Master of the "mockumentaries" Waiting for Guffman
(1997) and A Mighty Wind
(2003), Guest is an original, and Muir, who has written books on the films of Kevin Smith, Sam Raimi and others, does a superb job of illuminating Guest's qualities as person, performer and director. Responsible for the definitive rock and roll spoof, 1984's This Is Spinal Tap
, Guest emerges as an honest, affectionate satirist, claiming, "I am drawn to people who have dreams that are slightly out of reach." Muir points out his subject's talents as clarinet, mandolin and guitar player, and traces his career from off-Broadway appearances in Jules Feiffer's 1971 Little Murders
and 1973's Lemmings
, a show that also starred Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Stockard Channing. Guest, son of a CBS records executive and husband of actor Jamie Lee Curtis, was heavily influenced by his early idol, Peter Sellers. The book's knowledgeable study of Guest's filmmaking methods includes details of editing "eighty hours of film for a ninety-minute movie"; conducting handheld, relatively static interviews; and leaving "live background" noise on the soundtrack. The great value of reading about this quirky creator is absorbing his message, which applies to moviemakers and laymen alike: blaze your own path and have enough self-belief to buck the tide of conventional opinion. Photos. (Nov.)
