Born in London in 1943 into an Irish working-class family, John Healy became a criminal and alcoholic before discovering chess, yoga and a gift for autobiographical writing in the Charles Bukowski manner. This documentary on his life, and how the 1988 memoir The Grass Arena made him famous, is fascinating. His subsequent fall from grace, partly, it's said, as a result of threatening to kill senior figures at his publishers, Faber & Faber, remains puzzling and part of the Healy enigma.
DocumentaryPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
DocumentaryPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
- 5/27/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Paul Duane has created an enthralling documentary portrait of former criminal and tournament chess player John Healy
In 1986, Faber published The Grass Arena, a stunning memoir of life on the streets by John Healy, a former vagrant, violent criminal and tournament chess player who'd been taught the game in prison: it was a bestseller that became a film. Healy was unprepared for the whirl of celebrity, and for the letdown afterwards when Faber didn't want any more books. He began showing up at the publisher's offices and in an explosion of temper, threatened to attack everyone with an axe. Terrified executives severed relations, and Healy remained out in the cold until The Grass Arena was re-issued as a Penguin Classic in 2008. To mark that occasion, Healy gave a reading for his fans, and I can be glimpsed among them in this enthralling documentary movie-portrait by Paul Duane. Healy is a lonely,...
In 1986, Faber published The Grass Arena, a stunning memoir of life on the streets by John Healy, a former vagrant, violent criminal and tournament chess player who'd been taught the game in prison: it was a bestseller that became a film. Healy was unprepared for the whirl of celebrity, and for the letdown afterwards when Faber didn't want any more books. He began showing up at the publisher's offices and in an explosion of temper, threatened to attack everyone with an axe. Terrified executives severed relations, and Healy remained out in the cold until The Grass Arena was re-issued as a Penguin Classic in 2008. To mark that occasion, Healy gave a reading for his fans, and I can be glimpsed among them in this enthralling documentary movie-portrait by Paul Duane. Healy is a lonely,...
- 5/24/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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