Searching for John Hughes, Jason Diamond
Searching for John Hughes, Jason Diamond
List: $21.99 | Sale: $15.39
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Searching for John Hughes
Or Everything I Thought I Needed to Know about Life I Learned from Watching '80s Movies

Author: Jason Diamond

Narrator: Roger Wayne

Unabridged: 7 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 11/29/2016


Synopsis

For all fans of John Hughes and his hit films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone, comes Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the iconic filmmaker’s movies—a preoccupation that eventually convinces Diamond he should write Hughes’ biography and travel to New York City on a quest that is as funny as it is hopeless.For as long as Jason Diamond can remember, he’s been infatuated with John Hughes’ movies. From the outrageous, raunchy antics in National Lampoon’s Vacation to the teenage angst in The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink to the insanely clever and unforgettable Home Alone, Jason could not get enough of Hughes’ films. And so the seed was planted in his mind that it should fall to him to write a biography of his favorite filmmaker. It didn’t matter to Jason that he had no qualifications, training, background, platform, or direction. Thus went the years-long, delusional, earnest, and assiduous quest to reach his goal. But no book came out of these years, and no book will. What he did get was a story that fills the pages of this unconventional, hilarious memoir.

In Searching for John Hughes, Jason tells how a Jewish kid from a broken home in a Chicago suburb—sometimes homeless, always restless—found comfort and connection in the likewise broken lives in the suburban Chicago of John Hughes’ oeuvre. He moved to New York to become a writer. He started to write a book he had no business writing. In the meantime, he brewed coffee and guarded cupcake cafes. All the while, he watched John Hughes movies religiously.

Though his original biography of Hughes has long since been abandoned, Jason has discovered he is a writer through and through. And the adversity of going for broke has now been transformed into wisdom. Or, at least, a really, really good story.

In other words, this is a memoir of growing up. One part big dream, one part big failure, one part John Hughes movies, one part Chicago, and one part New York. It’s a story of what comes after the “Go for it!” part of the command to young creatives to pursue their dreams—no matter how absurd they might seem at first.

About Jason Diamond

Jason Diamond is the sports editor at Rollingstone.com and founder of Vol. 1 Brooklyn. His work has been published by The New York Times, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The New Republic, The Paris Review, Pitchfork, Esquire, Vice and many other outlets. He was born in Skokie, Illinois, but currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife, his two cats and his dog named Max.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason on August 06, 2016

I guess I'm biased.......more

Goodreads review by Rob on January 08, 2017

This title does not even come close to capturing the truth about this memoir. John Hughes and his films are definitely a recurring element to this book but they are pretty limited and they are just a few of the numerous pop culture references made throughout this book. What this book is really is a......more

Goodreads review by Kristin on August 05, 2020

I feel like many of the low ratings for this book are because people wanted a different book than the one this is. This is a solid, heart-breaking memoir about an abused, abandoned kid who longs for the comfortable life portrayed in John Hughes movies. He gets the idea to write a book on Highes, spe......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on November 12, 2019

I always say that I don't miss being a kid because I actually got to be a kid, something I'm often very grateful to God for. I enjoyed being young, playing outside, arguing with my sisters, sharing a room with my younger sister, sleeping on bunk beds, making up games. Then, as I got older, it was go......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on February 10, 2017

This could have been called "Searching For Jason Diamond" as it's mostly a coming-of-age memoir about the author's own broken homelife and the many moments he self-sabotages his life until the subject of his fascination (John Hughes) dies just days before he's finally about to meet him. After all th......more