Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind

Gavin Edwards

Oct 2013 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

A biography elucidating the Academy Award–nominee’s meteoric rise, his tragic end, and his legacy.

At the dawn of the 1990s, a new crew of leading men—Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Keanu Reeves, and Brad Pitt—was rocketing toward stardom. River Phoenix, however, stood in front of the pack. But behind Phoenix’s talent and beautiful public face was a young man who had been raised in a cult by nonconformist parents, who was burdened with supporting his family from a young age, and who eventually succumbed to addiction, dying of an overdose in front of the Viper Room, West Hollywood’s storied club, at twenty-three.

Last Night at the Viper Room is part biography, part cultural history of the 1990s, and part celebration of a Hollywood icon gone too soon. Full of interviews from his fellow actors, directors, friends, and family, this book shows the role River Phoenix played in creating the place of the actor in our modern culture and the impact his work still makes today.

Ratings and reviews

Very informative book. It's definitely an interesting read. I learned a lot of new information about River that I didn't know before. The only thing about this book that I didn't understand was at times it goes onto topics that aren't relevant to River, I found it to be a waste of story time when this book is supposed to be about River's life... But overall I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend anyone who is interested to read it 😊

I only give it 3 stars because I only read a sample but it was amazing ! I have a deep deep burden for River Phoenix for some reason and I just get a rush of emotions when I see his face . I honestly have no clue as to why . I'm 18 & he wasn't in my era at all but I loved him in stand by me and I felt so connected to his character it shattered my heart when I researched him and found out he had died . I think I cried ! I wish he was still here . Love how everyone explained him with so much passion !

It's educational but definitely boring overall. It was much harder to keep going through the book. I do appreciate that there is a closing on everyone after the death.

About the author

Gavin Edwards is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone who has written five articles for the magazine about Blink-182 for the magazine since 1999. He is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and their two sons.