Includes index

"A Cappella book."

Introduction -- My first hit: Carrie -- Ten years earlier -- My first feature film -- Back to trailers -- My next big break: Benny -- Phantom and its horrors -- Obsession -- Star Wars -- The Fury -- King of the Gypsies, and, Home Movies -- The Empire Strikes Back -- Blow OUt -- The black is back -- Footloose in L.A. -- Protocol -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off -- The Secret of My Success -- Planes, Trains & Automobiles -- Steel Magnolias -- I become a studio bigwig -- Falling Down -- The trouble with Trouble -- Mission: Impossible -- Mighty Joe Young -- Mission to Mars -- Pluto Nash -- Lean times -- Ray -- A fallow stretch -- Back to the big time -- The elder statesman -- Postscript

This book "provides a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most influential films of the last fifty years as seen through the eyes of Paul Hirsch, the Oscar-winning film editor... Hirsch breaks down his career movie by movie, offering a riveting look at the decisions that went into creating some of cinema's most iconic scenes. He also provides behind-the-scenes insight into casting, directing, and scoring and intimate portraits of directors, producers, composers, and stars."--Dust jacket flap