I picked this book because I needed to know more about both the time period and Dennis Hopper. Especially Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward in this time period. This book absolutely delivered in an engaging way. The research put into this was fantastic.

Fascinating Hollywood tale. It was the 60's and its excesses are well documented here. These lives illuminate the times and pitfalls of early success.

The '60s were a crazy time is the thesis of a lot of books, and this is no exception. I was pretty familiar with Dennis Hoppers story in broad strokes, but the focus on his relationship with Brooke Hayward, someone I knew nothing about made this an intriguing read. Recommended for fans of the LA arts scene in the 1960s.

Hopper & Hayward.
Young, talented, passionate, cool and positioned at the very center of new era Hollywood.
LA in the 1960’s was a fast forming fusion of art, movies and music. Tucked within the Hollywood Hills at 1712 North Crescent Heights Boulevard was the home of Brooke Hayward and Dennis Hopper. A combination of beauty, brilliance and madness. Their home was the epicenter of all that was new, happening and controversial. It was a cultural explosion of ‘who’s who’ throughout this historically significant period. Joan Didion, Jane and Peter Fonda, the Black Panthers and Jack Nicholson were visitors spending time in the art filled rooms displaying Warhol, Ruscha and Lichtenstein. As the author states “Everybody wanted to be there” but nothing lasts forever. The madness of the times, Dennis’s career and affairs in the age of ‘Easy Rider’ would eventually lead to the end of this glamorous couple in a time that has never been replicated again.
Mark Rozzo’s wonderful book is as close to as ‘having been there’. It is a ride like no other that captures the essence of all that was.
Highly recommended.

This book exceeded my expectations - what started out as a biography of Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward evolved into so much more. I had read Brooke's memoir "Haywire" about her childhood (mother - famous actress, father - famous producer). This book not only gives us additional insight into the backgrounds of her life, but also of Dennis Hopper. We also learn a lot about the dynamics in their marriage - and to call it a roller coaster ride is not doing it justice. But the unanticipated part of the book for me was the way Mark Rozzo was able to really capture the zeitgeist of the 1960's art world in Los Angeles, the Bay Area and NYC. I felt I was there at the art openings and parties because of the vivid, detailed descriptions. Why this book exceeded my expectations is not only did we get a really good sense of the personalities of Dennis and Brooke (and their families) but also the context in which they were living and the creative forces surrounding their lives. This was a book I could not put down -- I could have read more. If you are a fan of art and film from the 1960's, of Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward and a fan of old Hollywood -- this book is for you.

Thank you to the publisher Ecco and Netgalley for the preview copy.

This is a quick read, it’s brevity belies it’s content. I knew very little about Dennis Hopper aside from Easy Rider. The book is about his marriage to Brooke Hayward, who I didn’t know at all. It’s also about the heyday of a Hollywood chaos during the 1960s with a veritable who’s who among the celebrities. I read with most interest about the couple’s upbringing and their origins.
If you’re looking for a good book On the Southern California crazy drug scene and mismatched relationships, look no more.

If you love the LA art scene, Hollywood, the sixties and seventies this is a good book for you! It was just a lot of fun and a great mix of both gossip and realism. A real story of relationships, art, drugs and jealousy.

I chose to read this book because I was intrigued by Dennis Hopper. This actor seemed the "dangerous type" and a kind of renegade. Strangely enough, the only movie I ever saw him in was from 1986 called "River's Edge" co-starring Crispin Glover, Ione Skye and Keanu Reeves. It was the kind of obscure, off the beaten path film that always seems to attract me. Dennis Hopper was scary in the role and I got the feeling it wasn't all an act, but an integral part of him. I also knew he had been married for only 8 days to Mamas and the Pappas band member and tv actress Michelle Phillips. I never knew of the actress Brooke Hayward who he was married to in the sixties. She was the daughter of a famous actress and her dad was a Hollywood and Broadway theatrical agent and producer. Apparently, she wrote a very successful memoir decades ago about her famous but dysfunctional family called "Haywire".

