The only flaw of this book is the unnecessary chapter on the abysmal "St. Elmos Fire." Gora collects some great information about Hughes, and throws in enough of her own personal insights into 80's and 90's to make this book a significant document of the 80's teen genre. This is not something I would expect from Premiere magazine.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Susannah clearly has an enormous appreciation for John Hughes and his work as shown by the depth of her information. It was amazing to hear stories from the actors about things I had no idea about and found their insights throughly fascinating. The movies are timeless and although John Hughes is no longer with us (RIP) his work continues to live on through his fans and their love for his movies which represent a time and a place (the 80's) like no one else.

Did you know John Hughes wrote the first half of Ferris Bueller's Day Off in just 6 hours late one night? I didn't. This is just one tidbit of all the great trivia and insight available in Ms. Gora's book. For those who didn't live in this era the appeal may be less but for a teenager who grew up when Hughe's amazing teen films were made, this is a perfect fit. You get behind the scenes insight many of his classic movies (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink & Say Anything). Any person in their late 30s and early 40s who has aped the line, "Bueller, ...Bueller" will identify and enjoy this book.

Ms. Gora covers not only John Hughes, but the actors that helped define the 80s generation. She is an intelligent and captivating writer who clearly lovers the subject matter, and I sped through this book in no time. When done I felt there could have been more, but perhaps I just wanted to continue with this guilty pleasure. For it's sparse coverage of Hughes Wierd Science (one of my faves) and other omissions, I have to dock it a star. I felt John Hughes the director, creator and human could have been explored a bit more too. Otherwise I found it to be the wonderful light read. Gen Xers, this book is for you!

Even if you aren't a big John Hughes fan, there is a lot in this book that is worthwhile, as the author goes beyond a narrow focus John Hughes and discusses the impact of his movies on a generation and filmmakers that followed, such as Cameron Crowe. There are plenty of behind the scenes anecdotes about the making of Hughes's films, and insights into the principal figures that are revealing without being too gosippy. The author works from her own interviews as well as research to tell a detailed story of the career of John Hughes, but also gives us cultural analysis and places these films in the context of their time as well as film history. The chapter on the effects of the magazine article that coined the term " Brat Pack" is particularly interesting, and the author has good analysis of how VHS and soundtrack music helped make these movies touchstones for teens of the time. A good mix of reporting and analysis makes this book a pleasure to read.

I had to stop reading this book halfway through. The first few chapters brought back great memories of two of the great ground-breaking teen films of the 1980s: "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club", one madcap but still touching, the other dark but a disturbingly accurate portrayal of teenagers.

But then as the book continued it became clear that any critical analysis of John Hughes' work was to be neglected in favor of a 300+ love letter to Mr. Hughes.

Let's be clear: John Hughes made some great films, but he also made some drek. But the author is too busy swooning over these films. I knew I was in trouble when she was going on and on about how wonderful "St. Elmo's Fire" was.

"Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club" have undoubtedly become part of our collective consciousness, at least if you were young in the 1980s. But I do not know anyone who has such feelings for the overly sentimental, poorly written, and over-acted "Pretty in Pink". The author notes that this was the last of the "Molly Ringwald" trilogy, but does not consider that perhaps this was because "Pretty in Pink" (even with the pandering re-done ending) was not well-received.

Admittedly, I did know one girl who told me she and her friends watched "St. Elmo's Fire" at least once a year and knew all the lines, but I remember thinking: "How lame." "St. Elmo's Fire" just seemed like a group of young actors posing. Poorly written. Uninteresting.

So I could not stand to read the second half of this love letter to John Hughes.

Ok, sorry for the bad pun, but I couldn't resist, and it really is a great book. I'm a child of the 80's, so this book was especially interesting for me. I was surprised to learn that the term "Brat Pack" was actually meant in a derogatory way, it was the result of a mean spirited article in The New Yorker. At the time, I just thought it was a clever way to refer to young actors, just a play on words, because of the "Rat Pack." I was probably a naive kid, but I actually thought of it as a compliment. I could be wrong, but I don't think much of the general public knew of the article at the time, or had any negative feelings toward this talented bunch of actors. The internet wasn't around yet, and no one I knew read The New Yorker, but that article had a real and lasting impact on these actors. Hollywood producers knew about it, and the actors felt branded. It's a shame, because a lot of these actors were so talented, if that article really did have something to do with them not getting as much work as they should have, I would really like to punch the "journalist" that wrote it in the face! We lost out on decades of great performances because some hack writer was jealous (he admits as much in the book) of some young actors having a good time.

This book goes into great detail about the creative process behind all of the John Hughes teen films from the 80's. It really is a treasure trove of information, we are let in on the casting process, who was considered for what turned out to be iconic roles (John Cusack as Bender! Anthony Michael Hall as Duckie! Molly Ringwald as Watts! And a real head scratcher, Rick Moranis as Carl the janitor, with a goofy Russian accent! Boy, we dodged a bullet on that last one!).

If there's one thing I didn't like about the book, it's that I'll probably never be able to see John Hughes in quite the same way again. In many ways, he was an affable and charming man, but it also appears he could be petty and vindictive when he didn't get his way, unnecessarily so. But if that's what happened, it needed to be reported, warts and all. Even if he sold out to Hollywood in the 90's, and just produced lousy family films, his 80's work more than makes up for it.

If there's still any lingering doubt about these actors because of that ridiculous article, I hope it can be put aside and these actors be given another chance. I, and I would wager, many gen X'rs would happily pay to see Molly Ringwald headlining a movie. I agree with what Ally Sheedy was quoted in the book as saying, "Hollywood is really missing the boat with me." So true Ally, so true.

This is my first book to deal with the process of writing a screenplay to completing the filming of the movie and of the interesting things that go on in between. After the first few pages, I realized that - being a 60's teenager rather than a 80's teenager - I needed to see these movies. I have been able to find most of the movies and have enjoyed them. I believe that Ms. Gora's love for this period and for these movies certainly shows in the way she has written her text and is evidenced by the list of her interviews and references. Apparently much work has gone into this book.

A fascinating and interesting book! Susannah Gora gives us a wealth of information on all the 80's movies that we all loved. I was amazed at all the behind the scenes information that was gathered, as well as, the many, many interviews that Ms. Gora did with so many actors, producers, directors, etc. for all of the movies. She also gives a complete explanation on how the term "Brat Pack" came to be and the impact it had on many of these actors and actresses lives. If you are true movie buff of John Hughes and the 80's and early 90's teen films you will love this book. Ms. Gora has even given a thorough history on how many of the popular songs came to be a part of the movies we love. It will be a great nostalgic trip down memory lane for anyone who reads this book.