In Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi, Bob Woodward wrote about the meteoric rise of John Belushi from his first acting forays in the play Lemmings as a college student from Wheaton, IL to improvisational comic at The Second City theater in Chicago. Beginning in 1975, he became a star as an original cast member of Saturday Night Live's Not Ready For Prime Time Players. Before his death in 1982, Belushi had ascended to superstardom as a leading actor and top box office draw in such films as National Lampoon's Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Continental Divide, 1941, Neighbors, and Goin' South.
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The biography of one of the era's great comedic talents is a depressing and sad story of a life cut short at age 33 due to an overdose of heroin and cocaine. Mr. Woodward illustrates how much promise and potential was wasted by the rampant use of drugs, alcohol, and questionable behavior by chronicling much of Belushi's life in and out of the public eye. He reprises many of the scenes for which Belushi was so famous. The last days of John Belushi's life show the dangers of stardom and perils of drugs when his life spiraled out of control.
The review of this Book prepared by David Fletcher
