Dessert with Orson

My Lunches with Orson is essentially a series of transcripts of the table conversations between independent film-maker Henry Jaglom and that great genius of film, theater and abrasive commentary. Orson Welles had the fortune to be well-known but the misfortune to be known best for what he despised. By the time these lunches took place, mention of his name was more likely to inspire references to "We will sell no wine before its time" then Citizen Kane yet Welles remained passionately interested in film and even his most off-hand opinion is interesting.

Gossipy, opinionated Welles was a bitter man in the 1980s. He was not politically correct. He did not let little things like facts influence him. He mythologized his own past but could be brutally honest about his own behavior. Whether he's holding forth on his opinions of Hitchcock or Wolfgang Puck, Welles is thought provoking. The gentle-spirited Henry Jaglom was the perfect counterpoint to the brilliantly, entertainingly bitter Welles, checking his most outrageous statements. Some of their exchanges are truly laugh out loud funny.

This book will be pure ambrosia for the serious film fan.