Why people recommend it
Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger is an infamous, sensational expose detailing the purported scandals, tragic downfalls, and seedy underground secrets of early American cinema stars. Hussein Agha discussed the book on The Ezra Klein Show in an episode concerning the Israel-Hamas deal, offering Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon as a humorous reading suggestion for comic relief, despite acknowledging that many of its wild claims have been debunked and widely dismissed as nonsense. Similarly, Casey Pegram recommended Hollywood Babylon on Stuff They Don't Want You To Know during an episode exploring studio conspiracies behind the scenes of the silver screen. Casey Pegram described the book as a deep dive into the hidden, scandalous underworld of early Hollywood written by the recently deceased experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Both speakers recognized the cultural notoriety of the text, presenting it either as a guilty pleasure for comic relief or as a fascinating, albeit controversial, exploration of early cinematic mythology and celebrity gossip.
Who recommended it
- Hussein Agha Recommended
- Casey Pegram Recommended
Hussein Agha — 1 mention
“The third book for comic relief is um it's a book that I enjoy reading every now and then even though it's debunked and everybody says it's it's nonsense is Kenneth Angler's Hollywood Babylon.”
Casey Pegram — 1 mention
“there's a book called hollywoodbabylon by uh the recently deceased experimental filmmaker Kenneth enger and uh it kind of is a deep dive into this early Hollywood CD underground”