HORNS AND HALOS
Suki Hawley, Michael Galinsky | 2002 | USA | 60 min | DVD

Horns and Halos captures the unlikely connection of three men – a U.S. president, a discredited author and an underground publisher – whose paths to power and popularity become tangled in a book. In October 1999, a short article appeared in the New York Times: St. Martin’s Press recalled Fortunate Son, the first published biography of George W. Bush.

At the time of its recall, the book was #8 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list – no doubt due to the book’s widely publicised allegations that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972. However, Bush wasn’t the only one with a hidden past. Citing distrust of the author, J. H. Hatfield, the publisher pulled the book from stores after learning that he was a convicted felon. Several weeks later, small underground imprint Soft Skull Press, the self-styled “punk of publishing,” announced that it would re-publish the book. But getting Fortunate Son back on the shelves wouldn’t prove so easy.

George Cinemas - Monday 7th July 7.30pm