Clintonian
Rhapsody Joe
Eszterhas drops out, tunes in and turns out a raunchy story of Clinton, sex
and Hollywood
By James Poniewozik Los Angeles
In the living
room of his sumptuous Point Dume villa--overlooking the Pacific Ocean and built,
meta-phorically, on the comely flesh of Elizabeth Berkley and the famously flashed
nethers of Sharon Stone--grizzled screenwriter and author Joe Eszterhas is explaining
the imperative of not treating women as sex objects. "If we yearn for a better
America, that sensitivity is all important," he says. "We must work toward a
society where we show a respect toward human beings and view them as human beings
and not pieces of meat."
That was Joe
Eszterhas, the high-priced scribe who riled women, gays and critics with such
sex thrillers and cheesy erotica as Basic Instinct, Sliver and Showgirls. He
is talking, though, about the Bill ClintonMonica Lewinsky affair that is the
subject--along with the journey of the baby boomers, the mingling of politics
and show biz, and an Ahab-like fixation on his star and sometimes nemesis Stone--of
his audacious book of (mostly) nonfiction, American Rhapsody (Macmillan; 432
pages).
Eszterhas'
obsession with Clintoniana began in 1997, when after doing ceaseless publicity
for two movies, the high-profile, volatile writer got sick of his public persona--"one
night I was flipping through channels and saw myself three times"--and decided
to drop out. Lying low in Maui with his wife Naomi and their three sons, Eszterhas
left the phone unplugged and thought about his writing career, his public life
and his relationships.
With the requisite
hubris of a Hollywood multimillionaire, he decided that his personal problems--the
serial philandering in his first marriage, the compromises for success and fame--were
best paralleled by those of none other than the President. Like other boomers,
Eszterhas regarded Clinton as his own: America's "first rock-'n'-roll President."
When the scandal
broke, Eszterhas saw that epithet's flip side. "Men of my generation in their
hearts wanted to be rock stars," he says. "[Clinton's] relationship with women
has been exactly the rock star's relationship--even, if you want to get specific,
down to fellatio, which is always what happens backstage with rock stars and
groupies." In Clinton, for whom Eszterhas voted, he saw the erotic liberation
of the '60s devolved into junk-food sex. In Kenneth Starr & Co., he saw Puritan
culture warriors out to eject the baby of tolerance with Clinton's filthy bathwater.
Eszterhas
became "a red-eyed couch potato," glued to the news. He read everything he could
find about Clinton. He read the Starr report. He read the Linda Tripp and Lewinsky
transcripts. And he wrote page after cramped longhand page of "riffs" that eventually
began to look like chapters. The result, after 21Ž2 years, is a feverish mix
of '70s Rolling Stoneesque gonzo punditry, juicy show-biz anecdotes and fictional
soliloquies from the likes of Bill, Hillary and--capping off the book à la Molly
Bloom in Ulysses--"Willard," the nickname, according to Gennifer Flowers, of
the President's penis. (Why? "It's longer than Willie.")
Especially
in the aftermath of Edmund Morris' Reagan biography Dutch (in which the author
created a fictional narrator and events), the latter device is a lightning rod
in a book that already invites controversy with its unapologetic raunchiness.
Yet Rhapsody lambastes Oliver Stone for mixing fact and fiction in JFK and Nixon--"utter
and absolute lies." The difference, the author contends, is that his fictions
are set in a different typeface. The book had an exhaustive libel vetting, yet
even the nonfiction often picks up hearsay--like rumors linking Clinton with
Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand--and the book is marketed as "nonfiction."
Say this for
Rhapsody: it's better than Jade--often funnier, more nuanced and insightful than
one would expect, given Eszterhas' screen oeuvre. The first third of the book
cleverly ties together Clinton's political-sexual résumé and boomer cultural
history. And while some monologues are caricatures--Starr comes across as a clichéd
Elmer Gantry--others, such as Al Gore's reminiscence of Tipper, are well imagined,
even touching. But much of his punditry is secondhand--that Clinton is "the first
black President," that he may have worn one of Monica's ties as a signal to
her. And it's not the most original observation to say politics has become like
show biz. We're told that Clinton was fixated on Stone, that he had Hollywood
bigs stay in the Lincoln Bedroom, that he was a fan of Eszterhas' movies. This
isn't cultural criticism; it's more like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Rhapsody does
merit an adjective few have attached to Eszterhas projects: moral. And its indignation
cuts both ways. He calls impeachment a "figurative assassination," but would
he vote for Clinton again? "No. He's made this a better America. But what I
find unforgivable finally is the lying."
Some have
guessed that post-President Bill will take an exec spot at DreamWorks. Eszterhas
doesn't. "Reagan learned all about the presidency through Hollywood," he says.
"Bill Clinton may be just the reverse. But I don't think he'll end up with the
black Dodge Ram and David Geffen's masseur and the girl with the nipple ring
waiting for him at the end of the day. I certainly don't wish that upon him."
C
O V E R COVER: Why Marry
When You Can Stay Single?
Once, women who were still "on the shelf" at 35 resigned themselves
to a life of bleak solitude. For today's young women, staying single seems
not only bearable but increasingly desirable.
Mom
on her own: Deciding to have a child is one thing. Raising
one is another
A
S I A THE
PHILIPPINES: Web of Frustration
As one group of hostages nears freedom, a new hostage is taken
E
U R O P E FRANCE:
Jospin's Minefield
Protests and a walkout put the Prime Minister on the defensive
A
F RI C A SOUTH
AFRICA:
A Fistful of Troubles
President Thabo Mbeki discusses the continent's challenges
U
S A CAMPAIGN 2000:
Can Dubya Get Serious?
As Gore surges, Bush has to prove he can compete on the issues
S
PO R T ATHLETICS:
Meet Mrs. Jones
America's queen of track and field is ready for her close-up
T
H E A R T S BOOKS:
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas spins his own version of the story of Bill
and Monica and Ken and Linda CINEMA:
Richard Corliss goes on a film bender in Toronto MUSIC:
Elastica ends a five-year silence with The Menace
