Living Dangerously

The Adventures of Merion C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong

By: Mark Cotta Vaz

Narrated by: Patrick Cullen

Explorer, war hero, filmmaker, and cinema pioneer Merian C. Cooper, the adventurer who created King Kong, was truly larger than life. Spellbound since boyhood by tales of life-threatening adventure and exotic locales, Cooper plunged into harrowing expeditions to places not yet civilized by modern man.

In addition to producing King Kong, he was the first to team Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers, arranged Katharine Hepburn's screen test, collaborated with John Ford on Hollywood's greatest Westerns, and then changed the face of film forever with Cinerama, the original "virtual reality."

He returned to military service during World War II, flying missions into the heart of enemy territory.

This book is a stunning tribute to a two-fisted visionary who packed a multitude of lifetimes into 80 remarkable years, and whose greatest desire was always to be living dangerously.

©2005 Mark Cotta Vaz (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

" Living Dangerously is a wonderful addition to the literature of movies and popular culture but, on a personal level, it allowed me to understand the man who made the movie that had such a powerful effect upon me." (Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings and the latest version of King Kong)

A life that should’ve been put on film

It goes without saying that Cooper’s life should’ve been put on on the screen as much as his creation King Kong. From fighting the Germans in World War I, to escaping a Soviet prisoner of war camp to helping the Chinese help fight the invading Japanese, Cooper was a real life hero That should be remembered more than the pale comic book imitations.

WOW

At the end when Fay revisited the Empire State Building, it made me get teary eyed... it was really quite touching...