’s East End, where his birth heralded the unification of two Cockney clans, to the beginnings of the stardom that would transform his life.
A born storyteller, Terence looks back on his life with humor and affection for everyone from his beloved mother—whose unswerving conviction that he was special instilled in Terence a belief that his life would be different—to the teacher who informed him that he “would make a good manager at Woolworth’s.”
That was not to be. After winning a scholarship to the Webber Douglas Academy, Terence teamed up with another struggling actor, fellow Londoner Michael Caine. The two shared a mews house, running their lines together and sharing one suit for auditions. But the lean times were about to end.
“[Stamp is] a born writer.”—Sunday Times (London), praise for the author
In this second installment of Terence Stamp’s captivating memoirs, he takes us right into the heart of the swinging ‘60s. From his Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd to his coming of age under the direction of the legendary Federico Fellini, the “marmalade skies” are the limit. With beautiful women and beautiful people from London to California, Stamp captures the spirit of the decade. He was the face, the man to be seen with. And then the decade ended, along with his romance to famous model Jean Shrimpton. While the Beatles play their last concert on the rooftop of the Apple building in Mayfair, Stamp, unemployed and brokenhearted, boards a plane for a solo pilgrimage to India.
“[Stamp is] a born writer.”—Sunday Times (London), praise for the author
Rare Stamps offers a revealing insight into the life of an actor and the making of a man. Beginning with an Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd in 1962, Terence Stamp was called “the most beautiful man alive,” only to be discarded at the end of the decade with the words, “we’re looking for a younger Terence Stamp.” Soul searching, he traveled alone through India, staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel while studying above a public lavatory with a chain smoking guru, only to wind up back in London and broke by 1984.
Stamp’s is a journey rich with characters and adventure. From dining in Paris with Orson Welles to working with Marlon Brando; being directed by Steven Soderbergh or acting beside Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, and Matt Damon, Stamp has become an unbiased observer of his own life and the lessons gleaned from it. He writes about an actor’s intuition, confronting fear, developing the voice, learning the words and surrendering to the moment in order to achieve the nearly mystical “first take” in a style that is both personal and captivating. But perhaps the real beauty of Rare Stamps is that, time after time, he returns to a theme that has become his mantra for life: “Everything you need is in this moment.”
“[Stamp is] a born writer.”—Sunday Times (London), praise for the author
In this charming memoir, Terence Stamp speaks with affection and humor about a London East End childhood that began when the first bombs were dropped over Bow Cemetery at the start of the Battle Of Britain. Recalling his days in grammar school, when his teacher told him, "You would make a good manager of Woolworth's," and his father, a tugboat captain, said, "People like us don't do things like that (acting)." Winning a scholarship to the Weber Douglas Acting Academy before living in a mews house with Michael Caine while the two scraped for money, rationed food and shared clothes for auditions. Until the screen test for the lead role in Peter Ustinov's Billy Budd, an event that, for Terence Stamp, changed everything.
In this second installment of Terence Stamp's captivating memoirs, Stamp takes us right into the heart of the swinging '60s. From his Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd to his coming of age under the direction of the legendary Federico Fellini, the "marmalade skies" are the limit. With beautiful women and beautiful people from London to California, Stamp captures the spirit of the decade. He was the face, the man to be seen with. And then the decade ended, along with his romance to famous model Jean Shrimpton. While the Beatles play their last concert on the rooftop of the Apple building in Mayfair, Stamp, unemployed and broken-hearted, boards a plane for a solo pilgrimage to India.
Rare Stamps offers a revealing insight into the life of an actor and the making of a man. Beginning with an Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd in 1962, Terence Stamp was called "the most beautiful man alive", only to be discarded at the end of the decade with the words, "we're looking for a younger Terence Stamp." Soul searching, he traveled alone through India, staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel while studying above a public lavatory with a chain smoking guru, only to wind up back in London and broke by 1984.Stamp's has been a journey rich with characters and adventure, and nothing has gone to waste. Whether dining in Paris with Orson Wells; working with Marlon Brando; being directed by Steven Soderberg; or acting beside Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, and Matt Damon, Stamp has become an unbiased observer of his own life and the lessons gleaned from it. He writes about an actor's intuition, confronting fear, developing the voice, learning the words, and surrendering to the moment in order to achieve the nearly mystical "first take" in a style that is both personal and captivating. But perhaps the real beauty of Rare Stamps is that, time after time, he returns to a theme that has become his mantra for life, "Everything you need is in this moment."
