Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock-'n-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood »

Peter Biskind is the author of three previous books, including Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'n' Roll Generation saved Hollywood. He is a contributor to Vanity Fair and was formerly the executive editor of Premiere magazine. He lives with his family in Columbia County, New York.

In the not-too-distant future, massive climate change has wracked the globe. China’s rice-growing regions have been devastated by typhoons, while its western breadbasket is suffering from three years of drought. Riots threaten to tear the country apart. With the old-guard Chinese government paralyzed by the crisis, a young, charismatic party leader steps to the fore. His solution to the unrest is a time-tested one — conquest of China’s neighbors.

And after that, the world.

Josh MacArthur, a mild-mannered American scientist studying climate change in northern Vietnam, is the only witness to a clever attempt by the Chinese to make it appear that Vietnam started the war. Escaping a massacre, he manages to gather critical evidence that could turn world opinion against China.

Unfortunately, the Chinese learn of MacArthur’s survival, and of the information he carries. A former Ch’an fighting monk turned commando is sent to capture him. Mara Duncan, a CIA agent, is also on MacArthur’s trail. The American scientist has become the subject of a deadly race in the jungles of northern Vietnam, with the fate of the world in his hands.

Publishers Weekly

The former executive editor of Premiere offers a juicy and supremely entertaining overview of the birth of new Hollywood in the 1970s (producing films like Nashville, Chinatown, Harold & Maude, Jaws, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, TheGodfather and Star Wars), which was wonderfully creative but short-lived. The artists celebrated sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll onscreen and off, which partially explains why so many high-flying careers crashed. Dick Hill's invigorating narration is so animated that he seems to be enjoying the sordid and funny mixture of gossip and history as much as any listener. The combination of Biskind's shrewdly written definitive history and Hill's unflagging energy makes this a great way to spend 24 hours. A Simon & Schuster paperback. (Dec.)

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	Introduction: Knockin' on Heaven's Door	13
1	Before the Revolution	23
2	"Who Made Us Right?"	52
3	Exile on Main Street	81
4	The Moviegoer	110
5	The Man Who Would Be King	141
6	Like a Rolling Stone	169
7	Sympathy for the Devil	197
8	The Gospel According to St. Martin	225
9	The Revenge of the Nerd	255
10	Citizen Cain	286
11	Star Bucks	316
12	Coming Apart	346
13	The Eve of Destruction	376
14	"We Blew It"	408
	Cast of Characters	441
	Selected Filmography of Directors (1967-1982)	447
	Notes	449
	Index	483
	Photo Credits	507