When
The Force Isn't With You
"... The author's goal on his labyrinthine journey? To secure employment
somewhere in the Empire of Lucas.
... the short version of the review is that I was entertained from cover
to cover - it has injected variety in to my library, and maybe added a
little bit of motivation to my life. So I am passing on that
recommendation - this book is for anyone who has ever had a dream. Enjoy
Rich's memoirs, and in doing so, let them encourage you to do something
about the pursuit of your dream, today."
Matt Glasgow - Star Wars New Zealand
"...
It's
rough, almost impressionist in the way it jumps around and digresses,
but it reads very easily and you've got a good ear for hooks --
interesting bits of detail or information that keep a reader engaged."
Bill Buchanan - former editor of the Sacramento Business Journal
see the entire review at
SWNZ (or scroll down to read reviews by Bill Buchanan and Matt
Glasgow)
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For Three Decades (thirty
long years) I dreamed
of working for George Lucas, the man who has made the most significant impact to film
and entertainment in the past two centuries.
I dreamed of this for all or the right reasons and a few well
intentioned misdirected ones. Then my life took a turn for the
worse. And I believed;
If only I could get a job at
Lucasfilm, my life would change for the better.
If only I could get a job at
Lucasfilm, I’d be financially OK.
If only I could get a job at
Lucasfilm, my marriage would mend.
If only I could get a job at
Lucasfilm I’d be respected for my business acumen.
If only I could get a job at
Lucasfilm, I’d be discovered for my creativity.
If I could just get one foot in the
door at Lucasfilm, my life would be better.
I tried at least thirty
different times to get my resume over the wall. Some were rather
imaginative and some were in quiet desperation. I have an equal
number of reject letters. In the end, it took the wisdom of 120,000 cows and
one very special stone washed up on the beach in Cabo San Lucas for me to see what my
real dream had been all along. And, the wonderful thing about it
all, I did wind up being an invited guest of Skywalker Ranch.
With their help I was able to preserve a small piece of California's
rapidly disappearing history.
To find out more, well,
you'll have to buy the book. Buy your copy now (before my mom buys them all).
“So What Have You Done About It Today?”
Richard Neumann
Review by Matt Glasgow - SWNZ
Richard Neumann, the author of When the Force Isn't With You,
warns us early on that the writing style employed to communicate his
tale is loose and meandering. Don't let this put you off - it works well
as the collected anecdotes weave their way across the decades since
Star Wars, with the threads given commonality through a shared
objective: the pursuit of a dream. This is not a book about
Star Wars, George Lucas or ILM. It does, however, touch on all of these
entities; on a recurring basis and in a way that Star Wars fans will
easily relate to.
During the journey we are taken along to visit and find out the meaning
of The Egg Company, past the facade of Kerner Optical Labs,
and even to lunch at Skywalker Ranch. The author's goal on his
labyrinthine journey? To secure employment somewhere in the Empire of
Lucas. We follow the ups-and-downs of his career and life, repeatedly
brushing tantalizingly close to Lucasfilm...but the receipt of rejection
letters from various LFL human resource departments is a sustained
theme. Will his sheer persistence (categorically distinguished from
stalking!) win him the desired trophy? How will, to quote directly,
"120,000 cows and one very persistent stone" play their role...?
The autobiographical adventure is punctuated with trivia from a
multitude of fields. You'll find yourself accidentally learning about
George Lucas's adroitness for architecture, the selling points of the
Daimler SP250, the link between THX1138 and Gattaca,
and history behind the digital watch. The resulting narrative flows with
a cadence that carries the reader easily from event to event. The
unpredictability of the succedent chapters and story elements calls the
reader back, ensuring that their attention is held right to the very
end.
When the Force Isn't With You is independently published - an
achievement tied to the plot of the book itself. It lacks the
bullet-proof editing one might see in the product of a global publishing
company, but this adds to its charm, and conveys an honesty that further
engages the reader. This is unlikely the sort of book I would have read
if it hadn't been recommended to me. But, the short version of the
review is that I was entertained from cover to cover - it has injected
variety in to my library, and maybe added a little bit of motivation to
my life. So I am passing on that recommendation - this book is for
anyone who has ever had a dream. Enjoy Rich's memoirs, and in doing so,
let them encourage you to do something about the pursuit of your
dream, today.
Impressions of WTFIWY by William
"Bill" Buchanan
I've finished reading your book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's
rough, almost impressionist in the way it jumps around and digresses,
but it reads very easily and you've got a good ear for hooks --
interesting bits of detail or information that keep a reader engaged.
A famous writing teacher in journalism, Don Fry, calls hooks "golden
coins"--disclosures or developments the writer inserts every so often
to keep the story spinning forward, and are interesting enough on their
own to reward readers for sticking with the text. Typically they show
up at the end of chapter, or at the end of a section of chapter.
(This, by the way, is not the inverted pyramid style of writing we get
taught in J-school ... as Fry put it, writing in the inverted pyramid
punishes readers for sticking with a story, by making each paragraph
less important BY DEFINITION than the one before. But I digress.)
And there are places with good turns of phrase, such as when you talk
about your Los Gatos house bouncing stupidly in the earthquake. It's an
amusing image, and kind of fits the amused/exasperated tone of the book.
Partly I enjoyed the book just because I was interested to learn what
you've done. We were pretty constant friends there for a while and I've
wondered where life took you. The book tells me.
I also think that in the book you make about the best case for being an
accountant that I've read; you display the value of the work, and how
it can be creatively applied ("creative," in this case, meaning just
that, and not a euphemism for crooked). That's interesting.
And, you've had an interesting career. Probably easier to read about
than to experience, especially in the rough parts you lived through.
But you've had variety and tasted success, and you're only 50. Your
book shows your ability to make sense of what you've experienced, and
not be defeated by it. It also suggests that you enjoy bouncing around,
at some level (which makes the observation from your friend, that you
might have burned out on Lucasfilm if they HAD hired you, ring true).
I'm glad you included the speculation at the end as to why Lucasfilm
never hired you. It's a central question of the book. If you ever
revise the book, I'd suggest spending a bit more time on why they
consistently ignored you. Your letters to them are artful, and you have
a good resume, and you respected his privacy, and you're creative, and
other employers gave you important jobs. The evidence would make any
reader wonder, what's wrong with this picture? Any adult would probably
say, well, that's just the way life is, sometimes. But it's an
interesting question, worth a little more time.
Also, the continuing devolution of the replies from Lucasfilm--the
words unchanging, the format growing ever more indifferent--is
hilarious. Including them is a wonderful touch.
We're all still here, you and me and others from our class of '75,
still taking a whack at the opportunities of life. It'd be fun to
compare notes,
Bill
And If you Too have tried a creative
approach or two and been rejected, share your story. Check out:
When
The Force Isn't With You Too!
World Science Fiction
Convention
Toykyo, Japan 2007
Check out the flyer in Kanji
