Girth of a Nation
Jerry Stahl on Hollywood’s first scandal
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Such as?
A house I lived in on Benton Way was a block away from the house Fatty lived in on Coronado Street with his first wife and her parents. My first encounter with fame when I came to Hollywood was when my ex-wife was working at a producer’s house that used to be John Candy’s home. When I sat on the toilet seat, I thought, John Candy sat here.
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What did you learn from your research?
Hollywood was a place for prostitutes who couldn’t find work. So much has changed. [Here Stahl takes a final sip of his tea.]
We haven’t become more tolerant, it’s just that prurience has become more legitimized. Public self-destruction has become a wing of show business, and Arbuckle was its involuntary founder.
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I, FATTY |By JERRY STAHL | Bloomsbury | 256 pages | $24 hardcover
Jerry Stahl will read from I, Fatty at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, on Thurs., July 22, at 7 p.m; Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., on Sat., July 24, at 7:30 p.m; and Barnes & Noble, 1201 Third St., Santa Monica, on Tues., July 27, at 7:30 p.m.
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