From Publishers Weekly The sins of the father resurface in the struggles of the son in Meyers's rollicking double biography of the charismatic movie star Errol Flynn and his equally handsome son, Sean. The life of the elder Flynn is, of course, well known. A native Australian, Errol worked as a gold prospector, pearl diver and correspondent for the Sydney Bulletin before being "discovered" by a Warner Bros. agent. He took America by storm with such classics as Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. A "Byronic figure," he seduced hundreds of women, brawled with bums and stars alike and consumed astonishing amounts of drugs and alcohol. Inevitably, Sean's much briefer biography suffers by comparison. Only in intermittent contact with his father, Sean grew up to be a B-movie star in Europe in the early 1960s (including a stint as the "Son of Captain Blood") before becoming a freelance photographer in Europe and Vietnam. Both men came to sad, gruesome ends: Errol wasted away from substance abuse; Sean was captured at a Vietcong checkpoint and later executed. As a biographer of Humphrey Bogart, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others, Meyers is well-equipped to chronicle the fabulous self-destructiveness of the devil-may-care Errol and his dashing son. Despite an obvious affection for his subjects, he doesn't shrink from exposing their less attractive features, including Errol's statutory rape trial (a scandal that brought "in like Flynn" into the popular lexicon). Despite the odd structure Errol's hefty life is sandwiched between thin sections about Sean Meyers offers an entertaining, disheartening look at two fascinating men who flew too close to the sun. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Literary critic and biographer Meyers (Hemingway, etc.) traces the tragic similarities between Hollywood legend Errol Flynn and his son Sean, a freewheeling war photographer who died in the Vietnamese conflict. Errol Flynn's decadent lifestyle is legendary, and semifictional accounts abound, including his own My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Meyers wisely takes a factual approach without minimizing his subject's infamous excesses regarding drinking, drugs, and sex. He gives equal attention to lesser-known aspects of Errol Flynn's life, such as his youthful adventures in 1920s New Guinea and his efforts as a serious writer. Meyers's research sheds light on Errol Flynn's various scandals some personal (his 1943 statutory rape trial, which downgraded his celebrity to notoriety) and some political (a close friend turned out to be a Nazi spy; Flynn later became involved in the Cuban revolution). This double biography loses its momentum, however, in the three chapters covering Sean Flynn's short life. As much a thrill seeker as his father, Sean embraced the Vietnam experience and was eventually captured and killed by the Vietcong while working as a journalist. The passages on Sean are revealing but eventually distracting; the parallels between father and son are not made as obvious as they should be, and the central chapters on Errol Flynn could have stood alone. Recommended for libraries with strong collections of Hollywood biographies. Elizabeth Morris, Otsego Dist. P.L., Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