When these two married in the early sixties they were the vortex of that special thing that was happening out in LA involving art and music. They bought a house that famous musicians, artists and actors congregated at to experience this time of enlightenment. When Brooke gifted Dennis a Nikon camera it was a pivotal moment in Dennis's artistic development. From that point on, he passionately documented very important moments during this time such as concert festivals, protests, and other "happenings". Later on, these photos were published in books and shown in art galleries and museums. Dennis took an obsessive interest in abstract and pop art, a passion which Brooke shared. They were among the first to discover the talents of Andy Warhol in NYC, brought him to LA and purchased that iconic Campbell's Soup painting before anyone else took notice. Later, Dennis pitched the idea for what became the movie "Easy Rider", participating in the writing of the screenplay and directing the film.

The book dives very deep into Dennis Hopper's artistic spectrum and transformation, depicting a talented, intense and passionate soul. People like this can become difficult to live with, especially when violent outbursts and abuse of alcohol and substances occur. All this happened and the sizzling comet of this marriage eventually burned out- but glowing embers of love remained.

As I read this book I became overwhelmed by the sheer girth and breadth of research involving Dennis Hopper's cultural and artistic realm, and was a bit relieved when the advance reader copy surprisingly ended (in a beautiful way) at the 60% mark. You see, there was such an extensive bibliography and end notes that it took up the last 40% of the book! This was an excellent time capsule of a Hollywood marriage of soul mates during the sixties, covering a very interesting and important time in art, movies, culture and music.

Thank you to the publisher Ecco who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to read about the 1960s, Hollywood, Los Angeles, the movies, the counterculture, art, photography and real-life drama. Many thanks for the ARC.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Ecco for an advanced copy of this combination biography and history of the Los Angeles art scene.

Reading many biographies I have come across many couples that seem to belong together, but always seem to come apart in many of the same ways. Jealousy, misunderstandings, drugs, drink, family. All of the above would be the answer to why the relationship between Brooke Hayward and Dennis Hopper failed as detailed in Mark Rozzo's Everybody Thought We Were Crazy: Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward, and 1960s Los Angeles. More than just a biography , the book is a portrait of a time where the work that was involved in both making art of any form, and love and relationships took work, and that work was far more important than anything. If the work suffered, something would have to go. Unfortunately love always seemed to lose out to art.

Dennis Hopper had already burned a lot of bridges in Hollywood due to both his intensity which was deserved, and his reputation, which was undeserved. Brooke Hayward was a daughter of Hollywood royalty, starring in her first play when a young actor was pushed onto the production. Annoyance soon became love and the couple with her children, and soon with a child of their own settled in Los Angeles, in a house that soon became the locus of the art world and Hollywood. Brooke gave up acting, due to Dennis being jealous of the attention she was given, and she began collecting antiques and other collectibles, soon to be a collection that was the envy of many. Dennis did the same with contemporary art, buying and becoming friends with many of the players and artists on the scene, also collecting quite a variety of works. Drugs, drinking, and illness and pressures on Hopper soon drove the couple apart, another casualty of the sixties.

A fascinating book about two very different people who has a tremendous amount in common, and extraordinary eyes in finding beauty among, well things sometimes. The sourceing of the book is amazing, with copious footnotes and great stories and asides from various people who were there. The book is more of a biography on a couple that fell away from each other, but of the rise of art and collecting in America, a history of film, and how Los Angeles came to be what it is today. These two were Zelig-like in being among so much interesting changes in art and history, hanging out with Miles Davis, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp for example.

A very comprehensive biography of a couple in a very exciting and changing time. This is a very good overview focusing on art, the movies, music, and lifestyles in Los Angeles and in America. A perfect book for film fans, art students and people who want inspiration for crafting and creating their art. A compelling story of two people who were perfect for their age, and each other, until they were not.

I really enjoyed being swept back in time a time in Hollywood when stars like Brook Hayward& Dennis Hoper and their pals lived their wild and wonderfully free lives.I really loved reading about this time and place found it so interesting and exciting all that talent young creative and free.Wilbe recommending #netgalley#eccobooks.

Everybody Thought We Were Crazy by Mark Rozzo transports you to 1960's LA, into the tumultuous Hollywood world (and marriage) of Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward. It is as much a biography as it is a cultural history of a very particular place, at a very particular time. I enjoyed every page. Highly recommend!

Tedious, slow, and braggadocious. The characters did not become likable or that interesting. An interesting look into a very different type of world, but probably would not recommend.